A “hilarious and addictive” novel about a grandmother who just wants to be left alone, from the author of Starting Out in the Evening (San Francisco Chronicle).

Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, and The Millions, and a Best Fiction Book of the Year by the Christian Science Monitor ·
Finalist for the Kirkus Prize ·

Meet Florence Gordon: blunt, brilliant, cantankerous, passionate, feminist icon to young women, invisible to almost everyone else. At seventy-five, Florence has earned her right to set down the burdens of family and work and shape her legacy at long last. But just as she begins to write her long-deferred memoir, her son Daniel returns to New York from Seattle with his wife and daughter, and they embroil Florence in their dramas, clouding the clarity of her days and threatening her well-defended solitude. And then there’s her left foot, which is starting to drag…

With humor and a tender respect for humanity in all its flaws, Brian Morton introduces a constellation of unforgettable characters—chief among them Florence, who can humble the fools surrounding her with one barbed line, but eventually finds there are realities even she cannot outwit.

“Morton’s intelligent, layered portrait of a feisty, independent older woman is an absolute joy to read, not only for its delightful wit but also for its dignified appraisal of aging and living life on one’s own terms.”—Booklist(starred review)

“Exquisitely crafted…Witty, nuanced and ultimately moving.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

“Smart, funny, and compassionate…a treat.”— People

“It’s such a cliché to say a book makes you laugh and cry, but this one does, in the deftest way.” —Emily Gould, Paste

“Deliciously sharp and deeply sympathetic…a truly gifted novelist.”—Adam Kirsch, Tablet

“Morton’s intelligent, layered portrait of a feisty, independent older woman is an absolute joy to read, not only for its delightful wit but also for its dignified appraisal of aging and living life on one’s own terms.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Exquisitely crafted…Witty, nuanced and ultimately moving.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

“Smart, funny, and compassionate…a treat.”— People

“It’s such a cliché to say a book makes you laugh and cry, but this one does, in the deftest way.” —Emily Gould, Paste

“Deliciously sharp and deeply sympathetic…a truly gifted novelist.”—Adam Kirsch, Tablet