All Adults Here

Astrid a trim. Nancy had given slightly better haircuts, but Birdie was better with the shampoo, and Astrid had never been vain, only practical. Anyway, Nancy had retired and Astrid hadn't missed her. Birdie was from Texas, and her parents were from Mexico, and Astrid thought of her as human sunshine: bright, warm, sometimes harsh, but always good for oneÕs mood.

 

It was the end of the summer, which meant that soon, from Monday to Friday, Clapham would belong to the year-rounders again. Kids would go back to school, and the summer inhabitants would go back to being weekend inhabitants, and life would return to its quieter pace. Astrid inspected her skin for spots. Ticks and skin cancer were the twin fears of anyone who spent time outdoors in the Hudson Valley, certainly for those over the age of twenty-five. In the rearview mirror, Astrid watched Clapham go about its morning routines: women with rolled-up yoga mats plodded slowly out of the municipal hall, well-off summer residents strolled the sidewalks, looking for something to buy that they had somehow missed during the last three months, locals sat drinking coffee at the counter at Spiro's and at Croissant City, where every sixty-five-year-old man in Clapham could be found with a newspaper at 7:30 a.m., seven days a week. Frank, who owned the hardware store, which sold everything from window fans and fresh eggs to batteries and a small collection of DVDs, was standing beneath his awning as his teenage son pulled up the iron gate. The small shops that sold T-shirts and sweatshirts that read clapham in large block letters didn't open until noon. The fanciest clothing store on Main Street, Boutique Etc?, whose name Astrid had always found both grammatically and philosophically irritating, opened at noon, too, which Astrid knew because she begrudgingly bought most of her clothing there.

 

Astrid let her eyes wander to the eyesore, the bite noire of every Clapham resident, bo

of wit and observation that she s made such a loving book so alive. Reading All Adults Here, you feel like maybe your life isn t so small, that its minor joys and pitfalls are worthy of literature. If only Straub could be the one to document it. USA Today

Deliciously funny and infectiously warm It's an ideal read for anyone trapped at home with their family while self-isolating. Read it while hiding in your bedroom from the people who are driving you crazy, but who you'd go crazy without. The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
There's no drama like family drama as Emma Straub (Modern Lovers, Other People We Married) proves in this touching, humorous, and eye-opening new novel. Town and Country
  
Triumphant. The Daily Beast

An immensely charming and warmhearted book. It s a vacation for the soul. Vox

  A warm, smart novel that feels both very 'now,' but also timeless in its survey of a family trying to become one again. Salon

"Fresh and funny. . .  ripe with the kind of juicy gossip perfect for swapping with a favorite sibling via late-night, hushed phone calls. . . . The Washington Post

  There s refuge to be found in stories of everyday people going about their lives. . . . Emma Straub has become adept at finding amusement in the mundane, and her newest, All Adults Here, might just be her best yet. O, The Oprah Magazine

The queen of the summer novel. Entertainment Weekly
 
Straub s best book yet . . .excellent book-group fodder. The Washington Post

Emma Straub s writing is witty, informal and deceptively simple, drawing readers in as if they re having a conversation with a close friend.    BookPage

All Adults Here is a master class on the small-scale American drama. . . this warm, optimistic novel argues that one should keep trying, regardless. All Adults Here affirms the value of community and family, no matter the strife that may rise up within them. Vogue

The perfect book to read during quarantine if your family is driving you crazy . . . a layered love story that examines, and ultimately celebrates, the modern, multigenerational family dynamic. Parade
 
  This new novel from New York Times bestselling author of The Vacationers and Modern Lover is at its core about family in all its loving, messy glory It s a page-turner that will make you think about what binds families together and drives them apart. Good Morning America

"All Adults Here is a novel about how we try and fail at every age and yet somehow survive. It is brimming with kindness, forgiveness, humor and love and yet (magically) is also a page turner that held me captive until it was finished. This is Emma Straub's absolute best and the world will love it. I love it." Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth

"A totally engaging and smart book about the absolutely marvelous messiness of what makes up family; a wonderful book." Elizabeth Strout, New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize winning author of Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again

"Emma Straub's All Adults Here will make you question your entire childhood, and how much your parents influenced it as you learn one mother's perspective of what went right and what went wrong with her own family." Marie Claire

"No one writes family drama like Straub, and in her new novel All Adults Here, she brings the Strick family to life with her unique wit and wisdom. . . .  It s a heartfelt, grounded story about family dynamics, forgiveness, and the unavoidable effects we have on those we love." Buzzfeed