Books › All adults here
All adults here
496 pages
A warm, wry exploration of the messy reality that no one ever really figures out how to be a grown-up.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like sitting on a porch in a picturesque Hudson Valley town, watching a family unravel and knit itself back together in real time. The narrative unfolds at a steady, comfortable pace, inviting you to settle into the messy, overlapping lives of its deeply flawed but intensely lovable characters. It is steeped in a mood of tender nostalgia and wry observation, capturing the specific, prickly dynamics of adult siblings and the lingering shadows of childhood. The prose is effortlessly conversational, delivering sharp insights with a gentle, forgiving humor. It is a perfect match for readers who delight in character-driven stories about the beautiful, frustrating reality that growing older does not necessarily mean growing up, and that it is never too late to try again.
- Mood
- tender
- small-town cozy
- nostalgic
- messy
- Tone
- wry
- empathetic
- observant
- warm
- gently humorous
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the myth of perfect parenting · sibling rivalry and loyalty · late-in-life reinvention · intergenerational patterns · forgiving oneself
- The writing
- Sharp, witty, and effortlessly conversational, balancing lighthearted observations with profound emotional truths.
- The arc
- Moves from a state of repressed guilt and familial friction toward a messy, honest, and deeply tender reconciliation.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave character-driven, multi-generational family dramas that treat human flaws with both humor and immense grace.
Content notes
- bullying
- abortion
- grief
About the book
When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days decades earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she'd been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence?
Astrid's youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid's thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most.
In All Adults Here, Emma Straub's unique alchemy of wisdom, humor, and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not.
Description from Open Library.
Books like All adults here
See why they match
My Name is Lucy BartonElizabeth StroutA quiet, deeply intimate exploration of the unbridgeable gaps and enduring tethers between a mother and daughter.
Leave the World BehindRumaan AlamA masterclass in creeping dread that strips away the comforts of modern privilege to reveal the terrifying fragility beneath.
All FoursMiranda JulyA wildly original, fiercely funny fever dream about blowing up your domestic life just to see what the pieces look like.
People We Meet On VacationEmily HenryA sun-drenched, banter-filled exploration of the terrifying leap from platonic soulmates to true love.
No One Is Talking About ThisPatricia LockwoodA hyper-ironic scroll through the digital void that suddenly shatters into a profound meditation on embodied grief and love.
Olive AgainElizabeth StroutA quiet, sharply observant exploration of aging, community, and the surprising ways a prickly soul connects with others.