Grandmotherhood has arrived for the novelist and celebrated journalist Anna Quindlen. And the magical sense and joy of that new bond in her life inspired her latest book, Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting. Her expression of how this new chapter has opened her heart and eyes fills Nanaville, and is relatable to other grandparents or grandparents-to-be. Just as she was so capable of describing the ups and downs of parenting a generation ago in her popular Life in the 30’s column in the New York Times, Quindlen now brings her sensitivities and wordcraft to the state of grandparenting.

Anna Quindlen will participate in a moderated discussion about her book with Candace Purdom, of Anderson’s Bookshop. There will be a live signing and photo line following the book talk.

About the Book: Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting is a bighearted book of wisdom, wit, and insight, celebrating the love and joy of being a grandmother, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist and #1 New York Times bestselling author

“It’s a little challenging to suss out why exactly it can be so magical. . . . All I know is: The hand. The little hand that takes yours, small and soft as feathers. I’m happy our grandson does not yet have sophisticated language or a working knowledge of personal finance, because if he took my hand and said, ‘Nana, can you sign your 401(k) over to me,’ I can imagine myself thinking, well, I don’t really need a retirement fund, do I? And besides, look at those eyelashes. Or the greeting. Sometimes Arthur sees me and yells ‘Nana!’ in the way some people might say ‘ice cream!’ and others say ‘shoe sale!’ No one else has sounded that happy to see me in many years.”

Before blogs even existed, Anna Quindlen became a go-to writer on the joys and challenges of family, motherhood, and modern life, in her nationally syndicated column. Now she’s taking the next step and going full nana in the pages of this lively, beautiful, and moving book about being a grandmother. Quindlen offers thoughtful and telling observations about her new role, no longer mother and decision-maker but secondary character and support to the parents of her grandson. She writes, “Where I once led, I have to learn to follow.” Eventually a close friend provides words to live by: “Did they ask you?”

Candid, funny, frank, and illuminating, Quindlen’s singular voice has never been sharper or warmer. With the same insights she brought to motherhood in Living Out Loud and to growing older in Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, this new nana uses her own experiences to illuminate those of many others.

About the Author: Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of many novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and Miller’s Valley. Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at The New York Times she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear.