Evensong is an intimate, moving novel following The Humpty Dumpty Club, a group of women who band together to help one another and their circle of friends in Pittsburgh as they face the challenges of their golden years.
LitStackers! Line up for this one. In presale now, Atlantic Monthly Press | Grove/Atlantic will release Evensong by Stewart O’Nan on Nov 11, 2025. Early word suggests an immersive and exciting novel. While details remain scarce, the publisher’s description and the cover art hint at a reading experience that will linger long after you turn the last page. Here’s the scoop and early praise on this next must-read. Dip into the book fund for this one!
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In This Spotlight On Evensong
About Evensong
The Humpty Dumpty Club is distraught when their powerhouse leader, Joan Hargrove, takes a bad fall down her stairs, knocking her out of commission. Now, as well as running errands and shepherding those less able to their doctors’ appointments, they have to pick up the slack.
Between navigating their own relationships and aging bodies and attending choir practice, these invisible yet indomitable women help where they can. They bake cookies, they care for pets, they pick up prescriptions, they sit vigil by the sick, and most of all, they show up for the people they’ve pledged to help. In the face of death, divorce, and the myriad directions our lives can take, the Humpty Dumpty club represents the power of community and chosen family.
Weaving together the perspectives of the four cardinal members as they tend to those in need, Stewart O’Nan revisits beloved characters from his past work — most notably Emily Maxwell — to fashion a rich and moving novel that celebrates our capacity for patience and care. Vivid, warm, and often wryly funny, Evensong reminds us that life is made up of moments both climactic and quotidian, and we weather those moments with the people we choose to keep close.
Praise for Evensong
“Fans of Kent Haruf’s Our Souls at Night and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive, Again will appreciate the dignity O’Nan affords his characters as they navigate both the dramatic and the mundane moments in their lives.”—Booklist (starred review)
“O’Nan once again finds extraordinary resonance in the lives of ordinary people…[He] proves that he has no peers when it comes to evoking the quotidian challenges and routines of daily life. It’s a bittersweet celebration of the twilight years.”—Publishers Weekly
“What a great writer is Stewart O’Nan, and Evensong is one of his best: A beautifully structured, wonderfully nuanced story of a quartet of women negotiating friendships, rivalries, cats and dogs, frailty, and even new love as they slide into old age. This portrait of the so-called golden years displays O’Nan’s unmatchable talent for imbuing even the smallest moment with humor and sympathy. Excellent and unforgettable.”—Kate Walbert, author of The Sunken Cathedral, Our Kind, and His Favorites
About Stewart O’Nan, Author of Evensong
Stewart O’Nan is the author of numerous books, including Ocean State, Wish You Were Here, Everyday People, In the Walled City, The Speed Queen, and Emily, Alone. His 2007 novel, Last Night at the Lobster, was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and he now lives in Boston with his family.
You can connect with Stewart O’Nan on his website, and on Facebook.
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press | Grove/Atlantic
ISBN hardcover 9780802166432
Pub Date: Nov 11, 2025
Titles by Stewart O’Nan
Other LitStack Resources
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