After All These Years: A Novel (Paperback)

by Susan Isaacs (Author) "AFTER NEARLY A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF MARRIAGE, RICHIE MEYERS, MY husband, told me to call him Rick..." (more)
Key Phrases: silver anniversary party, suspicious foods, Data Associates, New York, Long Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Once again Isaacs proves a dab hand at rattling skeletons in the closets of Suburbia--here, murder and adultery are skewered with this author's typically savvy wit. In Long Island's tony Shore Haven, Rosie Meyers makes an unsettling discovery in her kitchen just after her 25th wedding anniversary bash: the body of her husband, peremptorily dispatched with a butcher's knife. The 40-something "suburban schoolteacher with a bit of a Brooklyn accent" fears--accurately, as matters turn out--that she will become the odds-on favorite for prime suspect, and goes on the lam to prove her innocence. With a heroine who gives new meaning to the word "feisty" (and a host of other smartly drawn characters), Isaacs shows herself in top form. Her barbs and witticisms garner laughs largely through a kind of recognition factor: she makes observations many of us might have thought, but lacked the verbal virtuosity to express. As if to reinforce the familiarity of her consistently on-target humor, she drops dead-on references to pop-culture icons--Dirty Harry movies, L. L. Bean apparel, etc. She has a field day lampooning upper-class mores (in Rosie's land of the privileged, a housekeeper might commit "some upper-class atrocity, like folding the napkins for morning coffee into rectangles instead of putting them in rings"), but also weaves into this thoroughly diverting caper unexpected moments of genuine tenderness and sly social commentary. A sure candidate for the bestseller lists. 150,000 first printing; $200,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA-A cleverly written, witty, sophisticated and down-to-earth novel. Rose Meyers, 47, is a high school English teacher who has two grown sons, an upscale home in an affluent New York City suburb, and friends. On the day after her 25th wedding anniversary party, her husband announces that he is leaving her for a younger, more sophisticated woman. Waking up from a deep sleep, Rose goes to the kitchen and stumbles over Richie's body in the middle of the kitchen floor. After innocently touching the murder weapon, she discovers that her husband is dead, and she is subsequently charged with his murder. Before she can be arrested, she flees her home and goes into hiding to find the real killer. Readers learn about the Meyers' life, past and present, through clever flashbacks and quick, humorous dialogue. The novel is filled with believable characters, mostly believable situations, and mystery, plus friendship, trust, and honest relationships.
Debbie Hyman, R.E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Perennial (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060563737
• ISBN-13: 978-0060563738
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,266 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Isaacs at Her Contemporary Best, July 28, 2001

By	D. Rizzo (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: After All These Years (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is fabulous.

I don't agree with or endorse everything in it, but I have to confess, this is a great, great book to read.

First, it's funny. The funniness is the most significant part of it. How many stories about estranged dead husbands are funny, especially when the ex wife wishes he were neither dead nor estranged? But Rosie, the heroine, is irrepressible... and that has nothing to do with the fact that we're both English teachers. She is, in her own words, postmenopausal, and she's Jewish, while I'm neither. But we both do have dark hair.

Anyway, Rosie's husband is dead, and the next best thing about the book is that he was murdered. He was stabbed in the chest with a knife, and everyone thinks that Rosie did it, though all she wanted at that moment was a hot dog. As the book evolves oh-so-deliciously, we learn that someone familiar to the deceased did in fact do it, but who? The well paced and clever plot unfolds without wasting time nor skimping on details, and despite the fact that I'm a savvy voracious reader, the murderer was a total surprise to me. Total. Talk about a totally logical though well-concealed perp!

Isaacs liberal sensibilities are poured all over this tale, which do in fact conflict with my own perspectives, but I find it relatively easy to overlook the ideological differences I have with this book to savor its finer qualities. The only other problem I have with it deals with Rosie's knight in shining armor... Isaacs never does spell out why he didn't ask her to the prom in high school.

Read it! You'll love it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Laugh Out Loud" funny!, September 9, 2002

By	"angelbird" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After All These Years (Mass Market Paperback)

A great read! Middle-aged housewife drowning in self-pity regains her confidence and sense-of-self when she finds her dead husband on her kitchen floor, tampers with the evidence, and of course is accused of his murder. The cast of characters is diverse and nutty. The wry wit of the herione is truly enjoyable! Don't miss this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for everyone..., April 16, 2000

By	Sarah G. Partridge (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After All These Years (Mass Market Paperback)

I had my doubts about Susan Issacs, but I will definitely read more of her books. Rosie Meyers is delightful and witty, and never loses her dignity no matter what is thrown at her. I kept seeing the cast:

Sela Ward as Rosie Meyers, David Boreanz as Danny Meese, S.Epatha Merkerson as Cass, maybe James Brolin as Tom Driscoll, Ed Begley as Carter Tillotson. As for Jessica and Stephanie, you'd have to find some bimbos to play them, but maybe you could put in Rebecca Mornay as one of them.

If you need light entertainment, have a long train ride, or need to while away a rainy weekend, this is the best for what it is . There are other "pulpy" writers but they are often insulting to women and just downright awful. This was a lot of fun and you couldn't help but be on Rosie's side.