Someone, by Alice McDermott

This quiet and affecting short novel is one of the best I’ve read this year.  The central character, Marie, ties together the narrative, which is non-linear but never unclear.  Her father is a gentle alcoholic; her scholarly older brother, Gabe, will become a priest, but lose his vocation; her Irish-born mother in her confused old age demands to know if she is “home” and is relieved to learn that, no, she is still in Brooklyn, not back in the old country.  Over the years the immigrant neighborhood of her childhood declines.  Marie finds a kind of happiness in working in a funeral home and later with an unassuming young man back from World War II.  In truth, not much happens, just life.  Despite unexpected tragedies, there’s “always someone nice.” Reminiscent of other favorite books where not a word is wasted – Out stealing horses, and Olive Kitteredge.  Beautifully told.   232 pp.