When Astrid Strick witnesses a long-time nemesis get hit by a bus, it suddenly makes her realize two things: life is too short, so she needs to act on things before it’s too late, and perhaps equally important, she might not have been the best mother to her three children.
As she strives to make things better with her children, she also makes a major decision in her own life which further destabilizes her relationship with her oldest son, Elliott, a developer and builder, who nurses a long-held grudge and feels the need to prove himself to the town and his mother.
Meanwhile, Astrid’s daughter Porter is pregnant and yet can’t seem to give up her boyfriend from when she was a teenager, and Astrid’s youngest son, Nicky, who was an actor as a teenager and never quite gave up that lifestyle, has sent his teenage daughter to live with Astrid after an incident at her school.
All Adults Here is an interesting exploration of love, parental responsibility, infidelity, mortality, friendship, sexuality, and even gender. The book shifts narration among a number of characters—Astrid, Elliott, Porter, Nicky, Astrid’s granddaughter, and her friend.
There is a lot going on in this book and while I enjoyed most of the separate storylines, they didn’t seem to coalesce until nearly the end of the book, and no story seemed utterly complete. There was a lot that seemed to go unsaid in many cases, which was frustrating. Obviously that happens in real life, too, but when you're hoping that some loose ends in a story will get tied up, it doesn't quite help.
I really enjoy the way Emma Straub writes, though, and I can’t seem to get enough books about family dysfunction, so I still found this a good, satisfying read.
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