More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen
Published by Random House
Publication date: February 24, 2026
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Contemporary
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Open Anna Quindlen’s new novel More Than Enough and you’ll meet Polly, a happy middle-aged woman. Her husband adores her and she him, she’s an English teacher at all girls’ school, and she has three stalwart, loving friends. Friends who give her a DNA test kit as a gag gift. When there’s a match for a family member she has no knowledge of it tilts the playing board of her life sending its carefully arranged pieces flying.
For all of Polly’s contentment there are holes in her life. She pines for a child of her own. She and Mark have been trying via IVF for years. Now, the money and the time are running out. Her relationship with her mother is strained and her father who’s in a memory care unit is recognizing her less and less. Her joy comes from her friends and their book club where the only rule is to buy but not read the book. Sarah, Helen, and Jamie are privy to all aspects of her life as is her older brother, Garrison, whom she adores. Sending in the DNA kit is a lark, but when the results came back she’s scrambling for answers where she had never had questions.
More Than Enough is a contemporary slice-of-life novel, something that Quindlen always approaches with empathy and respect, perfectly encapsulating its highs and lows. We interact with her friends, several of her students, and her mother. Each has a vastly different point of view yet is relatable with their fears, joys, and frustrations. I was tearing up repeatedly through parts of this book because Quindlen so stirringly conveys the experiences of all the stages of a woman’s life, from the teen years to motherhood to senior citizen. That she applies the same insight to the men in the novel, even though they hover in the background means the story overflows with the fulsomeness of life being well-lived in all its wonder and sorrow.
It pains me then that More Than Enough could touch me so deeply for page after page in its representation of women and yet compromise with a disappointing ending that felt unrealistic, flat, and cliched. It seemed to be mocking the book’s title as Quindlen had gone to such lengths and succeeded so beautifully in sharing how Polly, her friends, her mother, and her students were all more than enough just as they were.
For 5 star Quindlen reading I suggest Every Last One and Miller’s Valley.
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*I received a free copy of this book from Random House in exchange for an honest review.*
I agree Miller’s Valley was strong to me … but this new novel was weak. I gave it three stars. I wanted to like it more … but it felt contrived a bit and not a full depiction of the characters … alas Quindlen can do better.
Agreed. Maybe the softness is what worked for me right now. Decent, caring people even if they’re a bit flat felt good. Right up until the ending. That made me angry.