Manocherian presents a darkly comic novel of family secrets, self-discovery, and late-in-life reinvention.

Gertrude Sidenstricker is an elderly woman living alone on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Her days are largely occupied by mourning the death of her beloved bird, Captain, reflecting on her harsh parents, and ignoring the spiders and mice in her apartment. Socially isolated and deeply cynical, she has little patience or faith in others. When she attends the funeral of her neighbor, Bette Gartner, who met her demise at her own dinner party, Gertrude can only reflect that “if there is such a thing as God, he/she/it sure as hell doesn’t love most people on earth who suffer until they mercifully die.” Bette’s sudden passing unexpectedly draws two new people into Gertrude’s world: Venera, the young Croatian aide who cared for Bette, and Dariush, a young Iranian neighbor who’s pursuing a romance with Venera. Despite Gertrude’s best efforts to keep them both at arm’s length, she gradually finds herself becoming attached. What begins as a reluctant friendship culminates in Gertrude’s surprising decision to invite Venera to move into her apartment. The resulting arrangement results in steady comic friction as the pair navigate a clash of personalities. As the two women sort through old belongings and long-buried memories, Gertrude makes a shocking discovery in a collection of hidden family documents: Her parents may have had good reason for always trying to shelter her from the world. Soon, she embarks on an investigation into the past that leads her to the small town of Howick, Massachusetts, where her search for answers broadens into a deeper examination of family, memory, and interpersonal connection.

Manocherian’s greatest achievement is Gertrude herself. Much of the pleasure of the novel comes from inhabiting the mind of such an eccentric and difficult protagonist; she’s cynical, judgmental, and frequently hilarious, recalling some of the great comic curmudgeons of literature while remaining a wholly new creation. The author employs small moments with remarkable precision, as when Gertrude gives her office manager a gift of Tic Tacs, which the recipient finds “very offensive.” When Venera explains that Croatian people respect the elderly, Gertrude, “totally unprepared for such an answer,” can only reply, “Don’t overdo it.” Rather than relying on lengthy exposition, Manocherian fleshes out her characters with seemingly incidental observations that accumulate into remarkably complete portraits. Her prose is elegant and occasionally lush without ever feeling pretentious, and her version of the Upper West Side feels fully inhabited, populated by intelligent, opinionated characters whose interactions crackle with wit. The novel’s occasional shifts into first-person flashbacks can become distracting, since the third-person narration is so thoroughly infused with Gertrude’s personality and perspective that the distinction between the two modes feels arbitrary. Also, the novel’s latter sections embrace a warmer and more sentimental tone than the darkly comedic opening might lead readers to expect. Overall, Manocherian earns emotional payoffs via careful characterization and keen observation, making the novel’s most heartfelt moments resonate.

A witty, moving study of an unforgettable character.