From “Having It All” to Being Enough: Anna Quindlen on Aging, Faith, and Finding Your Voice
“I've lived 33 years longer than my mother did. I've gotten so many experiences that she never got to have and would have loved, and that makes me really grateful.” —Anna Quindlen
There are certain writers Maria has followed for decades—women whose courage and clarity have influenced generations of readers. Bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen is one of them.
Anna stepped away from her career to raise her children, then returned to her writing with renewed purpose and built a body of work of both fiction and nonfiction that has resonated across decades. From A Short Guide to a Happy Life to her latest novel More Than Enough, her books explore the questions many women carry: Who am I now? What truly matters? And how do I define success on my own terms?
In their brand-new conversation for Life Above the Noise—our exclusive interview series for Sunday Paper PLUS members—Maria and Anna reflect on aging, faith, grief, the pressure to “have it all,” and the powerful realization that comes with looking at your life’s work and saying, “I did that.”
We’re so glad you’re here to tune in with us, and we hope you’ll let us know what you think in the SP+ Community Forum comments below!
Chapters
00:00 – Finding joy amid doom and gloom
01:50 – Faith, the Catholic Church, and standing up for immigrants
05:14 – The meaning behind "More Than Enough"
08:25 – The liberation of getting older
13:44 – Writing as an exercise in confidence
19:15 – Inside the novel: friendships, secrets, and Alzheimer's
24:10 – How characters come to life
32:04 – Losing her mother and how it shaped everything
35:41 – The difference between grief and loss
40:30 – Embracing aging: "Every year now is gravy"
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