More than enough A novel

DNA test results rattle a middle-aged New Yorker in the poignant latest from Quindlen (After Annie). Polly Goodman teaches English at a private school for girls and meets once per month with her book club, which includes Helen, Jamie, and Sarah. As a gag gift for Polly's 42nd birthday, the women give her a DNA test, sparked by her concern that her trouble getting pregnant might result from "bad genes." After Polly submits her sample, she receives a notification from the company's website that a relative of hers has just taken the test. She then receives a message from someone named Talia Burton, who asks Polly to explain "how we're related." She travels to Vermont to meet Talia, who turns out to be a 16-year-old Black girl desperate to learn about her extended family. Back in New York, Sarah helps Polly with the mystery of her connection to Talia, though Polly's quest is complicated by Sarah's cancer and her own nausea from hormone injections related to IVF treatment. The revelations are predictable, but Quindlen charms with her nuanced depiction of the women's close bonds ("I wouldn't think it was possible, but I think you've gotten even nicer after being sick," Jamie tells Sarah, adding that she "didn't necessarily mean it as a compliment"). The author's fans will find much to admire. Agent: Amanda Urban, CAA. (Feb.)

Quindlen's (After Annie) newest novel features New York City English teacher Polly Goodman, who leads a full life, between her veterinarian husband and her book club friends. Polly and husband Mark are trying to conceive a child. In the midst of IVF, Polly's friends gift her with a DNA test. She ends up discovering an unexpected close genetic relative, a teenager, and doesn't share this revelation with her biological family. (Polly has a close relationship with her father, who has rapidly advancing dementia, but her relationship with her mother is strained.) The existence of this teenager who shares most of Polly's DNA leaves Polly with questions about her own parents, but she and the girl begin a friendship. Over the course of an eventful year, Polly contends with her family's secrets as well as the illness of her closest friend. In this story about relationships, familial and chosen, warm and difficult, the characters are rendered tenderly but realistically. Quindlen's writing makes the plot flow smoothly. VERDICT Highly recommended for all public library collections. Quindlen's slice-of-life tale will appeal to general fiction readers and especially to book club members.--Kristen Stewart