Dartmouth Book Club: “Before Everything” Discussion
Dive into Victoria Redel’s Before Everything in a virtual Zoom discussion with us on December 2 from 12pm to 1pm ET. Before Everything follows a group of lifelong friends who gather around one member entering hospice, blending humor and poignancy as it examines love, loyalty, and how friendships shape life’s turning points.
Don’t miss this chance to connect with fellow Dartmouth alumni and explore this thought-provoking work! In the lead up to the Zoom discussion, join us on our Dartmouth Book Club platform to explore Before Everything with weekly discussion topics as part of our online book club community.
About the Book
Before Everything is a celebration of friendship and love between a group of women who have known each other since they were girls. They’ve faced everything together, from youthful sprees and scrapes to mid-life turning points. Now, as Anna, the group’s trailblazer and brightest spark, enters hospice, they gather to do what they’ve always done—talk and laugh and help each other make choices and plans, this time in Anna’s rural home. Helen, Anna’s best friend and a celebrated painter, is about to remarry. The others face their own challenges—Caroline with her sister’s mental health crisis; Molly with a teenage daughter’s rebellion; Ming with her law practice— dilemmas with kids and work and love.
Before Everything is as funny as it is bittersweet, as the friends revel in the hilarious mistakes they’ve seen one another through, the secrets kept, and adventures shared. But now all sense of time has shifted, and the pattern of their lives together takes on new meaning. The novel offers a brilliant, emotionally charged portrait, deftly conveying the sweep of time over everyday lives, and showing how even in difficult endings, gifts can unfold. Above all it is an ode to friendship, and to how one person shapes the journeys of those around her.
About the Author
Victoria Redel is a first-generation American author of four books of poetry and six books of fiction, most recently the poetry collection Paradise. Her novel I Am You is forthcoming in fall 2025 (and check out her appearance with Sarah Jessica Parker on CBS Mornings for it here!). Victoria’s work has been widely anthologized, awarded, and translated into many languages. Her novel Loverboy (2001) was adapted for feature film directed by Kevin Bacon. Redel’s short stories, poetry and essays have appeared in Granta, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Bomb, One Story, Salmagundi, O and NOON among many others. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts and the Fine Arts Work Center. Victoria has taught at Columbia University, the New School, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and was the McGee Distinguished Professor at Davidson College. She is on the graduate and undergraduate Creative Writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in New York City and Utah.
Contact: Dartmouth Alumni Relations
