Whereabouts

An unmarried, unnamed woman of a certain age is living her life alongside, but not necessarily with, friends and acquaintances in an unnamed, presumably Italian city. She seems to treasure her solitude and independence, but also long to be more closely entwined with people–she's lonely, but also reluctant to break out of her loneliness.

Not much happens in this quiet novel. There are some lovely scenes (the woman is alone in her compartment on a train when a group of joyful, demonstrative family members break into her solitude. They are eating and offer her food, which she refuses, but she admires them and enjoys their presence until they exit), and a very slow movement toward the ending, but it's far from action packed. Ultimately, it just didn't make a big impression on me.