After Hours at the Almost Home

By Tara Yellen and Aamna Qureshi

It's Super Bowl Sunday at the Almost Home Bar and Grill with the hometown Broncos playing for their second championship in a row, and the already busy night is about to get busier. When the bartender walks off, she leaves the remaining staff to the chaos of the night--and with the real question. Not why did she leave but why do they stay? After closing time and on a school night, Colleen's 14-year-old daughter is no stranger to the Almost Home. She'll do almost anything to leave, to move her life forward or somehow return to earlier, better times, anywhere but here. But it doesn't matter; there seems to be no way out. For one night, we follow all of them as they make their cash, close up, and then linger into the after hours, as they always do, their lives colliding, past and present, in the dark back corner at table 14--drinking, talking, and, now, in the wake of Marna's absence, facing questions: Where did she go? Will she return? Why do we stay? How dangerous is restaurant love? Smart, provocative, and flawlessly on target, Tara Yellen's revealing debut offers keen insights on a group of people left to put the pieces of their own lives back together in the wake of a friend's disappearance. After Hours at the Almost Home will put you in an altered state--it's got kick and goes down like a shot. But its effects might be far more lasting.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932961488
• ISBN13: 9781932961485
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Unbridled Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

This book will be a movie one day

After Hours at The Almost Home is a tremendous work for any reader who values rich character development, ingeniously clever writing, and deliberate but subtle plot development. This work is no sledge hammer. It challenges the reader to scan between the lines for hints of what is to come. It features disparate characters who will be familiar to most readers, regardless of how much time they spend at local neighborhood bars. The book reads like some of the finest modern independent films, and will doubtless eventually find its way to the big screen. A great read.

A Rising Star at the "Almost Home"

Tara Yellen has a way with words that describes places, people and their lives in a way that compels you to keep turning the page. The setting is a bar in Denver on Super Bowl Sunday, not a locale that I know - or didn't - until I read Ms. Yellens first novel. She breathed life into her characters and made the Bronco's fans and the servers at the "Almost Home" into real people - strangely disjointed yet interconnected people. The "Almost Home" reminds you of a place you may have been to before and the characters' depth, relationships and backstories grab you and keep you on the edge. Ms Yellen is an author whose star will be rising. I can't wait to read her next book!

Great read

As someone who used to work in restaurants, I found this book to be spot on. A friend recommended it and I didn't expect to have time to read it immediately, but once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. It was easy to become engrossed in the book, even though the story line and characters had a lot of depth and complexity. I feel like I got to know the characters well, but they still managed to surprise me.

intense one scene drama.

JJ has relocated five times, but currently works as a cocktail waitress in Denver. Her first night at the Almost Home Bar and Grill, the place is packed as the Broncos are playing in the Superbowl. She struggles with customer orders as she finds the job overwhelming at least this first Sunday is; her hope is that this is an aberration caused by the football championship although the tips are excellent so she also hopes for more nights like this once she learns the job. JJ also struggles to understand the employee dynamics that she knows is critical to her staying on this job a bit longer than her last six positions. She tries to comprehend the 360 degree relationships of each of her peers. For instance Widow Colleen has no place to leave her teenage daughter Lily so she takes her with her when she comes to the bar. Denny is ending a relationship while he and waitress Lena appear to be starting one as they huddle so cuddly together. Keith and bartender Marna plan to run away together. This is an interesting character study that follows the employees and some of the regulars for one night, a special Superbowl evening, at the bar and grill. The story line switches perspective from the newcomer to the bartender, the teen and her mom, the male customer trying to sell a pick up to others. Though somewhat anecdotal, readers obtain a poignant look at how various people see their lives precariously through the football game in an intense one scene drama. Harriet Klausner