One True Thing

novel by Quindlen

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July 15, 2026

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Anna Quindlen's novel One True Thing (1994) was inspired by her personal experience of taking a year off from Barnard College to care for her mother during her battle with cancer. While the novel draws from this significant life event, Quindlen has clarified that it is not strictly autobiographical, and the characters are distinct from her and her family. The novel explores themes related to family, illness, and the profound impact of caregiving. It was adapted into a film in 1998 starring Renée Zellweger, Meryl Streep, and William Hurt.12

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Anna Quindlen
Novels
…basis of her second novel, One True Thing. released three years later. In interviews, however, Quindlen has attempted to dispel characterizations of the book as being purely autobiographical. In 2019 she told Grand magazine, “[The characters] are so utterly different from me, my mother, and my father that that completely…
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…basis of her second novel, One True Thing. released three years later. In interviews, however, Quindlen has attempted to dispel characterizations of the book as being purely autobiographical. In 2019 she told Grand magazine, “[The characters] are so utterly different from me, my mother, and my father that that completely…
Read More