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I Am Agatha: A Novel
For readers of Elizabeth Strout and Sigrid Nunez, a darkly funny and moving debut novel about the unforgettable Agatha, whose devotion to a widow with dementia (and an inconvenient attachment to her daughter’s grave) sparks a radical reckoning with life, loss, and love’s aftermath.
Have we done a bad thing, Agatha?
Not at all. We’ve been very brave.
Agatha, a bristly painter fleeing her own darkness, decamps to rural New Mexico to live the reclusive life of a small-town curmudgeon. It is there she meets Alice, a mild widow with a deepening case of dementia who keeps steady vigil at her daughter’s backyard grave. Despite Agatha’s rough edges and fierce aversion to sentimentality, she surprises herself by falling in love, and her well-worn convictions begin to upend.
As Alice’s condition worsens, Agatha hatches a plan for them to live together at her remote residence at Mesa Portales. But when Alice’s wayward son comes along with different ideas—and Alice suddenly goes missing—Agatha takes matters into her own hands with the help of a faithful twelve-year-old-neighbor, a pair of shovels, and her trusty pickup, embarking on an unusual mission that calls into question whether some secrets are better kept buried…
Sharp, watchful, at once thrillingly perceptive and hidden from herself, Agatha is as imposing and full of feeling as the vast canyon her rustic adobe home overlooks. Loosely inspired by the life of Agnes Martin, I Am Agatha introduces us to this irascible, indelible character over the course of a strange, singular stretch of days—days during which she learns new ways to fathom life, death, and her own heart.
Have we done a bad thing, Agatha?
Not at all. We’ve been very brave.
Agatha, a bristly painter fleeing her own darkness, decamps to rural New Mexico to live the reclusive life of a small-town curmudgeon. It is there she meets Alice, a mild widow with a deepening case of dementia who keeps steady vigil at her daughter’s backyard grave. Despite Agatha’s rough edges and fierce aversion to sentimentality, she surprises herself by falling in love, and her well-worn convictions begin to upend.
As Alice’s condition worsens, Agatha hatches a plan for them to live together at her remote residence at Mesa Portales. But when Alice’s wayward son comes along with different ideas—and Alice suddenly goes missing—Agatha takes matters into her own hands with the help of a faithful twelve-year-old-neighbor, a pair of shovels, and her trusty pickup, embarking on an unusual mission that calls into question whether some secrets are better kept buried…
Sharp, watchful, at once thrillingly perceptive and hidden from herself, Agatha is as imposing and full of feeling as the vast canyon her rustic adobe home overlooks. Loosely inspired by the life of Agnes Martin, I Am Agatha introduces us to this irascible, indelible character over the course of a strange, singular stretch of days—days during which she learns new ways to fathom life, death, and her own heart.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published March 17, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5
I Am Agatha is a historical fiction based on the life of reclusive painter, Agnes Martin (who left New York in 1967 and turned up in New Mexico 18 months later).
Agatha lives almost a hermit's life on Mesa Portales, which is land belonging to Alice Roberts, with whom Agatha is in love. However, Alice is suffering with dementia and even though Agatha is desperate to get Alice to join her at Mesa Portales, Alice refuses to leave the home where she buried her daughter Lorna.
The story follows Agatha's machinations as she tries to engineer Alice's removal to her home but she is going against the wishes not only of Alice, but also Alice's son, Frank Jnr, who is prepared to do anything to stop her including getting her lease on the land revoked.
As Agatha is drawn to taking more and more risks, the stakes get higher amd higher as she battles with lawyers, friends and Frank Jnr to do what she thinks is best for Alice.
This isnt really a book about painting even though there are several nods to Georgia O'Keeffe who lived in the same area. This book is more of a love story and how that love can be so all-consuming that it pushes you to do riskier and riskier things.
Agatha herself is a very prickly character who, apart from Alice, really just wants to be left alone. She is extremely opinionated and often comes into conflict with other characters. She is entirely convinced of her rightness but even she will be taken by surprise in the end.
I enjoyed the book up to a point. The plot is good but it is very hard to like such a cantankerous character. In fact most of the characters are dogmatic and unlikeable. There are some surprising twists but this is generally a gentle book but with a few disturbing turns along the way.
I would recommend this novel.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Serpent's Tail for the digital review copy.
I Am Agatha is a historical fiction based on the life of reclusive painter, Agnes Martin (who left New York in 1967 and turned up in New Mexico 18 months later).
Agatha lives almost a hermit's life on Mesa Portales, which is land belonging to Alice Roberts, with whom Agatha is in love. However, Alice is suffering with dementia and even though Agatha is desperate to get Alice to join her at Mesa Portales, Alice refuses to leave the home where she buried her daughter Lorna.
The story follows Agatha's machinations as she tries to engineer Alice's removal to her home but she is going against the wishes not only of Alice, but also Alice's son, Frank Jnr, who is prepared to do anything to stop her including getting her lease on the land revoked.
As Agatha is drawn to taking more and more risks, the stakes get higher amd higher as she battles with lawyers, friends and Frank Jnr to do what she thinks is best for Alice.
This isnt really a book about painting even though there are several nods to Georgia O'Keeffe who lived in the same area. This book is more of a love story and how that love can be so all-consuming that it pushes you to do riskier and riskier things.
Agatha herself is a very prickly character who, apart from Alice, really just wants to be left alone. She is extremely opinionated and often comes into conflict with other characters. She is entirely convinced of her rightness but even she will be taken by surprise in the end.
I enjoyed the book up to a point. The plot is good but it is very hard to like such a cantankerous character. In fact most of the characters are dogmatic and unlikeable. There are some surprising twists but this is generally a gentle book but with a few disturbing turns along the way.
I would recommend this novel.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Serpent's Tail for the digital review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Thank you to Avid Readers Press for this Advanced Copy of I Am Agatha:A Novel. Agatha Smithson is the character you love to hate or hate to love. She is an artist who just wants to live and paint in peace, not answering to anyone, not even herself. But her love for Alice and compassion for her with Alice's increased dementia make this story so endearing.
If you have an intense aversion to writing with no quotation marks, I encourage you to still lean back in the story of Agatha and Alice.
If you have an intense aversion to writing with no quotation marks, I encourage you to still lean back in the story of Agatha and Alice.
April 7, 2026
a 3.5 but i think this one will grow on me
July 24, 2026
Read this in a few hours but honestly didn’t even like it that much
October 5, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for the ebook. Agatha is an accomplished artist who likes things her way on her schedule. Now in her golden years, she moves to a remote location to paint in peace, but falls for a widow named Alice. It’s always funny watching an exacting person who can’t control everything and you can never control people, especially a woman who is sliding further and further into dementia. The fun, and the genuine warmth, of the story comes from the extreme lengths that Agatha will go to keep Alice out of a retirement home and under her own roof.
May 7, 2026
I Am Agatha by Nancy Foley is a haunting, darkly funny, and deeply humane novel about love, grief, artistic obsession, and the terrible persistence of memory. Loosely inspired by the life of painter Agnes Martin, the novel follows Agatha Smithson, an aging artist who has retreated from the noise of New York to the stark mesas of rural New Mexico. What Foley creates there is not merely a character study but a vivid emotional landscape where loneliness and devotion become inseparable.
The novel’s greatest triumph may be its setting. Foley renders the New Mexico desert with earthy intimacy: the dust, wind, adobe homes, dry reservoirs, and endless skies feel spiritually fused to Agatha’s inner life. Mesa Portales is not simply a backdrop but a living force in the novel, a place where silence can heal or consume. The desert possesses both beauty and cruelty, mirroring Agatha herself — severe, self-protective, yet capable of startling tenderness. Foley’s prose captures the physicality of the landscape without romanticizing it, grounding the novel in a tactile realism that gives emotional weight to every scene.
Agatha is one of the most compelling protagonists in recent literary fiction. She is prickly, domineering, sarcastic, and often hilariously rude, but Foley gradually reveals the loneliness and fear beneath her hard exterior. As an aging artist, Agatha wrestles not only with the compromises of love but with the fading certainty of identity itself. Her artistic ambitions remain fierce, yet age has sharpened her awareness of mortality and isolation. Foley writes beautifully about what it means for artists to grow older: how creativity can become both refuge and prison, and how the self-fashioned myths artists tell about themselves begin to crack under the pressure of intimacy and loss.
The central relationship between Agatha and Alice gives the novel its emotional gravity. Alice, a widow slipping deeper into dementia, spends her days mourning her dead daughter, whose grave sits in her backyard like an open wound. Despite Agatha’s aversion to sentimentality, she falls deeply in love with Alice and becomes increasingly determined to protect her from a future controlled by her son Frank, who wants to institutionalize her and sell the family property. This conflict drives much of the plot and gives the novel a strange, suspenseful momentum. As Alice’s condition worsens and she mysteriously disappears, Agatha embarks on increasingly desperate schemes to preserve the life they imagined together.
Foley balances this tension with moments of sly humor and surprising warmth, especially through the secondary characters. Frank serves as a convincing antagonist, though the novel wisely avoids reducing him to pure villainy; his frustrations stem from genuine fear and exhaustion. Meanwhile, the young neighbor Josey becomes an unexpected moral compass within the story. Her loyalty to Agatha and quiet emotional intelligence soften the novel’s harsher edges and remind readers that care often arrives from unlikely places.
What lingers most powerfully after the final pages is the novel’s meditation on loss. Nearly every character in the book is carrying grief that has calcified into habit. Alice cannot leave her daughter behind. Agatha cannot fully escape the darkness of her own past. Even the landscape feels marked by absence and erosion. Yet Foley never allows the novel to collapse into despair. Instead, she suggests that love itself is an act of stubborn persistence against disappearance. The result is a story that feels both severe and deeply compassionate.
With its unforgettable narrator, beautifully realized desert setting, and profound exploration of aging, memory, and grief, I Am Agatha announces Nancy Foley as a major literary talent. It is a novel that settles slowly into the reader’s mind, carrying the ache of loss long after the final page.
The novel’s greatest triumph may be its setting. Foley renders the New Mexico desert with earthy intimacy: the dust, wind, adobe homes, dry reservoirs, and endless skies feel spiritually fused to Agatha’s inner life. Mesa Portales is not simply a backdrop but a living force in the novel, a place where silence can heal or consume. The desert possesses both beauty and cruelty, mirroring Agatha herself — severe, self-protective, yet capable of startling tenderness. Foley’s prose captures the physicality of the landscape without romanticizing it, grounding the novel in a tactile realism that gives emotional weight to every scene.
Agatha is one of the most compelling protagonists in recent literary fiction. She is prickly, domineering, sarcastic, and often hilariously rude, but Foley gradually reveals the loneliness and fear beneath her hard exterior. As an aging artist, Agatha wrestles not only with the compromises of love but with the fading certainty of identity itself. Her artistic ambitions remain fierce, yet age has sharpened her awareness of mortality and isolation. Foley writes beautifully about what it means for artists to grow older: how creativity can become both refuge and prison, and how the self-fashioned myths artists tell about themselves begin to crack under the pressure of intimacy and loss.
The central relationship between Agatha and Alice gives the novel its emotional gravity. Alice, a widow slipping deeper into dementia, spends her days mourning her dead daughter, whose grave sits in her backyard like an open wound. Despite Agatha’s aversion to sentimentality, she falls deeply in love with Alice and becomes increasingly determined to protect her from a future controlled by her son Frank, who wants to institutionalize her and sell the family property. This conflict drives much of the plot and gives the novel a strange, suspenseful momentum. As Alice’s condition worsens and she mysteriously disappears, Agatha embarks on increasingly desperate schemes to preserve the life they imagined together.
Foley balances this tension with moments of sly humor and surprising warmth, especially through the secondary characters. Frank serves as a convincing antagonist, though the novel wisely avoids reducing him to pure villainy; his frustrations stem from genuine fear and exhaustion. Meanwhile, the young neighbor Josey becomes an unexpected moral compass within the story. Her loyalty to Agatha and quiet emotional intelligence soften the novel’s harsher edges and remind readers that care often arrives from unlikely places.
What lingers most powerfully after the final pages is the novel’s meditation on loss. Nearly every character in the book is carrying grief that has calcified into habit. Alice cannot leave her daughter behind. Agatha cannot fully escape the darkness of her own past. Even the landscape feels marked by absence and erosion. Yet Foley never allows the novel to collapse into despair. Instead, she suggests that love itself is an act of stubborn persistence against disappearance. The result is a story that feels both severe and deeply compassionate.
With its unforgettable narrator, beautifully realized desert setting, and profound exploration of aging, memory, and grief, I Am Agatha announces Nancy Foley as a major literary talent. It is a novel that settles slowly into the reader’s mind, carrying the ache of loss long after the final page.
May 14, 2026
I really enjoyed this a lot! Time to book a trip to New Mexico, because I’m not sure I’ve ever read more love of landscape in a book.
May 14, 2026
I am Agatha, by Nancy Foley, snuck up on me. Initially, I was unsure about how I felt about this 256-page quiet story with a curmudgeonly older woman at its center. But as I turned the pages, the more attached to the characters and setting I became.
Agatha, is a well-regarded, but reclusive artist. Late in life, and being a focused artist, she relocates to Mesa Portales, New Mexico, after being drawn to breathtaking landscape and magnificent light. It is there that she makes a new friend in Alice, a native to the area. Alice is as different from Agatha as can be, and that makes their relationship all the more compelling. When we meet Alice, we quickly learn that she is the opposite of curmudgeonly. And whereas, Agatha, does not herself have firm roots, Alice is deeply committed to her family’s land which also contains the gravesite of her daughter, Lorna, who died decades earlier. We also quickly learn that Alice is slipping into the later stages of dementia.
The structure of I am Agatha, which takes place over 4 days, took me by surprise, but made this novel all the more captivating, especially as it moved into the second half. I won’t say any more than that regarding the structure because it will surely spoil the book for other readers. But I really like what the author did here.
Agatha is the singular POV, but is surrounded by a fascinating cast of side characters, who all help to carry the story along. Although the publisher’s blurb makes it sound like this novel becomes a bit madcap at times, it's really more of a sad, but heartfelt love story, which also explores themes of aging and grief.
If you enjoy character-focused literary fiction with a strong, older female protagonist, a setting drawn as richly as any of the characters, and an exploration of the passage of time and a life well-lived, with a surprising twist at the end, I am Agatha, may be well worth the read for you. I am happy I gave this quiet novel a chance. I chose to enjoy this via audio, and the narrator did a nice job bringing our protagonist to life. Although Agatha was not a traditionally likeable character, I developed a soft spot for her, and will be thinking about her as well as her life lessons, for some time to come.
Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an ARC which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily share my thoughts.
Agatha, is a well-regarded, but reclusive artist. Late in life, and being a focused artist, she relocates to Mesa Portales, New Mexico, after being drawn to breathtaking landscape and magnificent light. It is there that she makes a new friend in Alice, a native to the area. Alice is as different from Agatha as can be, and that makes their relationship all the more compelling. When we meet Alice, we quickly learn that she is the opposite of curmudgeonly. And whereas, Agatha, does not herself have firm roots, Alice is deeply committed to her family’s land which also contains the gravesite of her daughter, Lorna, who died decades earlier. We also quickly learn that Alice is slipping into the later stages of dementia.
The structure of I am Agatha, which takes place over 4 days, took me by surprise, but made this novel all the more captivating, especially as it moved into the second half. I won’t say any more than that regarding the structure because it will surely spoil the book for other readers. But I really like what the author did here.
Agatha is the singular POV, but is surrounded by a fascinating cast of side characters, who all help to carry the story along. Although the publisher’s blurb makes it sound like this novel becomes a bit madcap at times, it's really more of a sad, but heartfelt love story, which also explores themes of aging and grief.
If you enjoy character-focused literary fiction with a strong, older female protagonist, a setting drawn as richly as any of the characters, and an exploration of the passage of time and a life well-lived, with a surprising twist at the end, I am Agatha, may be well worth the read for you. I am happy I gave this quiet novel a chance. I chose to enjoy this via audio, and the narrator did a nice job bringing our protagonist to life. Although Agatha was not a traditionally likeable character, I developed a soft spot for her, and will be thinking about her as well as her life lessons, for some time to come.
Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an ARC which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily share my thoughts.
September 20, 2026
Loved this book! I will try to write a proper review later but very quick: I usually don't like "prickly old person" stories, but this one completely won me over. Fantastic writing, beautiful character arc. I loved little memorable touches like the Chicken Lawyer and the Ocean Canyon. Her relationship with Josie was as wonderful as, maybe more so than, her relationship with Alice. (Alice felt a little hard to grasp, like she was more of an idea; Josie seemed very real.) And because it's set in New Mexico, I could visualize everything perfectly. I had never heard of the artist Agatha was loosely based on, Agnes Martin, which is a bit embarrassing. The novel has a lot of sadness, but also a lot of humor. Overall, I found it uplifting—strongly recommend.
September 22, 2026
I understand the Elizabeth strout comparisons. I enjoyed reading a book about an older gay woman instead of my usual 20smtg year old books :3
And the stuff about dementia felt well done to me
And the stuff about dementia felt well done to me
October 10, 2026
“He is a bad refrain that repeats too often.”
October 5, 2026
3.5 stars !
A good story about grief, the fear of ageing, and how far someone will cross the line for someone they love.
The problem for me was the main character is very hard to root for. She’s very stuck in her way , which I know is the point of the story - I just wish she had a bit more character development sooner rather than later.
A good story about grief, the fear of ageing, and how far someone will cross the line for someone they love.
The problem for me was the main character is very hard to root for. She’s very stuck in her way , which I know is the point of the story - I just wish she had a bit more character development sooner rather than later.
March 4, 2026
If I had to pick one word to describe this book, it would be spare. There are few extraneous details, minimal background given on the main character, and not much in the way of plot. That is not to say, however, that these are drawbacks. Rather, they are fitting for a main character inspired by an artist whose work is all about minimalist lines and grids.
Agatha Smithson (the fictionalized characterization of artist Agnes Martin) is an outsider in New Mexico, living in a primitive house she built herself after fleeing New York City following some sort of mental breakdown. When she arrives in New Mexico, she falls in love with Alice, a widow slowly fading into dementia. As Alice's condition worsens, Agatha is determined to move her to Agatha's home, a step complicated by Alice's unwillingness to leave the backyard grave of her daughter, Lorna, and by Alice's son, Frank Jr., who wants to move his mother into a care home. Agatha is stubborn and determined, however, so she enlists a young neighbor boy who is always eager to help her in a plan to move Lorna so that Alice will feel at home. Alice is missing as all of this is happening, though, and soon it becomes apparent that Agatha isn't the only one keeping secrets in this small town.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Agatha is abrasive and bossy, and she's not afraid of hurting people by doing what she thinks is best for them. But she is loyal to those who are important to her and unapologetic about who she is.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published March 17, 2026.
Agatha Smithson (the fictionalized characterization of artist Agnes Martin) is an outsider in New Mexico, living in a primitive house she built herself after fleeing New York City following some sort of mental breakdown. When she arrives in New Mexico, she falls in love with Alice, a widow slowly fading into dementia. As Alice's condition worsens, Agatha is determined to move her to Agatha's home, a step complicated by Alice's unwillingness to leave the backyard grave of her daughter, Lorna, and by Alice's son, Frank Jr., who wants to move his mother into a care home. Agatha is stubborn and determined, however, so she enlists a young neighbor boy who is always eager to help her in a plan to move Lorna so that Alice will feel at home. Alice is missing as all of this is happening, though, and soon it becomes apparent that Agatha isn't the only one keeping secrets in this small town.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Agatha is abrasive and bossy, and she's not afraid of hurting people by doing what she thinks is best for them. But she is loyal to those who are important to her and unapologetic about who she is.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published March 17, 2026.
April 27, 2026
4.25 ⭐️ This was an excellently written story about a reluctant found family and the lengths they’ll go to not just to understand and accept one of their own, but to protect them. We’re really in a golden era for stories centered on gruff curmudgeonly elders with secrets hearts of gold, and I’m super here for it.
June 25, 2026
This book takes you on an odd journey that has many layers but unfortunately leaves many of them untapped. As I got to know Agatha, I definitely felt like I was being led but the leading never panned out.
The author took several liberties in this story loosely based on a historical figure and while they were somewhat entertaining, they fell flat due to lack of depth. I enjoyed what I could from this book but it also felt like a slog in many areas. Even the twist was delivered in a way that felt unearned which was probably the most disappointing part. My rating is truly derived from the laughs Agatha was able to get out of me due to her bitterness and disdain anyone that even breathed near her and Alice. Still enjoyed it but definitely not one to remember.
The author took several liberties in this story loosely based on a historical figure and while they were somewhat entertaining, they fell flat due to lack of depth. I enjoyed what I could from this book but it also felt like a slog in many areas. Even the twist was delivered in a way that felt unearned which was probably the most disappointing part. My rating is truly derived from the laughs Agatha was able to get out of me due to her bitterness and disdain anyone that even breathed near her and Alice. Still enjoyed it but definitely not one to remember.
May 5, 2026
Captivating in the weirdest of ways… I’ve always wanted to go to New Mexico and this book only made that wish become stronger. Agatha is hard not only to relate to in some ways… A beautifully strange book about grief and the crazy things it can make the mind do. I think the ending was rushed, and the twist at the end was introduced poorly, however I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about the taboo subjects in life.
April 14, 2026
Voice-driven novel featuring what I would consider to be a delightfully acerbic first-person narration. Stunning depictions of rural New Mexico, including its vast skies, at least one spectacular mesa-canyon system, and steady sunlight falling through many different windows, but especially those in Agatha’s hand-built adobe dwelling. The characters felt distinguished, and the twists were satisfying but not gimmicky. Will read again.
April 27, 2026
I Am Agatha was the most delightful surprise. Loosely based on the life of artist Agnes Martin, the main character, Agnes, is a painter who moves to New Mexico in her 60s. Agnes is a reclusive, cantankerous character who falls in love with Alice, a local woman suffering from dementia. Agnes will stop at nothing to ensure that her beloved Alice doesn't end up in an old folks' home, which is where her son is planning to send her. This book contains an interesting cast of characters, as well as, beautiful descriptions of the New Mexico landscape. I Am Agatha is darkly humorous, but I found Agatha's devotion and perseverance in wanting to take care of Alice so touching. I loved this story and am so grateful to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.
July 21, 2026
This book Sucked, with a capital S. I wasted six hours of my life being pissed off by Agatha and her obnoxious self-righteousness. I love an unlikeable character as much as the next person, but Agatha was just plain annoying. The storyline had promise but fell flat for me, the "reveal" at the end was unnecessary and also made no sense. Thank god this book was short because I'm not sure I could have persevered otherwise.
August 8, 2026
This book was wild. I can’t believe the twist! I hate and love Agatha. She was unlikeable and crazy, but loving. I think she cooled off, almost like she couldn’t stop herself. I loved that Georgia O’Keefe, in name, made an appearance several times. This was modeled after artist Agnes Martin.
September 3, 2026
i spent my time reading this feeling like agatha was leading me around by the nose with her narration, which she would probably find very apt. i don’t know if i necessarily liked it, but i also didn’t not like it? mixed feelings here but ultimately no regrets / 3 stars
April 18, 2026
Intriguing plot with multiple surprise endings. Funny and sad, intense and interesting. I think this author has a lot to offer and look forward to future works.
May 11, 2026
I liked the writing but the story itself didn’t feel like it was going anywhere… I kept thinking to DNF it, but stuck it out until the end, was it worth it? Not really
June 29, 2026
Enjoyable and interesting enough, definitely different in a good way.
July 2, 2026
Maybe a 3.75! I liked the surprising ‘unlikeable’ characterization of Agatha but at the end of the book things got so crazy! Kind of like a movie
April 13, 2026
Loosely based on the artist Agnes Martin, Agatha is herself a painter who falls in love with her friend Alice in New Mexico. Alice has dementia, and Agnes wants to live with her and take care of her. Alice's son has other ideas. This debut novel is about secrets, love, and aging. Wonderful character driven book, dealing with complex themes. Unique narrative voice. Delightful.
April 19, 2026
As a dear friend said about this book, it was very unpredictable in all the best ways!
March 17, 2026
Loosely based on a short period in the life of painter Agnes Martin, Nancy Foley’s debut novel I Am Agatha is a lesson on writing companionship, grief and memory.
Agatha loves Alice. She desperately wants Alice to move into her isolated hut, and to shut the two of them off from the world. But Alice’s worsening dementia, her determination not to leave the remains of her late daughter buried in her backyard, and her living son’s desire to move her into care, heavily complicate things.
Seeing the world through an artist’s eyes allows Foley to do what she clearly can do best: write lyrical descriptions, understand human connection on a complex poetic level, and find beauty in the mundane.
It was refreshing to see a same-sex older couple finding love later in life depicted in this book. I have never read a relationship like this before, and as far as I’m aware, it’s all too rarely depicted.
I liked how sometimes I agreed with Agatha’s decisions and sometimes I disagreed. She made for a very human protagonist dealing with very human issues. Her response to Alice’s gradual slipping away from dementia was heart-breaking and yet so important to witness: another perspective undervalued in the literary world that Foley does justice to here.
I think the New Mexico setting is a work of genius. This part of the US harbours myriad ghosts from its complex past that it will never shake, just as Alice stills clings to her deceased daughter Lorna despite her worsening forgetfulness. Lorna’s memory is tied just as firmly to this land as is the memory of its indigenous forefathers, and the flora and fauna that surrounded them.
Subtextual traces of New Mexico’s past seep into Agatha’s present, particularly through Foley’s blending of the human and natural worlds, a literary tool often used by indigenous authors. As far as I’m aware, Nancy Foley does not identify as indigenous, but, to me, her writing style - whether purposefully or not - echoes that of the likes of famed indigenous writers Leslie Marmon Silko and Joy Harjo.
I found this a very compelling read with highly quotable prose and a distinctly human touch.
Thanks to Serpent’s Tail and Nancy Foley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
Agatha loves Alice. She desperately wants Alice to move into her isolated hut, and to shut the two of them off from the world. But Alice’s worsening dementia, her determination not to leave the remains of her late daughter buried in her backyard, and her living son’s desire to move her into care, heavily complicate things.
Seeing the world through an artist’s eyes allows Foley to do what she clearly can do best: write lyrical descriptions, understand human connection on a complex poetic level, and find beauty in the mundane.
It was refreshing to see a same-sex older couple finding love later in life depicted in this book. I have never read a relationship like this before, and as far as I’m aware, it’s all too rarely depicted.
I liked how sometimes I agreed with Agatha’s decisions and sometimes I disagreed. She made for a very human protagonist dealing with very human issues. Her response to Alice’s gradual slipping away from dementia was heart-breaking and yet so important to witness: another perspective undervalued in the literary world that Foley does justice to here.
I think the New Mexico setting is a work of genius. This part of the US harbours myriad ghosts from its complex past that it will never shake, just as Alice stills clings to her deceased daughter Lorna despite her worsening forgetfulness. Lorna’s memory is tied just as firmly to this land as is the memory of its indigenous forefathers, and the flora and fauna that surrounded them.
Subtextual traces of New Mexico’s past seep into Agatha’s present, particularly through Foley’s blending of the human and natural worlds, a literary tool often used by indigenous authors. As far as I’m aware, Nancy Foley does not identify as indigenous, but, to me, her writing style - whether purposefully or not - echoes that of the likes of famed indigenous writers Leslie Marmon Silko and Joy Harjo.
I found this a very compelling read with highly quotable prose and a distinctly human touch.
Thanks to Serpent’s Tail and Nancy Foley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
March 28, 2026
Thanks so much to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
I requested this one on Netgalley on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. I read this entire book in a single day because I was so hooked on the central mystery of where Alice was, and I was equally charmed by Agatha, even though she’s pretty unlikeable. I couldn’t help but empathize with her, and part of me maybe even admired her for being so unapologetically herself, even when that self could be abrasive and supercilious (I’m beginning to notice that I seem to enjoy reading books where the main characters are cranky and difficult, yet witty, elderly people).
While some pretty big things take place in this story, I’d describe it as overall very quiet. The writing isn’t overly descriptive of either the setting or the characters, but it’s not lacking, either. I felt it captured the emptiness and vastness of the desert setting, and I really enjoyed the book’s overall tone in that regard.
It could be surprisingly dark at times, but it never felt heavy. Things that maybe should have felt more disturbing didn’t, somehow, and I credit the dry humor throughout the story to that.
There were two twists in this story, the first of which I saw coming pretty early on, and the second of which I did not in the slightest. I didn’t mind knowing where the story was going because I was just as interested in the how and why of it all, but I was pleased that Foley had a second trick up her sleeve that I couldn’t predict.
If any of this piques your interest in the slightest, you should just trust me and pick this one up!
I requested this one on Netgalley on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. I read this entire book in a single day because I was so hooked on the central mystery of where Alice was, and I was equally charmed by Agatha, even though she’s pretty unlikeable. I couldn’t help but empathize with her, and part of me maybe even admired her for being so unapologetically herself, even when that self could be abrasive and supercilious (I’m beginning to notice that I seem to enjoy reading books where the main characters are cranky and difficult, yet witty, elderly people).
While some pretty big things take place in this story, I’d describe it as overall very quiet. The writing isn’t overly descriptive of either the setting or the characters, but it’s not lacking, either. I felt it captured the emptiness and vastness of the desert setting, and I really enjoyed the book’s overall tone in that regard.
It could be surprisingly dark at times, but it never felt heavy. Things that maybe should have felt more disturbing didn’t, somehow, and I credit the dry humor throughout the story to that.
There were two twists in this story, the first of which I saw coming pretty early on, and the second of which I did not in the slightest. I didn’t mind knowing where the story was going because I was just as interested in the how and why of it all, but I was pleased that Foley had a second trick up her sleeve that I couldn’t predict.
If any of this piques your interest in the slightest, you should just trust me and pick this one up!
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