A Spool of Blue Thread

Family life never grows old in the hands of Anne Tyler, a master of domestic fiction who returns to familiar terrain in her 20th novel, A Spool of Blue Thread. This time around, Tyler (The Beginner's Goodbye) focuses on the Whitshank family of Baltimore, Md., launching the story with a call from wayward son Denny, who, at age 19, drops an attention-getting announcement on his parents, Abby and Red. He then hangs up and disappears from their lives--and the lives of his three siblings--for years. 

Tyler characterizes the Whitshanks as "one of those enviable families that radiate clannishness and togetherness and just... specialness," and Denny "trailed around their edges like some sort of charity case." Years later, when the entire family--including Denny--finally reunites in Baltimore, stories of the past are retold when Abby and Red's future living arrangements are called into question. 

The common thread binding the generational tapestry of the Whitshanks is the family home built by Red's father in the 1930s; the warm, inviting nature of the house comes to represent the family. In flashbacks, Tyler delves into the history of Red's parents and how Abby and Red met and married in 1950s. The stories of those who inhabited the residence deepen the meaning of the present-day predicament: with Abby and Red growing older and more infirm, the four disparate siblings and their spouses urge the couple to dismantle their bedrock, their beloved home, and make alternate living arrangements. 

Abby and Red's decision will not only affect their lives, but the lives of their children--particularly the two sons who struggle to reconcile their distinct places in the fold. Tension builds in this multi-generational saga as Tyler stitches together an intricate, insightful story about family history, memories, rivalries and long-held secrets.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Knopf, $25.95 Hardcover, 9781101874271, 368 pp

Publication Date: February 10, 2015

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Note: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (2/10/15), click HERE

This review was also featured (in a longer form) on Shelf Awareness: Book Trade (2/6/15). To read the longer review click HERE

Noah's Compass

In Noah's Compass, Anne Tyler delivers (in her eighteenth novel) a quiet, subtle story with a main character whose interior life runs deep. Liam Pennywell is a man in his sixties who has aspired to much more than life has delivered.

When the private school where Liam had been teaching fifth graders "downsizes" him out of job, Liam moves in to a smaller and cheaper apartment. The first night in his new digs, Liam wakes to find himself in the hospital. He doesn't recollect how or why he got there. But we learn, as the story unfolds, that an intruder broke into Liam's apartment and assaulted him.

"The distressing thing about losing a memory was that it felt like losing control," Liam tells us. The trauma of the whole incident rocks the boat of Liam's mundane, unfulfilled existence. In trying to solve (and sometimes even obsessing over) the mystery of what happened at his apartment that night, Liam is ultimately forced to confront the larger issue of who he is, what his life really means, his mortality, and why he feels so disconnected from his quirky family. This includes an ex-wife, three daughters, a sister and even his aging parents.

In the hope that a medical doctor might help him regain his memory of the incident, Liam decides to consult with a neurologist. While in the waiting room, Liam is drawn to a local business tycoon, apparently in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The man is being assisted by a younger woman whose gentle devotion in helping the tycoon to remember things strikes a chord in Liam that encourages him to seek out her help.  After the appointment, Liam tracks the woman (Eunice) down under the pretense of looking for a job at the tycoon's company. Liam's relationship with Eunice forces him to delve more deeply into the meaning of life.

Toward the end of the book, there is a very touching scene between Liam and his grandson where they share a conversation about the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark that addresses the underlying themes of this gracefully written and profound novel:

"There was nowhere (for Noah) to go. He was just trying to stay afloat. He was just bobbing up and down, so he didn't need a compass, or a rudder, or a sextant..."
"What's a sextant?"
"I believe it's something that figures out directions by the stars. But Noah didn't need to figure out directions, because the whole world was underwater and so it made no difference."

Liam Pennywell emerges from this story as if he, himself, has voyaged though life like Noah. While his nagging sense of isolation and a lack of direction seem to embody the universality of man, it is Liam's journey that ultimately propels him to a place of greater awareness and peace.