Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. “It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon. . . . ” This is how Abby Whitshank always describes the day she fell in love with Red in July 1959. The Whitshanks are one of those families that radiate an indefinable kind of specialness, but like all families, their stories reveal … families that radiate an indefinable kind of specialness, but like all families, their stories reveal only part of the picture: Abby and Red and their four grown children have accumulated not only tender moments, laughter, and celebrations, but also jealousies, disappointments, and carefully guarded secrets. From Red’s parents, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to the grandchildren carrying the Whitshank legacy boisterously into the twenty-first century, here are four generations of lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn house that has always been their anchor.
Praise for A Spool of Blue Thread
“An act of literary enchantment . . . [Anne] Tyler remains among the best chroniclers of family life this country has ever produced.”—The Washington Post
“Quintessential Anne Tyler, as well as quintessential American comedy . . . [She] has a knack for turning sitcom situations into something far deeper and more moving.”—The New York Times Book Review
“By my count I’ve now reviewed around fifty books for USA Today. I’ve never given any of them four stars until today: to A Spool of Blue Thread, the masterful twentieth novel by Anne Tyler.”—USA Today
“By the end of this deeply beguiling novel, we come to know a reality entirely different from the one at the start.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“Well-crafted, utterly absorbing and compelling . . . probably the best novel you will read all year.”—Chicago Tribune
“A miracle of sorts . . . tender, touching and funny . . . [an] understated masterpiece.”—Associated Press
“Exploring [the] dichotomy—the imperfections that reside within a polished exterior—is Tyler’s specialty, and her latest generation-spanning work accomplishes just that, masterfully and monumentally.”—Elle
“The story of any family is told through the prism of time. And no storyteller compares to Tyler when it comes to unspooling those tales.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Vintage Anne Tyler . . . [The Whitshanks are] rendered with such immediacy and texture that they might be our next-door neighbors.”—Los Angeles Times
“The magic of Tyler’s novels [is that] you imagine these characters carrying on, muddling through, enduring the necessary sorrows and quiet joys of their lives somewhere beyond the page.”—The Seattle Times
“The sort of novel that’s hard to disentangle yourself from. Warm, charming and emotionally radiant, it surely must be counted as among Tyler’s best.”—The Miami Herald
“Prose so polished it practically glows on the page.”—Houston Chronicle
From the Trade Paperback edition.more
Have loved all of Anne Tyler’s books but this is a personal favorite especially since the story revolves around a mother/grandmother as she’s aging and starting to forget things. You love her and you love her family that loves her!
I loved this book. It reminded me how precious time is and how fast it goes. I love the picture in my mind of the house with it’s wide front porch. All the events that happened in the house and on that front porch. It was sad that the house was abandoned in the end, the family having moved on.
Not the author’s best book, but the writing is smooth as always. The structure is a bit challenging, and the last part feels almost like a short story with a conclusion that is less than satisfying. Her characters feel like people I’ve known (3 generations of Whitshanks). One plot twist for Denny, the character who is hardest to “know” gets …
Everyone believes her family is special, but we find out otherwise. A very real look at multi generations of a middle class family.
I chose this novel because it’s the one I wrote most recently and I loved it. But I love all of Tyler’s work. Much for the same reason as I like Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor (British writers) she writes about the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. It makes one see the extraordinary in your own daily life.
I like the way Anne Anne Tyler develops her characters. You feel as if you know them or know someone like them.
This is a novel exploring four generations of a family living in Baltimore, from the time of the Great Depression to the modern era. It looks at how family relationships evolve and transform over time, and how some hurts leave a permanent mark. Many of the characters are fully-drawn and deeply believable. But some are less well developed. On the …
Extremely interesting tale of a family through several generations.
A good story, but not a happily ever after kind.
No character’s story was ever developed or made clear.
I feel she writes much better than this,
Started to read twice could not get into it.
I read it twice. So good
I was disappointed in this book. I generally read all of this author, but this one was not her best… it didn’t seem to ‘go anywhere’. I would not recommend it.
Loved this book!
This was one of the worst books I’ve ever read. So disappointed in this author! Story started in the middle, wandered back, returned to the middle and ended with the thread still unraveled. Doesn’t appear to have a sequel but I’d be reluctant to buy that if there was one.
I did not like the characters so I stopped reading. Usually I like Anne Tyler
I wondered if everybody was on the Asperger’s spectrum in this story. They didn’t seem very connected nor did they connect with me.
beautifully written and rich characters
This is a story about o e family’s foibles and a book in a vain search for plot.
I was very disappointed in this book. It did not live up to the hype. The characters were not that appealing, and the ending was disappointing. Save your money!