A New York Times best-selling novel of self-discovery and second chances from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Redhead by the Side of the Road Willa Drake has had three opportunities to start her life over: in 1967, as a schoolgirl whose mother has suddenly disappeared; in 1977, when considering a marriage proposal; and in 1997, as a young widow trying to hold her family together. So she is … trying to hold her family together. So she is surprised when in 2017 she is given one last chance to change everything, after receiving a startling phone call from a stranger.
Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to help a young woman she’s never met. This impulsive decision, maybe the first one she’s consciously made in her life, will lead Willa into uncharted territory—surrounded by eccentric neighbors who treat each other like family, she finds solace and fulfillment in unexpected places.
A bewitching novel of hope and transformation, Clock Dance gives us Anne Tyler at the height of her powers.
One of the Best Books of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, The Christian Science Monitor
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Thought provoking. Easy to read.
Quiet, sweet story.
I was not sure what the first three sections had to do with the rest of the book. I figured the author would show her earlier life affected her choices in later life. That was not very evident. So many neighbors in second half of book I had trouble remembering who they were . Not much character development beyond Cheryl and Willa , which was not that strong either.
This is the story of Willa Drake who seems to be your average American woman. We follow Willa over several decades of her life. This story had me hooked in parts but I felt there was no smooth transition from one decade to another. Suddenly she was older but there was no connection from the last section. This left me feeling frustrated with a lot of questions. I wanted to love this since it had me hooked from the beginning but I definitely ended up lost. This was almost a DNF but I can never DNF a book.
I love all of Baltimorean Anne Tyler’s books!
I love most everything ANNE Tyler has written, and this one was one of her best. A great story with realistic and memorable characters.
Most people like this book. I did not. It goes on and on about essentially nothing. Reading it, I wondered: when are you ever going to get to the point? Then: is there a point? In the end the main character chooses a regressive developmental stance and thinks of it as her liberation and freedom. I just can’t get behind cheering being a rescuer as a life path.
A wonderful story of a woman whose life suddenly and unexpectedly takes her on a journey she didn’t know she needed to take. I thought about it long after I finished.
Ann Tyler never disappoints
I love everything by Anne Tyler. That said this time the book is not making the top of my AT list as I found the characters soooooo unappealing. I love the character driven story and Tyler is a master at continuity but something was not there for me. I do recommend it because AT is such a great storyteller that even off she’s four stars.
Anne Tyler understand human nature as well as any writer ever has, and she explains why we do what we do with perfect clarity and great humor.
I literally “devoured” this book! Her usual quirky characters. Absolutely loved the ending.
Typical wonderful Anne Tyler
Full of Tyler’s usual quirky Ball-u-more characters. A bit more redictable than her typical plot; will resonate with older female readers whose lives are changing, usually without their permission.
In classic Anne Taylor fashion, she deftly waves disparite characters into an unlikely situation. Her quirkily normal sensability shines through in her razor sharp descriptions of everyday moments. Can’t wait for her next!
Anne Tyler’s best book yet, if that’s possible. Her characters are uplifting and the story line great. A real page turner!
I could not wait to get back to the book! I thoroughly enjoyed it
A must-read for Anne Tyler fans, Clock Dance is up there amongst her best works. In her characteristically understated way, Tyler explores roles within families and what happens when we break out of the boxes we are put into by others late on in life. A very enjoyable read.
“From beginning to end, she thought, she’d done everything wrong.”-Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
Second chances, do-overs, reinventing oneself, rebirth, awakenings–are they wish-fulfillment fantasies? Can we change our lives? Or are we wound up by childhood experiences and genetics and parental models to whirl across the stage of a life we have no control over?
This is the essence of Anne Tyler’s novel Clock Dance, the story of Willa, a woman who comes at life slant, passive and bending.
The story follows the life of Willa from her childhood in 1967 and through marriage and motherhood, the loss of her spouse and remarriage. She has never asserted her own needs, doing what is expected or what keeps others happy.
A phone call from a stranger informs that her son’s ex-girlfriend has been shot and the neighbor is tired of caring for the girlfriend’s child, Cheryl. The neighbor thinks Willa is the girl’s grandmother. Willa has longed for grandchildren and decides to leave Arizona for Baltimore to care for the child. Her husband disapproves.
What happens in Baltimore changes Willa’s life.
I read the novel in a day, enchanted by the characters and Willa’s journey of discovery.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through First To Read in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
SPOILER ALERT VERSION
After a Goodreads friend complained I told too much, I excised the following from my review.
The story begins in 1967 when Willa and her younger sister are children. Their mother is temperamental and unreliable, their father long-suffering and depressed. Willa picks up the pieces when her mother disappears for days at a time.
Ten years later finds Willa surprised to be the love interest of the older Derek, a jock and BMOC, “rescued from handsomeness” by freckles. He pushes her into leaving school to marry him, and pregnancy soon derails her plans to finish her degree. Derek’s fatal flaw of angry impatience with others brings an early and tragic death, leaving Willa with two children to raise.
“Now she settled into the dailiness of grief-not that first piercing stab but the steady, persistent ache of it, the absence that feels like a presence.”
2017 finds Willa remarried to Peter, an older, childless man, a successful and handsome lawyer who, though retired, still puts his business first. Peter is condescending and self-centered. Willa’s children are grown and her sister is emotionally and physically distant. Willa is struggling to find meaning and purpose in her life.
A phone call from a stranger informs that her son’s ex-girlfriend has been shot and the neighbor is tired of caring for the girlfriend’s child. The neighbor thinks Willa is the girl’s grandmother. Willa has longed for grandchildren and decides to leave Arizona for Baltimore to care for the child. Peter thinks she is crazy.
Nine-year-old Cheryl is no poster-child with her round tummy and pudgy cheeks. She loves baking and the Space Junk cartoon series. Cheryl is also wise and grounded. And looking for a grandmother in her life.
As Willa becomes enmeshed in Cheryl’s world and neighborhood, she defies Peter’s demands, until she must decide how she will spend the last of her life.
It mixes genres: history and psychology. It seems romantic but concerns a weighty subject of a kidnapping or disappearance. It interests yet it makes me think and recoil.