nomadreader

narrated by Kimberly Farr The backstory: A Spool of Blue Thread , Anne Tyler's twentieth novel, is on the 2015 Bailey Prize short list. Update: it was also on the 2015 Booker Prize short list. The basics: A Spool of Blue Thread  tells the story of the Whitshank family over four generations in Baltimore. My thoughts: For years, Anne Tyler was one of those authors I was embarassed to not have read. When The Beginner's Goodbye  came out three years ago, I read it and was disappointed . There were some highlights, to be sure, but I found it uneven overall. When A Spool of Blue Thread  came out, I was intrigued, as I love family sagas, but the first reviewers expressed disappointment, so I thought I would skip this one and revisit her earlier acclaimed novels. Then, when it was longlisted for the Baileys Prize (and since short listed), I knew I would read it. I opted for audio because it was available immediately at the library. Tyler drops the reader right into th...

The basics:  The Beginner's Goodbye, Anne Tyler's nineteenth novel,   is the story of Aaron and his wife Dorothy. After Dorothy dies, she visits Aaron. My thoughts: The novel's first line introduces the reader beautifully to this quirky novel: "The strangest thing about my wife's return from the dead was how other people reacted." It clearly established what this novel isn't: a tearjerker about the death of a spouse, although it is tinged with sadness at times. While it is an examination of a marriage, it's more of a character study of Aaron, with his love for Dorothy being one of his defining characteristics. Aaron is also partially crippled and has been since childhood. He works with his sister, Nandina, at a publishing house whose emphasis is on publishing writers who will them to do so and their successful series of "Beginners" books. Aaron's career serves as both a nice tie-in to the novel's title and an intriguing forum to p...