Digging to America is the story of two Baltimore families who meet each other in an airport, pre-9/11, when they come to pick up their infant daughters they have adopted from South Korea. It’s similar to other Tyler novels, in that it’s an intimate examination of family dynamics, but it’s different than all the others, too–it’s bigger, as it also examines what it means to be an American. I know that makes it sound terrible and tiresome, but trust me, it is anything but. It’s […]
Slight but Engaging
The other day my mom texted me and asked, “Which Anne Tyler novel is the one about the strange family?” Easy, Mom–literally all of them. Tyler’s specialty is lovable eccentrics. In The Beginner’s Goodbye, Aaron Woolcott joins that list, although he’s not as memorable as some others. Aaron works for a publishing firm owned by his family, and is married to a doctor, Dorothy. After they’ve been married about 8 years, Dorothy is killed by a tree falling through the roof into their sunroom. Shortly […]
This Will Be Our Year, Took a Long Time to Come
Breathing Lessons is the story of a single afternoon in the marriage of Ira and Maggie, as they take a road trip to attend an old friend’s funeral. Along the way, they encounter some unique characters, reminisce about their lives together and take a detour to attempt to mend their relationships with their ex-daughter-in-law and granddaughter. There. That’s the plot summary for this book, but it tells you absolutely nothing about what really happens. Breathing Lessons is a case study of a marriage. I could […]
Once Upon a Time. . .
I don’t specifically remember the first time I read this book, but that could be because I’ve read it at least once a year since then–at this point, that’s ten or more rereads. This is my favorite book. It’s the story of Rebecca, a fifty-something widow, who at a family picnic one day sort of “wakes up” and realizes she has no idea how she turned into the person that she’s become. She runs a party planning business out of her home, attempts to corral […]
I could be happy the rest of my life with a vinegar girl
Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors (this is the third book of hers I’ve reviewed this year), and that is the only reason I was willing to read Vinegar Girl, a modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading this. The modern twist in Vinegar Girl is that the “shrew” character, Katherine, is the daughter of an eccentric scientist, Louis Battista. Louis’s lab assistant, Pyotr, is in the U.S. on a visa which […]
Tess, It’s Been A While
It’s been a while since I read a Tess Monaghan mystery by Laura Lippman and I’ve missed them. Long before The Wire, I stumbled upon this series—drawn in by the fact that the main character was a rower and not small and skinny. However, I soon realized that one of the things I loved about this series was the setting. Like most of my favorite mysteries, place is an important character and most of the Tess Monaghan stories are love letters and sometimes hate mail […]