Tyler tenderly unwinds the skein of three generations. Perfects the intimate, easy style that makes reading her such a pleasure Claire Allfree, Metro So subtle, so amusing and real, it's like watching their lives happen in front of you Sainsbury's Magazine One of America's literary giants Graeme Thomson, Daily Mail

its power derives from the restless depths beneath its unfractured surface Alex Clark, Guardian Her terrain is the family, and the micro-interactions between both its members and interlopers from without her tone is superficially uncomplicated, her insights culmulative, her mode of realist fiction essentially conventional. magnificent Peter Kemp, Sunday TimesĪnne Tyler's twentieth novel has all the hallmarks of the well-loved author's best work - wonderful observation, intricate detail, nuanced humour and, of course, a family whose shared stories and secrets define them Antonia Charlesworth, Big Issue Her extraordinary gift for producing what seems less like fiction than actuality works wonders again. The combination of direct appeal, subtle perception and unshowy artistry in Tyler's fiction has been admired by authors ranging from Joyce Carol Oates and Carol Shields to Jonathan Franzen and Sebastian Faulks. This is best in years Kate Figes, Mail on Sunday

A must-read Good HousekeepingĪ new novel from Tyler is always a treat and this is her best in years Amy E Williams, Mail on Sunday (You) One of the most accomplished writers working today. 'A masterly author' Sebastian Faulks Read moreĪ stunning novel about family life which just rings so true - it depicts the bonds and the tensions, the love and the exasperation beautifully BooksellerĪ quiet sense of emotional tragedy, sharp observational humour and writing so economically precise you long to read every sentence twice Huffington Post 'One of my favourite authors ' Liane Moriarty **ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 1 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE** From Red's father and mother, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to Abby and Red's grandchildren carrying the family legacy boisterously into the twenty-first century - four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house that has always been their home. The whole family on the porch, half-listening as their mother tells the same tale they have heard so many times before.įrom that porch we spool back through the generations, witnessing the events, secrets and unguarded moments that have come to define the family. This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she and Red fell in love that summer's day in 1959. 'It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon.' **SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015** 'A new novel from Tyler is always a treat and this is her best in years' Mail on Sunday

A spool of blue thread by anne tyler