I was very happy to find this little hard covered gem on a recent visit to the Big Smoke. Anne Tyler is still in top form as her narrator, Gail, tells about the weekend of her daughter’s wedding. The first Anne Tyler I remember reading, years ago, was about a woman who walked away from her family who were having a day at the beach. I became an instant fan of Tyler’s plain, pure and simple style from that moment.
Gail tells of how the weekend began on Friday with an uncomfortable conversation with the headmistress of the school where Gail worked, followed by the arrival at her door of her ex-husband, Max, who should have been staying at their daughter’s house the night before the wedding; but Max had brought a cat he was fostering, and the husband-to-be was allergic to cat dander so it turned out Max had to find somewhere else to stay. The cat fits neatly into the story and if I hadn’t already started to love this book up till then, I did now.
Gail’s lack of ‘people skills’ having been pointed out at her meeting with the headmistress, she goes on to narrate some of her past history as well as what is happening in the present, mindful of this description. It is a short book (165 pages) but it says so much, including what it doesn’t say. It is a love story without seeming to be. Gail is quite judgmental of herself as well as others and it is up the reader to find the pictures which go with her words, which is a worthwhile, rewarding exercise.
My Anne Tyler collection was destroyed when a natural disaster hit our house two years ago but this beautiful little book is now going to occupy a proud position on my bookcase, which makes me happy!
Published by Penguin Random House.
No comments:
Post a Comment