French Braid
Fiction
Knopf Publishing Group
March 22, 2022
Hardcover
256
Purchased
The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever leave home, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understand. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation.
Full of heartbreak and hilarity, French Braid is classic Anne Tyler: a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humor that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives, the impossibility of breaking free from those who love us, and how close--yet how unknowable--every family is to itself.
My review:
I'm at the point where I would read the phone book if it was written by this author! She has such a quiet way of inserting you into the lives of the people within her stories, and you wish they could never end! I will say that if you are not a fan of character driven plots, this (and most of her other works) will not be for you, but oh are you in for a treat if you are! Her descriptions of normal family life with all of its idiosyncrasies will have you caring about each of these characters whether you like them or not. Each of the main characters has a certain personality that you come to recognize without even having to see their name on the page. The main character Mercy was so interesting to me. I never really understood most of her motivations, yet I still loved that she stuck with her convictions over a lifetime. I loved that we got several generations, and that the book encompasses time from 1959 until the present. I think I could have spent a few more decades with this family. As is always true of her novels, Tyler has perfectly constructed sentences and descriptions, and settling down with her books is like welcoming an old friend for a catch up. The only nit pick I have is that the first chapter is not in chronological order, whereas the rest of the book is. I think I understand why it was constructed this way, but it still left me pondering. I also wish the novel had been longer, I wanted even more of Alice, Lily, and David's stories. Since the book ends in present time, I was as satisfied as I could be with the ending, some of the characters' lives are still open ended.
All hail to the queen of writing about the mundane aspects of life! This book is another masterpiece in character (family) studies. If you are a lover of family stories, please pick this one up!
