A Spool of Blue Thread

Perfect, like all Anne Tyler.

First I thought this was a book about a problem child. Then I thought: a woman, growing old. Then: oh, a family. Next: a house. Later: a family and its past. But in fact it is about all of this - of course - and the problem child finds a neat resolution too, at the very end of the book.
But even more so, like with all of Anne Tylers books, it is about endearingly normal, endearingly weird people. And she is looking back on life itself.

A Spool of Blue Thread starts slowly, but once the story becomes clear and the characters become people, it takes off. Tyler expertly crafts a family that is both believable and interesting. The dynamics are wonderful, especially those involving Denny, Stem, and Abby. I wanted to stay with these characters through the end. I wanted to understand them completely. I really was invested.

Then midway, Tyler forgets these characters. The story that was really becoming something special is forgotten. Suddenly, the story swells with history and backstory and the lives of characters I had not invested in. Their stories are interesting in their own right, but they weren't the story I had paid admission for. I wanted to get back to Denny, Stem... I wanted to know more about their history. I wanted to know where they were going. Once the continuity is dropped, however, the thread is never really picked up again. I slogged through the rest. By the time I got back to the present, I was too disappointed to really care much what happened to them. There were so few pages left that I knew any resolution would be unsatisfactory.

Easy read, some emotional response, not quite enough for four stars

Ah, Anne Tyler. Happiness is discovering that Anne Tyler is coming out with a new novel, putting the book on hold at the library, and having it come in for you at a time that you need a good book. Anne Tyler is...well, reliable. You know what you are getting. You are going to get family dynamics. And they will be just as disfunctional and, unexpectedly, magically healing, as your own family dynamics.

It's reassuring, somehow. And also comforting. And as good as a Hershey's milk chocolate candy bar at giving you enough, just enough, to go on.

This one may be my very, very favorite Anne Tyler. It's that good.