Anne Tyler: A Spool of Blue Thread (July 2019)

This month’s book by Anne Tyler was welcomed by the group. Margaret was unable to attend our meeting but wrote a note for us.  She stated that she was not usually a fan of American literature but she found some pleasure in this work which she compared to “a comfortable woollen blanket-not altogether exciting but satisfying for a few relaxing hours”.

A few in the group had, read a number of A.Tyler’s books and confirmed that all her books are family centred. Anne Tyler herself confessed in an interview that  she has started out a number of times to write something a little different but the minute she thought of a character she was immediately caught up in considering the individuals history and family context.

This book describes 3 generations of the Whitshank family and their experiences, aspirations and disappointments through most of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century For the most part they resided  in a sprawling house in Baltimore which was built by Junior Whitshank  for a Mr Brill , but was later sold to Junior after some chicanery on his part. His son Red inherited the property in due course and lived there with his wife Abbey,  and it was there that they brought up their 4 children.

Within the walls we are treated to the spectacle of the profound complexities of husband and wife and child – parent relationships and the sometimes deep-rooted  rivalries and attachments of the siblings.

It is with the death of Abbey that the house which had acted as a magnet to attract the family back to it over the generations is to be abandoned.

The story is not told in a straightforward way  but shifts back and forth in time  and there was a general consensus in our group that the most fascinating part of the book was near the end where there is an account of the strong resentments of Junior Whitshank and his wife Linnie Mae which were played out  using of blue paint and honey varnish! As to the significance of the “Spool of Blue Thread ” you

l have to read to the end of the book to find out.

We have a break for the summer, so our next review will be in September.

Happy beach reading

J.F.