Shout-Out: A Spool of Blue Thread

 The Publisher says:

It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon...' This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she and Red fell in love that day in July 1959. The whole family on the porch, relaxed, half-listening as their mother tells the same tale they have heard so many times before. And yet this gathering is different. Abby and Red are getting older, and decisions must be made about how best to look after them and their beloved family home. They've all come, even Denny, who can usually be relied on only to please himself. From that porch we spool back through three generations of the Whitshanks, witnessing the events, secrets and unguarded moments that have come to define who and what they are. And while all families like to believe they are special, round that kitchen table over all those years we also see played out our own hopes and fears, rivalries and tensions - the essential nature of family life.

My Impressions:

I've never been a fan of Anne Tyler, even though she writes about my home town Baltimore in almost every book.  This one however, is exquisite.  The characters she develops carefully let us into their psyches as they struggle to come to grips with aging - both their own and their parents.  It is a story so ordinary in its universality, but so special to each person involved.  Anne Tyler may have hit her peak with this one.  I never thought I'd appreciate her writing, but this one truly resonated with me, and I suspect will ring true with many readers today, no matter their age.

Title: A Spool of  Blue Thread
Author: Anne Tyler
Publisher:Knopf (2015), Edition: 1St Edition, 368 pages
Genre: Literary fiction
Subject: Aging and family relationships
Setting: Baltimore
Source: Audio download from public library Overdrive
Why did I read this book now? It's being considered for the Maine Readers' Choice Award and I'm on the selection committee.