On the 12th day of Christmas my LitPig brought to me ...
TWELVE TERRY PRATCHETSELEVEN PENGUIN CLASSICS
TEN FALCO MYSTERIES
NINE BILL BRYSONS
EIGHT PENELOPE LIVELYS
SEVEN KATE ATKINSONS
SIX UNSUED COOKBOOKS
FIVE CRIME FESTS
FOUR DAVID MITCHELLS
THREE MARGARET ATWOODS
TWO HOMER SAGAS
and
A BOX SET OF ROALD DAHL BOOKS
Each day I want to share the writing of an author that I read for the first time in 2011. These are my personal choices - you may know many of them, but perhaps one or two will be new to you ... So why not try a new author in 2012.
December 2011:
ANNE TYLER - Digging to America
Anne's beautifully constructed prose simply flows off the page. This is a subtle novel, without any major set pieces but populated with believable characters who do real and sometimes unlikeable things. Two quite different American families adopt Korean baby girls on the same day and this tells the story of both families from that first day. One family is a typical 'all American' clan complete with pushy mom and drift-along dad. The other are of Iranian descent, but born in the US. The challenges of adopting a new nationality while still trying to cling onto the disappearing traditions of a left-behind culture are portrayed sympathetically and with surprising good humour. My favourite character was the Iranian grandmother, a complex woman living in a brash uncomplicated world. The ending leaves you wanting more of both families. It ends on an upbeat note and trumpets the importance of having friends in your life, perhaps even more so than family.
Incredibly Tyler published her first novel in 1964 when she was 22 years old.
Incredibly Tyler published her first novel in 1964 when she was 22 years old.
Other novels by Anne Tyler:
If morning every comes (1964)
The tin can tree (1965)
A slipping-down life (1970)
The clock winder (1972)
Celestial navigation (1974)
Searching for Caleb (1975)
Earthly possessions (1977)
Morgan’s passing (1980)
Dinner at the homesick restaurant (1982)
The accidental tourist (1985)
Breathing lessons (1988)
Saint Maybe(1991)
Ladder of years (1995)
A patchwork planet (1998)
Back when we were grownups (2001)
Digging to America (2006)
Noah’s compass (2010)
Sound like a good read. I haven't read any Anne Tyler books - on the basis of your review I'll be trying to put that right in 2012.
ReplyDeleteYes I'd highly recommend this book. I plan to read more of her books in 2012 - The Accidental Tourist was also made into a very emotional film with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner.
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