bought to read on holiday next week

Update: read and now on loan to Mum. Here's what I thought:

Anne Tyler is one of my favourite authors; there is nothing remarkable about the stories (ok, perhaps having a tree fall on your house is an exception), but her characters are wonderful. So well portrayed, and believable. I've only given this eight out of ten because this time around there was something just a little bit off. I think it was the era. The characters behaved as if they were living in the 1950s. A couple of references to e-publishing and the Apple store were the only clues that they were not. Aaron in particular was old before his time. Having said that, it was a touching story with a satisfying ending. I liked the description of Aaron wanting to see his wife so badly that his eyes practically knitted her, and how he describes grief lessening over time as if a blanket has been thrown over it, softening the edges, but if you lift up the corner of the blanket it's still as raw as ever.