French Braid

 

French Braid by Anne Tyler

Fiction

2022 Alfred A. Knopf

Finished on December 14, 2023

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author--a funny, joyful, brilliantly perceptive journey deep into one Baltimore family's foibles, from a boyfriend with a red Chevy in the 1950s up to a longed-for reunion with a grandchild in our pandemic present.

The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever leave home, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understand. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation.

Full of heartbreak and hilarity, French Braid is classic Anne Tyler: a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humor that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives, the impossibility of breaking free from those who love us, and how close--yet how unknowable--every family is to itself.

Anne Tyler's latest novel (I believe it's her twenty-fourth) took me by surprise. If asked, I would admit with a bit of embarrassment that I am not a fan of Tyler's books. She is so popular and everyone I know seems to love her novels, but I've tried several, and have only finished a handful. 

As I began reading French Braid, I recognized Tyler's familiar style of a domestic story peopled with quirky family members. The novel opens in 2010 with a young couple, Serena and James, who are catching a train from Philadelphia to Baltimore. They had been visiting James' parents, and while waiting for the train, Serena spots her cousin, Nicholas. After a brief conversation with Nicholas, the couple boards the train and spends the duration of their trip bickering about their visit.

Jump back to 1959 in the following chapter and we meet Serena's family, specifically her grandparents, who are taking their three children on their first (and last) family vacation. This sudden shift in the timeline took me by surprise, and we don't meet back up with Serena until much later in the book.

The Garretts are an odd bunch, even disregarding Tyler's unusual names such as Mercy and Candle (the latter is actually Kendall, but she couldn't pronounce her name when she was little and Candle stuck). There are also two grandchildren named after their grandfather, Robin. One is referred to as "Robby the Boy," since his cousin was born first and she is Robby the Girl. Oh, and there's even a dog named John! 

It wasn't until I reached the second half of the novel that I began to care about this strange family, and more specifically, the last chapter (set during the lockdown period of the pandemic), which won me over, tugging at my heartstrings, and tempting me to start reading the book again from the beginning. Spanning sixty years, French Braid is a tender and beautifully rendered story about family, warts and all. Highly recommend.

Click on the links below to read my reviews for other Anne Tyler books:

Noah's Compass 3/5 stars

A Spool of Blue Thread 2/5 stars

Back When We Were Grownups 3.5/5 stars

A Patchwork Planet 4/5 stars

Digging to America 4/5 stars

Ladder of Years 4/5 stars

Earthly Possessions 2/5 stars