“French Braid” by Anne Tyler
A new novel by Anne Tyler is always a delight for her many fans, and they will not be disappointed by this story, once again set in Baltimore; all about several generations of the Garrett family. In my case it was also the right novel to read when it came out at the end of March, as I was ready for a well written, good storyline and an entertaining read having just finished a more sombre tome.
We are introduced the family Garrett, the year is 1959 and they go away for a week to a lakeside cabin. The only family holiday ever, away from their shop, which Mercy inherited from her father, but is run day-to-day by her husband Robin. Their three children, daughters Alice and Lily and son, David have varying experiences; Lily being a wilful teenager, Alice ever reliable, and David the quiet youngest. The holiday has it’s ups and downs, and is oft referred back to as we read the other chapters of the book.
Mercy is an artist and when David goes off to college that is the excuse for her to branch out and take her hobby more seriously and she in effect leaves home spending more and more time at her studio, not far away. She settles into her own routine, and Robin seems to cope despite being somewhat deserted by the love of his life. Alice and Lily marry have their own children, Alice having the more traditional and reliable household; Lily settling down when she meets Morris. David, never really returns, once he had left for college except when summoned for family occasions, and some of these are recounted as the reader follows the Garretts from 1959 eventually through to 2020 and David’s experiences during the pandemic, but this is a timeline within the story, which the author uses to bring the Garrett’s life stories all together, and to expose the meaning of the title of her book.
We get to meet all of Alice’s family, her husband Kevin and their children who then feature on and off throughout the book as Robin and Mercy age. Lily’s household and David’s distant family with Greta who his sisters never really get to know. Easter celebrations, family anniversaries are all excuses for Anne Tyler to do what she specialises in; telling tales about families. One of Alice’s children becomes interested in art and spends time with her grandmother. The family business survives and is passed on down through the generations, from family to family.
This all bolts together into a very satisfying gentle read, not a page-turner, but a book where the pages turn themselves as the lives of the Garrett family, a right mixture of varying personalities, age through the late 20th century and drift into the current era. Reliable as ever Anne Tyler rewards.
