Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Publisher: Random House Canada

Released: 2015

Pages: 368

Source: Personal

Rating: 4/5

A Spool of Blue Thread is a family saga that includes three generations told through snapshots. This book is universal, relatable and engaging. The Whitshank family could easily be your family, or the family next door. They’re not perfect, they struggle and like all families, they don’t always agree. Anne Tyler does a great job looking at family dynamics. The story centers around Abby and Red, their four children and the history of the house- built by Red’s father and his dream. Tyler allows readers to realize that achieving your dream doesn’t always lead to happiness.

I read this book on vacation, and I fell in love with Abby. Now older, she has to come to terms with how she raised her children, and how she will live out the rest of her life.  Will her children look after her and Red when the time comes? What will happen to the house that Red’s father, Junior so lovingly built? Junior’s backstory was probably the most captivating for me, and I wanted more. I loved Linnie, and their story gave the house life. I thought this book was great. It’s not a fast paced read, but it held my attention and kept me wanting to pick it up.

This is a hard book to review, because of all the characters but it isn’t a hard book to follow. I recommend this one to any readers who want a good family story, a realistic story. It wasn’t an all-time favorite, but I’ve very happy I read it and discovered Anne Tyler.  I will have to pick up some of her other books as well.

A favorite quote from the book: " The trouble with dying." She'd told Jeannie once, "is that you don't get to see how everything turns out. You won't know the ending."