Always a fan of Anne Tyler but I found French Braid a bit slower to get into than some of her others.

Anne Tyler is such a beautiful writer. I enjoyed the beauty of this story. I honestly could read her novels all day!

Anne Tyler is one of those authors I've always meant to read more of, so when I saw she had a new book out, I immediately requested it on NetGalley (and ended up not reading it for a whole year lol). I wasn't a fan of Vinegar Girl, the only other book I've read by her, and I'm not really sure how I felt about French Braid: it's a kind of family saga, skipping through time and following different members of the Garrett family through their own perspectives. I really like multi-POV for exactly this reason: finding out what characters really think of other characters, what their real motives are, what secrets they've been keeping from each other. I think Anne Tyler was successful in this, and I really got a sense of the decades passing (if not the actual decades themselves: for example, the 50s didn't feel different from the 90s and I would have liked more atmosphere of the times).

I found this a very easy read and, cumulatively, the experience was a good one: I really felt like I'd been immersed in this family's lives. But I suppose where I didn't enjoy it so much is that I found the first third really quite boring and the writing was nothing special – in fact, I found it a bit off-putting at times. A third of the way into the book, I thought 'I'm never reading another Anne Tyler book again' and now I do think I'll give her another go – but I have to say I don't really get the hype.

The latest book from one of my favourite authors lives up to everything I expect from Anne Tyler. She is the queen of observing ordinary human life and all the small little incidents and feelings which build a larger life. There is not much plot in this book, which provides snapshots of a family over several decades, but it gives a tender, wry, and poignant insight into human nature.

I enjoy Tyler’s style and writing, but this wouldn’t suit someone searching for a more narrative driven book as it really mostly amounts to vignettes about different family members across the decades.

Wonderful. Hard to describe quite why as on the surface it is very mundane and goes nowhere, but it is just a delight to read.

I found this quite slow and the characters couldn't hold my interest.
I initially stopped reading after the first few pages, decided to give it another go, but still found it very flat.
DNF at 35%

As always with Anne Tyler, French Braid is about family. This time it’s three generations of the Garrets who are, again as always, both extremely ordinary – they are young, they get old – and absolutely extraordinary.

I can imagine people complaining that this is ground Tyler has covered before. I can also imagine some might say it’s not her best novel, but precisely what I love about Tyler is her consistent and unerring exploration of the human condition.

What’s also consistent about Anne Tyler is that she trusts you to read between the lines – she has that incredible ability to communicate the left-out and the un-said – and the result in French Braid, as always, is exquisite, utterly absorbing, and deeply and profoundly moving.

Anne Tyler writes about everyday relationships with a sharp eye and a silken pen, choosing subjects which to people who have never read her may appear boring or worthless. Her books are never boring. ‘French Braid’, her 24th novel is, like all the others, about people, individuals and their families, ordinary people who become so familiar they could be real.
We first meet college students Serena and James, on the train returning to Baltimore from a Thanksgiving visit to James’s parents in Philadelphia. They’re in love and think they know each other well but this visit has highlighted differences in their experience of family and childhood and the expectations each has of how their own family will be in the future. Not all families are alike, they discover. After this shortish section, Tyler settles into the main story of Mercy and Robin – Serena’s grandparents – and their three children Alice, Lily and David through births, marriages and deaths from the 1950s to today.
The Garretts think themselves an awkward family, aware they’re not perfect - as Robin thinks when preparing for his and Mercy’s fiftieth wedding anniversary party, ‘Oh, the lengths this family would go to so as not to spoil the picture of how things were supposed to be!’ But in fact they’re being themselves, getting along together in the way that suits them, dealing with what life throws at them.
There’s a brief scene in the kitchen between sisters Alice and Lily as the family gathers at Easter to meet David’s new friend, Greta. They’re setting out food for lunch when their mis-communications and misunderstandings are laid bare. Hilarious lines – ‘Was bottled mayonnaise not a good thing?’ – are typical Tyler and made me smile. It’s a classic way of showing how two sisters can be so unalike but still rub along together. Tyler has such a deceptively simple way with words, summarising sprawling emotions so concisely that I want to write it down to enjoy again later.
Tyler examines how each family finds its own way through life. Not all siblings are best friends, not all spouses live in each other’s pockets. There is no right way or wrong way of being a family. Close-knit families may find looser-knit families cold or odd, but may in turn themselves seem claustrophobic and cliquey to outsiders. Neither is odd, simply different. Everyone muddles through the best they can. The trick to being part of a family, in Tyler’s world, is to adapt. Allow individuals to be themselves and accept annoying traits, awkward memories and uncomfortable truths along with the happy memories and shared laughter as part of a family’s mosaic.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

French Braid by Anne Tyler is set in Baltimore and is the story of the Garrett family and spans the period from the late 1950's until the end of summer in 2020. This family saga introduces us to Mercy and Robin, parents of Alice, Lily and David and how they each navigate their lives and their individual search for autonomy. Told over seven decades , and from the perspective of each member of the family ,it is easy to appreciate Tyler's skill at capturing the many complexities of the individuals as she demonstrates her ability to portray all the difficulties, peculiarities, needs and desires that can draw families together or drive them apart .
It is a heartwarming read but also poignant one , as it gives us an insight into the the normality of everyday family life with its many ups and downs which we are all a part of, and how it transcends the generations with humour, kindness and even cruelty. It is a perceptive, honest and entertaining account of family life, though for me I found it a little slow moving and laborious at times

I have read the majority of Anne Tyler's novels, and this book didn't disappoint.

A beautiful description of family life and all the trials that go with it, this isn't an action packed romp of a novel, but a true slow burner that pulls you in and doesn't let go. It will stay with you long after it is finished, you'll feel sad when you get to the end. Beautifully written, thank you Anne for such wonderful prose.

It’s back to Baltimore and another exquisitely observed exploration of family life from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Anne Tyler.
We meet the Garrett family in 1959 when Robin and Mercy take their children, teenagers Alice and Lily, and seven-year-old David on a rare family holiday to a lake. David is an imaginative and sensitive little fellow and when his heavy-handed dad tries to force him to learn to swim a simmering conflict is set in motion that will set David adrift from the mother ship forever.
The novel unfolds over a series of decades with each character getting their chance to reveal themselves. Everyone keeps secrets from the others – Mercy fails to tell the children she has left the marital home, David marries a colleague and doesn’t tell the family until afterwards, Lily conceals her third marriage, grandson Eddie is in the closet.
But despite all the tensions, resentments and betrayals lies an unbreakable thread of connection. The novel ends on a note of hope as David bonds with his beautiful grandson in a time of coronavirus. Yes, families have their foibles and fights and failings, Tyler seems to be saying, but the end there is always love.

Anne Tyler is a fantastic writer and this book proves she can still deliver an outstanding novel. Full of clever dialogue and brilliant characters, I loved every page.

Thread", which was marketed as being her final novel. Unfortunately, I feel she should've stopped there. Her books are always a slow burn - typically following a family over a generation or so - but a focus and a direction drive them forward. This one was so slow I wanted to give it CPR, it wandered and drifted, with a vague theme of you never really know your family, but it took a long time to get nowhere. For a mid-sized novel, it seemed to take forever to finish.

What can you say Anne Tyler does it again. This is an author I only found a few months ago and have now read three including this one family relationships humor , love and Baltimore brilliant!!

“Oh, a French braid,”.... "And then when she undid them, her hair would still be in ripples, little leftover squiggles, for hours and hours afterward" ..... "that’s how families work, too. You think you’re free of them , but you’re never really free; the ripples are crimped in forever.”

French Braid by Anne Tyler - A Multi-generational family saga

Coming from India, I have always been very close to my family. I grew up surrounded by loud, noisy opinionated people who loved being around each other despite having earnings and family of their own. Times have changed, the current generation have moved to new lifestyle of independence and still we meet up regularly, always have some one visiting in weekends and help is available instantly if asked. Having said how close families in India can be, I have seen some really cold wars between siblings or parents here too. Thus my interest in reading about families and what makes them or breaks them. This book is like talking to a wise one in your family to understand relationships

The story follows the Garretts for three generations. The book is not fast paced, plot twists but about the relationship of the old couple who has sent their kids off to college, between siblings who are different and cannot connect to each other easily even though they care for the family. The author has written everyday events to give extraordinary details of relationships. Some small event shape up the family dynamics for years.

Narrated with different characters of the family in each chapter, we read the perspective of everyone. Some chapters are funny and some chapters do drag. Completely character driven , each one makes us empathize with their plight, their need of independence or be judgy with them. The family does a lot to keep up appearances and also to keep themselves in peace just to have a picture perfect. We see this in a lot of families and sometimes be in on such families making it so much relatable!!

“This is what families do for each other— hide a few uncomfortable truths, allow a few self-deceptions. Little kindnesses.”

For people who like the character driven, real genuine family story, this is the best

A story about how small things ripple through a family and their generations, from the 50s to now. Often the story didn't go where I expected it to, but it's beautifully written and pulls out everyone's thinking and reasoning. I wish there had been more querying of why it was ok for Lilly to be 14/15 and have a much older boyfriend she was just left with - and then she's characterised as "flighty", i found that quite uncomfortable. I didn't feel that the daughters were really fleshed out particularly.

I can't say I really enjoyed this. The writing is very good and I think it will be popular with book groups (and good for discussion) but it was only the second Anne Tyler book I've read and it didn't inspire me to read another one.

A family novel that manages to seem both intimate and sweeping, in a way only Anne Tyler can achieve...

I really struggled to get into this story. There were some parts that I enjoyed but overall, I couldn't get into it for some reason. I liked that it read quickly and there was plenty of detail in each chapter.

I loved hearing about the Garrett family's trip to the lake. It sounded nice and quaint. Although the "narrator" sentences really annoyed me.

I felt sorry for Serena after her trip to her boyfriends parents house. The argument over families felt so familiar, something I think most new couples argue about.

I also felt so sorry for Desmond, the cat. I am such an animal lover so I'm always sympathetic towards any animal in a story.

I didn't feel like there was an overall end or point to the story, unfortunately thus one just wasn't for me.

There's nothing I like more than a short book that is light on plot and strong on characters. If there's one author who's going to give that to me then it's Anne Tyler. Tyler is known for her family sagas and <em>French Braid</em> sees her return to the multigenerational ensemble that she is so comfortable with. It takes us through the history of a typical American family from Baltimore. We meet the Garrett family and see them grow through the years. It takes us through several defining moments in any family's life: the plight of the empty nesters; marriage strife; new generations; and the loss of relatives.

At the head of the family are Mercy and Robin, a seemingly mismatched couple who married in their early 20s. He's a plumber and she's a housewife with dreams of being an artist. Their story begins in the Summer of 1959 when Mercy convinces her husband to take their first and last family holiday. It then jumps between the decades right up until the 2020 pandemic. We see Mercy and Robin's family grow and change as new family members enter and old ones depart. This is a fantastic look at how a family's dynamic affects future generations. Tyler can zone in on the little moments that end up having a major impact throughout the decades.

Anne Tyler is a very readable author, which isn't meant to sound as patronising as it does. This is the kind of story that just absorbs you and you won't find it easy to get out. Despite how little actually happens. This isn't a book that has a lot of drama. Tyler has a keen eye for the seemingly insignificant moments that can secretly change a relationship. She takes the minutiae of family life and shows how it can filter down from parent to child. The Garretts aren't a close family even though most of them live incredibly close. As Mercy and Robin's grandchildren grow up, it's just a fact that is never discussed.

Garrett's children are very different and have tricky relationships with their parents. Alice, the eldest, is the sensible one who sees her mother as irresponsible and flighty. Then there's Lily who makes decisions with her heart instead of her head. The two sisters are polar opposites and it's prevented them from forming a strong relationship. Finally, there is David who is the black sheep of the family. He is quiet and reserved as a child, which is why everyone isn't really surprised when loses touch with everyone. One of the key themes of <em>French Braid</em> is masculinity. Tyler presents several forms of masculinity within the book and shows how difficult it can be to meld these together. Robin doesn't understand his son and it irreconcilably changes their dynamic.

<em>French Braid</em> is such an unassuming but impactful book. It is funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. The narrative is split between different third-person perspectives. This is something that I'm not always a fan of but it's fascinating seeing the family from different points of view. The jumps in time also just seem to make sense. You get the feeling that we're witnessing the significant moments in their lives and that it all works pretty organically. As my first taste of Anne Tyler, this was a great starting point. It's poignant and fun but it doesn't shy away from the darker side of family life. I really enjoyed every word in this book and will certainly pick up more Tyler very soon.

This story follows a family, starting in 50s America and the pattern of their lives. It is beautifully descriptive and conveys the emotions that go with a family and their struggles and triumphs through the years.
I’d highly recommend this book.