Anne Tyler is one of the finest American authors, perfectly capturing the humanity of her characters. In #FrenchBraid we see the intricacies of family relationships, individual personalities and characteristics, the surprising yet ordinary ways that life plays out. Perhaps the emotional distance between each character is reminiscent of the physical distance many of us have experienced over the past two year. And perhaps it’s a reminder that we might all try a little harder to care for one another …. or that we’re all just a little different and perfectly okay.

Anne Tyler's latest novel follows the Garrett family through three generations. The narrative starts in the early 1950's with Robin and Mercy newly married. They have three children, Alice, Elyse and David. The children aren't particularly close to one another or their parents and, as the novel progresses, David becomes more and more aloof from the family.

This is a family with very low expressed emotion, where public displays of emotion are unheard of. A kiss on the cheek is a rarity and touching one another just doesn't occur. Maybe a hug once in awhile for a grandchild, but that's it.

The Garretts work hard to portray themselves as a normal family. "Oh, the lengths this family would go so as not to spoil the picture of how things were supposed to be." Secrets be damned. No one would be privy to them. Even when Mercy gets a studio to do her artwork, and then basically moves into it, Robin tries to keep it secret from his children for years. Oh, the dishonor of Mercy having moved out.

I have to say that this book puzzled me. I found it difficult to understand the distance that existed between the family members and their contentment with this. There was no particular animosity or harboring of anger, just a nonchalant lack of caring. I didn't feel like I got to know the characters any more than they showed themselves to each other. I viewed them from the outside, but was unaware of their inner lives. Robin actually comments on this to an extent, when he says he has no idea what's going on in his kids' lives and that fatherhood was not what he'd envisioned.

The title French Braid comes from the hairdo. After, a French braid is undone, crinkles are left in the hair for a very long time. "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."

Ms. Tyler's concept of family bothered me as it seemed so sterile and without emotion. As one character says, "So, this is how it works. This is what families do for each other - hide a few uncomfortable truths, allow a few self-deceptions." To me, family is so much more, in all its grace and difficulties. Families stir up emotions that stay with us for most of our lives. If we're lucky, we come from a loving family, and that love shows us the way and sustains us.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this novel.

No one writes character driven novels quite like Anne Tyler. In "French Braid", Ms. Tyler deals with an entire family. She examines their relationships, their personalities, and we learn why they behave as they do. She beautifully allows us to see how they age, and change, and even, drift apart. And she does all of this with true compassion and an understanding that makes us reflect on ourselves and our relationships with the family we grew up with.
It's a beautiful story that should not be missed.

Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors for a reason: she understands people, and she tells very specific stories in ways that resonate almost universally. This book is a treasure, and I will be sharing it like a rare treat.

Classic Anne Tyler book, set in her adopted city of Baltimore. Story centers around the Garrett family, spanning the 1950s to the present pandemic. She takes us through multiple generations, and explores all the eccentricities of their family, which in reality apply to every family. The characters age, they quarrel, they divorce, they like and then dislike one another. Most touchingly and thoughtfully, she shows us how seemingly trivial events can have such profound long standing consequences -a forte in every one of her books. There is a character for each of us to identify with-I will not share mine😂😂
Tyler hits another “home run”.

Anne Tyler is so skilled at writing about human and family relationships. This story is so fitting of the title, as the relationships of this family weave in and out between family members and others in their community.....sometimes becoming tightly woven, yet sometimes slipping out of place during a messy time of life. I always enjoy her writing and this was one of my favorites.

Anne Tyler is a master of the family novel, I was first introduced to her through the movie adaptation of The Accidental Tourist. I then plunged into her body of written work. I've never been disappointed with any of her writing. French Braid is another winner.

This is the story of the Garrett family, told from the point of view of various famliy members through the decades.

Anne Tyler does not disappoint. This story of a Baltimore family through the years will resonate with readers.

This is another quiet tale of relationships from Anne Tyler. She is a master at painting those little domestic interiors with her words. The Garrett family consists of mom, dad, Alice, the “little mother”, Lily, the irresponsible one” and David the young introspective son. Their roles become obvious on their one family vacation, a trip to a lake cabin in 1959. The story moves on in time from then. We see the parents changing relationship, and each child’s need to pull away. This is also a tail of how families protect one another, never mentioning the elephant in the room.

I've been a big fan of Tyler's for many years. This novel is as good an example as any of her ability to create engrossing reads that defy an attempt to summarize the plot because the plot is not really a sequence of events so much as a flow of character development in ordinary lives. And these characters are palpable, have an identifying odor, and stick with you for a few days. Or they simply move in with you.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance ebook copy. This is a tightly compacted family story. I love Anne Tyler's prose; it is succinct, yet oddly descriptive in its brevity. French Braid is the story of a Baltimore family beginning with the marriage of Robin and Mercy in 1940. The story does travel back and forth in time but not in a way that is discombobulating. The members of this family never quite feel like their family is ENOUGH, but family is hard, and I appreciated the way Tyler conveys this so that the reader sympathizes with characters that may not always be likeable. This is an engrossing, one-sitting read!

Another wonderful novel from Anne Tyler. She captures family life so well. French Braid covers the Garrett family from the 1950s to present day. There's even a bit of Covid lockdown. Some of the characters are quirky, but they are believable. This would make a fine book discussion title.

Sitting down with an Anne Tyler book gives me the same warm and comfortable feeling I get when I turn into my parents' driveway. She's a favorite author for me and a favorite of my mother's as well-in fact, most of the Anne Tyler books I've read were borrowed from my mom. I've read Tyler since high school when I was probably too young to relate to most of her characters. Today in middle age I do relate, and French Braid does not disappoint in its familiarity and relatability.

French Braid follows the Garrett family from the 1950s when they take a family vacation through the lives of each of the family members, ending with their experiences in the pandemic. We watch births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. I found myself falling in love with this entire family.

Anne Tyler's newest novel is like a wonderful peek into the photo albums of an ordinary American family. Her exceptional talent is in showing us just how very extraordinary the ordinary can be.

For fans of Anne Tyler, the story of a family through several different time periods. The members of the family are not particularly close but are still woven together like a French braid. That’s where the title comes from.

What is it that makes Anne Tyler novels so special? Her aching humanity? Her pleasure in the quirks of her characters? Her embrace of the dysfunction of life? There's always one character whose life will pivot and that person will head in a direction no one, least of all them, expected. The result is a surprised and heartened reader.

The Garretts of "French Braid" run a hardware store in Baltimore, and in 1959, dad Robin decides they need a vacation. They've never been on vacation before and aren't quite sure what to do, but this week will have repercussions for decades.

As in nearly all Tyler's books, there's someone with a hope and a dream they have to explore. In this case, it's mom Mercy, who studied art and has to find a way to get back to painting. Her idea of how to make money with her work is so insightful and offbeat that you know that art was her real calling.

Is this the best Anne Tyler book? No. But nonetheless, it does a beautiful job of letting us see the foibles of our fellows with a kinder eye. Perfect for these difficult times.

Another wonderful novel from this author! Her faithful readers are going to love it, as will readers new to her who are seeking a quietly compelling intergenerational family story that's full of unexpected moments. While the story centers around a couple, Mercy and Robin, who married in the 1950s, it goes back and forth in time to explore the stories of their children and grandchildren as well. I look forward to recommending this excellent book, which would also be a perfect choice for a book discussion group.

A new Anne Tyler! I was pretty giddy about this. The most recent book of hers felt like a tease-it was good Tyler writing, but somewhat short and unsatisfying. I'm pleased to say, this book was the real Anne Tyler deal. A multigenerational story, slightly dysfunctional family, of course set in Baltimore. Her writing was as good as ever and I wish I could share some specific sentences, but I can't. In part because I read this on my Kindle (and don't know how to use any note taking features of it.)
One part reminded me so much of Ladder of Years-a woman creating a spare space outside her family home, distancing herself from them (which makes it seem like I yearn for that and I do not.)
Tempting to say "what a bunch of weirdos" about the characters, but they are not terrible people. I loved seeing their quirks (and yes, some frankly weird behavior) and just being swept up in this family story. I think what's interesting about her books is that there really aren't any huge exciting plot moments or suspense, I just love her way with words and characterization.

No one writes about families better than Anne Taylor. Her characters are quirky, relationships are messy, and, yet, no matter how near or far away, family is everything.

Ann Tyler has a reputation as an intuitive empathetic author. In my experience over the years her stories have gotten bleaker and bleaker. In the opening section of French Braid we are introduced to a family with no sympathetic characters . I kept pushing on through the second time period when we concentrate on Mercy, the mother of the family who fancies herself an artist and independent woman. I kept reading until she did something heartless and in my mind unforgivable and gave up on her and Anne Tyler. I don’t need unicorns and lollipops, but her action was beyond the pale.