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This is a book I picked up randomly at a flea market once. I liked the title- which is how I pick up most of my books. I then saw that the author was a Pulitzer winner and well, then I had to read it. I’m so glad that I did. This post is a book review of A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler.
What Is This Book About? (A mostly spoiler-free overview)
This story follows three generations of the Whitshank family and is tied together by their family home, an impressive house built by Junior Whitshank, that is so central that it almost functions as its own character in the story. We're invited into the lives of Abby and Red Whitshank, and their four children, Amanda, Jeannie, Stem, and troubled Denny. We then jump back in time to witness the formation of the family, by following the lives of Linnie May and Junior Whitshank, Red and Merrick's parents.
For me, this book is about different things in different generations. For Abby and Red, it's about the glue that keeps families together, and how that comes to be. In this case, I see this role played by equal parts mother and wife, Abby, and the family home itself. Perhaps this is most highlighted by how quickly one is abandoned when the other is lost.
For Linnie Mae and Junior, it's a testament to sheer will, and how some people can surrender to an outcome, no matter how unlikely, and somehow will it to happen. For Linnie Mae, it's willing a family with Junior. For Junior, it's willing the upward movement he has always felt due to him, starting with the grand house on Bouton Road.
It has themes of 'us vs. them', fitting in, social standing, an overbearing mother, an overbearing father, sibling rivalry, shame, death, secrets, and just general family dynamics.
The voice
This author's voice is so clear and sure of itself. It’s a book written by someone who knows themselves to be a writer and who trusts themself to tell the story. As such, I trust the storyteller. She feels no need to try and sell how good she is. There is no showy language, it's beautiful in how direct and simple and airy it is. Her words carry such depth without any pretense, which made it an easy read.
What I most Enjoyed
The experience
I mean this in both ways. First, my experience as the reader which was so enjoyable. And second, the experience of the author that comes across in their storytelling. I could tell this was a book written by a seasoned professional, it reeked of experience and mastery. This came off in the following ways:
The Subtlety of the Storytelling
Nothing screams in this book. The words roll out in a subtle way. Even at the most profound moments, always there is this layer of subtlety.
I will perhaps struggle to articulate why this is such a great thing, but as both a reader and especially as a writer I find this incredibly impressive. It’s so easy to lead with something, to throw excitement about when creating a narrative, that I find the absence of that in this book to be masterful. Whether Tayler forced herself to thwart the impulse or if she never had it in the first place, I’m quite in awe of the execution.
The Real Delicacy of the Characters
By that I mean the characters are so real that they have a certain delicacy I associate with all real people. I always get the sense that everyone is wearing their personality and it’s fitted to them in a rather delicate layer. This gives the sense that at any moment they might just break character and reveal something….else. This is how I feel about real people, and when I feel it about fictional characters I know the writer has done something special.
In most cases, and even in some of my own writing I’ll admit, the characters feel a touch too rigid. Like their personalities are plastered on and they are set in them; they don’t have that ever so slight airy space between themselves and the blanket of their personality, the space that allows a reader to breathe air into to solidify their realness. These characters have that.
What I Least Enjoyed
Very Low Stakes
I don’t recall ever being truly concerned for or about any of the characters. I know this is the same subtlety I was praising a few minutes ago (bear with me), but I think it functions differently from a voice point of view as compared to a plot point of view. I know fully that this is a character-driven story, and that plot is secondary (Tyler has admitted to being a terrible plotter and so she makes no real effort even to try). That is fine, I too am not a great plotter and that is not the criticism here- I am getting to it I promise...
In many books, there might be a great central conflict, a crescendo moment that all events lead up to. This book doesn't do that, rather, it has numerous smaller tension points all throughout. I like this very much. However, those tension points are all very small (if we are measuring intensity) and so, as I said in my opening, I don’t recall ever being truly concerned for or about any of the characters.
I wish I had. I wish on just one of the nights when I put the book down I thought, 'Oh God, whatever is going to happen next? Is Abby (or Denny or Merrick) going to be okay?'. This never happened for me, instead, I found myself thinking, 'I can't wait to continue reading.'
I know, I can't believe I'm complaining about that either. To want to keep reading a book and be excited to do so is such a complete achievement. That said, art is subjective and another person might love this lack of heartrate-quickening stakes most of all, but I do not. I almost wish she wasn't such a master of subtlety.
Note: This is not to say that the book completely lacked stakes and/or tension- these were definitely present. It's just that the storytelling made it all unravel almost too perfectly (for my taste) such that even in moments when I was aware that something worrying or stressful was happening, I didn't feel worried or stressed about it.
Verdict: 4 stars
I would give A Spool of Blue Thread a 4-star rating. I enjoyed reading this book. It was written so well, and it is a great window into family dynamics- a theme I always enjoy. I would have liked to see some more intensity in the stakes and tension. I highly recommend it, and I will look out for more Anne Tyler books in the future as I enjoyed her writing so much. Luckily for me, she apparently has 20 other books (and counting).
If you read it, please let me know what you think of it.
Happy reading,
Nonjabulo
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