Anne Tyler

A Novel

Clock Dance

One of the Best Books of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, The Christian Science Monitor Willa Drake has had three opportunities to start her life over: in 1967, as a schoolgirl whose mother has suddenly disappeared; in 1977, when considering a marriage proposal; and in 1997, as a young widow trying to hold her family together. So she is surprised when in 2017 she is given one last chance to change everything, after receiving a startling phone call from a stranger. Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to help a young woman she's never met. This impulsive decision, maybe the first one she's consciously made in her life, will lead Willa into uncharted territory--surrounded by eccentric neighbors who treat each other like family, she finds solace and fulfillment in unexpected places. A bewitching novel of hope and transformation, Clock Dance gives us Anne Tyler at the height of her powers.

It’s okay. A bit saviour-y a bit poverty tourist-y but not the worst.

Julie Twist

Patrick Book

I liked this quite a lot! I’d give it a 3.75. There was too many threads I would’ve rather seen explored, like her relationship with her sister through the years. Willa seemed far too oblivious as an adult compared to her inquisitive and incisive younger self. The narrative came down too simply; yes, all men are disappointing and all women are inconsistent. I’d have liked something a little deeper than that. 

But I’m also a sucker for stories about families.

Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life. In 1967, she is a schoolgirl coping with her mother's sudden disappearance. In 1977, she is a college coed considering a marriage proposal. In 1997, she is a young widow trying to piece her life back together. And in 2017, she yearns to be a grandmother, yet the prospect is dimming. So, when Willa receives a phone call from a stranger, telling her that her son's ex-girlfriend has been shot, she drops everything and flies across the country to Baltimore. The impulsive decision to look after this woman and her nine-year-old daughter will lead Willa into uncharted territory--surrounded by eccentric neighbors, plunged into the rituals that make a community a family, and forced to find solace in unexpected places.

Sarah Sammis

Clock Dance by Anne Tyler is about a woman trying to find her way in a life that seems to be taking her along for the ride. The book is set in four distinct time periods, with the last one being the meat of the plot.


666666 - marginalized home offroad

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

Julie Anne Robson 

As usual Anne Tyler delivers in the realness of life and human interaction. There are moments that build and then dissipate as it does in everyday life. Moments that happen and become a story that will be told in conversation throughout one’s life. As mundane as some parts were they tell an overall story of how a persons life passes in a blink and you’ll miss it way. It describes perfectly how we are shaped by the people who surround us from early childhood and how that comes into play further down the line. It was also interesting to see the main character eventually become the person she had been all along but was always holding back to put others first. 
The ending was disappointing, or so I thought at first. On reflection the ending is perfect. It’s true to life, it’s how it is ,and it stays perfectly true to the book as a whole. If you read it and find it a little meh then I guarantee that on mulling it over you will come to understand how completely brilliantly the book has been written to evoke that feeling of a very true to life experience of true to life people living an ordinary life. 

What...what did I just read? I don't know, but I know I wouldn't have read it if I didn't want to join the Barnes and Noble book club this month.

It was so well written in the beginning! I was ready to run out and buy all of her books! But something between the jumps in time, the apathetic nature of the characters, and the vague and open ended conclusion lost me. The characters all turned ibto horrible people at the end, which was very laborious to read.

Ana Couto

Not a big fan of this book...I simply couldn’t get into the plot or the characters. But I’ve enjoyed other works by Anne Tyler.

Rachel

Clock Dance is a book about people and not knowing what you want in life, but slowly realizing what your life is right now is not what you want. Willa hasn't been in control of her life since she was a kid to older middle age. When Willa is contacted by accident when one of her son's ex-girlfriends needs help after being shot in the leg, she and her husband fly out to a practical strangers house to take care of her daughter and end ups finding reasons to stay longer. This is a light hearted book that is filled with relatable characters and seeing how they came to be the person they are.

Abigail Yoder

Erin G.

Amelia C 

Molly Shipley

A bittersweet novel of family and self-discovery from the bestselling, award-winning author of A Spool of Blue Thread Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life: her mother’s disappearance when she was just a child, being proposed to at an airport at the age of twenty-one, the accident that would leave her a widow in her forties. Each time, Willa ended up on a path laid out for her by others. So when she receives a phone call from a stranger informing her that her son’s ex-girlfriend has been shot, she drops everything and flies across the country. The spur-of-the moment decision to look after this woman and her nine-year-old daughter leads Willa into uncharted territory and the eventual realisation that it’s never too late to choose your own path. 'She is and always will be my favourite author' Liane Moriarty

Clock Dance A Novel

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