| Title | French Braid |
| Author | Anne Tyler |
| Copyright | 2022 |
| Type | Fiction |
| View/Purchase (Non affiliate) | Amazon |
| Finished | April 15, 2022 |
| Rating | ★★★ |
Anne Tyler’s focus is on families who are, well are not Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best. This the eighth novel of hers I’ve read. This story follows three generations of the Robin and Mercy Garret family. It starts with two of the third generations’ cousins meeting at a train station where they don’t recognize each other at first. This is our first clue that this is not a close family. In the middle of the story Lily – one of the three siblings in the second generation – is talking about her mom:
“In fact, she didn’t feel like Mercy’s daughter. Or more accurately, she didn’t feel that Mercy was any kind of mother. She felt Mercy was like those cats who fail to recognize their own kittens after they’ve grown up.”
Page 113
We see why the family is disjointed and how they would yearn for the closeness other families. Other than seeing Mercy as the central character the book seems to meander among the three generations. I never got the feeling that the story was actually leading anywhere. Looking back at my previous reports I found that I’d given 5 stars to four of her books; 4 stars to two, and 3 stars to two (including this one). You can see my detailed reports here.
