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French Braid

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French Braid

By: Anne Tyler
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The major new novel from the beloved prize-winning author - a brilliantly perceptive, painfully true and funny journey deep into one family's foibles, from the 1950s right up to the changed world of today.

When the kids are grown and Mercy Garrett gradually moves herself out of the family home, everyone determines not to notice.

Over at her studio, she wants space and silence. She won't allow any family clutter. Not even their cat, Desmond.

Yet it is a clutter of untidy moments that forms the Garretts' family life over the decades, from giving a child a ride to a painstaking Easter lunch, a fateful train journey to an unexpected homecoming.

And it all begins in 1959, with a family holiday to a cabin by a lake. It's the only one the Garretts will ever take, but its effects will ripple through the generations.

©2022 Anne Tyler (P)2022 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Funny Cats

Critic Reviews

"If Anne Tyler isn't the best writer in the world, who is?" (BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour)
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Like all Anne Tyler books have been for me, it feels like spending a gentle long afternoon watching family dynamics and the quirks of life. I was very thrilled to find an Anne Tyler novel partly set in the pandemic! Somehow this gives me a sense of peace. If Anne Tyler can write a story from there, it’ll be alright somehow. I enjoyed noticing similarities and deepening and variations on some of the themes of Anne’s other novels: mothers finding a way to escape, families not seeing each other fully, the details and amusements of daily life, loss and connection. I have listened to all of Anne Tyler’s novels one or more times through these past two years of the pandemic. I look forward to listening to French Braid a second time. So glad Anne Tyler kept writing and publishing!

Took me a while to get into then loved it

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Another wonderful tale of family life.

The Easter lunch was brilliant, These characters were delightful from start to finish.

Anne Tyler has done it again

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Intriguing story about an ordinary family through generations. interesting to see the characters envisioned as children and adults at different times in their lives. So well captured and observed. The question about David's relationship to his family kept me guessing to the end. Very well narrated.

Epic on a small scale

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Narrator and words work perfectly. Small lives, intricate details. A family apart but together. Loved this book.

Captivating

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An interesting take on the so-called dysfunctionality of all families. Very sweet, very gentle and very reassuring.

Gentle & comforting

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I gave read a lot of Tyler’s books but this was so boring and humdrum that I couldn’t finish it. I listened as far as 3/4 way through but couldn’t listen any further as it just never improved. A pity as her books are usually good. Cannot recommend. It was a bit like watching paint dry!

Boring

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A wushu wavy story that doesn’t have any meaning whatsoever. The characters are shallow and each thread of story is superficial. Nothing ties it all together. Don’t bother.

Boring and in pieces.

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