French Braid

A hilarious, happy, and very observant excursion into the vices of one Baltimore family—from a 1950s boyfriend driving a red Chevy to a much-needed reunion with a grandson in our pandemic-affected present—is presented by the well-known Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist.

In the summer of 1959, the Garrett family goes on their first and final family vacation. Though they don't travel far from home very often, they've never been apart in some aspects. Mercy finds it difficult to ignore her desire to become a painter, which means she will spend less time taking care of her husband Robin's home. Their adolescent daughters, the boy-obsessed Lily and the steadfast Alice, could not be less similar. For reasons none of them really understand, their youngest child, David, is already determined to break free from his family's influence. However, as their lives progress across decades, the Garretts' effects on one another reverberate through each generation in a subtle but undeniable way.

French Braid is classic Anne Tyler, full of heartbreak and humor. It's a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humor that highlights the kindnesses and cruelties of everyday life, the inevitability of being loved by others, and how close—yet how unknown—every family is to one another.