Every family is different in its own way

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler is the story of one family. Abbie and Red have children and grandchildren but they are beginning to find life difficult and not everything is smooth going in their family. In this story they wrestle with Abbie’s continuing ill health, one son who wants to fix everything for them and one son who has always caused trouble. As we learn about the family in the present the author then tells the stories of some of the characters, and of the house, in the past and small details such as the spool of thread in the title show how the past and present are linked. As the story ends the family, which has always identified itself with the house which Red’s father built, is making a new start.

This is a book about lots of things including accommodating your expectation to the child you have rather than the one you wish you had. It is also about how families make up shared stories to explain their past which aren’t always true. There are secrets in this story some of which are revealed to the characters and some of which only the reader learns. The house plays an important part in the story and it is sometimes a delight, sometimes a burden and often a refuge.

The main character is Abbie who has been a social worker who extended hospitality to anyone in need but who, as she is now older, sometimes feels that she doesn’t understand what is going on. I thought that Abbie was an engaging character and I liked the way that her views were so often different from those of her husband but that the two of them adored each other.

This book is easy to read and I found it very enjoyable. I liked the family and their internal dynamics and how not everything in the book is resolved. I have read other novels by this author and you can read my reviews of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant here and The Accidental Tourist which I think is the best I have read here.