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A Spool of Blue Thread

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2015

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A Spool of Blue Thread

By: Anne Tyler
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S FICTION PRIZE

A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK

‘It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon…’

This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she and Red fell in love that summer’s day in 1959. The whole family on the porch, half-listening as their mother tells the same tale they have heard so many times before.

From that porch we spool back through the generations, witnessing the events, secrets and unguarded moments that have come to define the family. From Red’s father and mother, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to Abby and Red’s grandchildren carrying the family legacy boisterously into the twenty-first century – four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house that has always been their home…

'One of my favourite authors' Liane Moriarty

'She spins gold' Elizabeth Buchan

'Anne Tyler has no peer' Anita Shreve

'Anne Tyler is one of my favourite writers and this is a delicious book' Rachel Joyce

 Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Heartfelt
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Critic reviews

Tyler's twentieth novel finds fresh fictional riches in imaginative territory she has been exploring for half a century... Atmospherically rendered, the passage of time has both entertaining and heart-rending results. She has never written with more finesse, vitality and acuteness
I love Tyler's writing... She writes so beautifully and with such insight. Read her books and she can actually change your view, change how you see the world (Judy Finnigan)
Exquisite
Tyler's sentences are wholly hers, instantly recognisable and impossible to duplicate (Hanya Yanigihara)
The extraordinary thing about her writing is the extent to which she makes one believe every word, deed and breath (Kate Kellaway)
Tyler writes with an apparent effortlessness which conceals great art. The Whitshank family is tragic, comic, absurd, absorbing -- and lives on its illusions, as every family must. You'll shiver with recognition (Helen Dunmore)
Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing (Rachel Joyce)
The combination of direct appeal, subtle perception and unshowy artistry in Tyler's fiction has been admired by authors ranging from Joyce Carol Oates and Carol Shields to Jonathan Franzen and Sebastian Faulks... Her extraordinary gift for producing what seems less like fiction than actuality works wonders again... magnificent (Peter Kemp)
Every sentence is perfect in this witty story of family life
A must-read
All stars
Most relevant
I really enjoyed this book. There were some surprises, but it described the sadness and unpredictability of life very poignantly.

Enjoyable read.

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Not sure I enjoyed this book very typical of other American fiction. It had me hooked but I'm not quite sure what the point of the story was...... The characters have stayed with me not sure I would have bothered reading the whole book

Compulsive listen but aimless

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Wonderful description of family life and the difficulties involved. Gives a very good picture of Baltimore and the depression parts of Junior and Linny show how people survived.

Susanita's review

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Just the thing if you can't sleep. It's a serious subject with lots of humour and light enough. You can fall asleep listening and pick it up anywhere. It's an easily revisited tale of an Irish family's struggle with bereavement. All the characters are given their own voices and Kimberly Farr doesn't falter in remembering them.

A great story, beautifully narrated

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Where does A Spool of Blue Thread rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I loved this book, and I was sad when it ended. But it took me a while to settle to the slow pace and time switches. In the end the characters became very real in my mind, and related well to my own family saga.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Red Whitshank was the most likeable character in my mind. As a man he reminded me a lot of my father. But then Abby Whitshank was a lot like my mother. Although my parents only lived in America briefly, they had a lifestyle very much like the Whitshanks with hospitality, hard work, family and church at the centre of their lives.

Have you listened to any of Kimberly Farr’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I would like to hear more from her - I loved her accent and voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, this is a book to savour and re-read slowly to prolong the pleasure.

Any additional comments?

I would love to listen to another book by Anne Tyler read by Kimberly Farr.

Stick with it for your reward

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