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  • Clock Dance

  • By: Anne Tyler
  • Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
  • Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (362 ratings)
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Clock Dance cover art

Clock Dance

By: Anne Tyler
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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Summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Clock Dance by Anne Tyler, read by Kimberly Farr.

Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life: when she was eleven and her mother disappeared, being proposed to at twenty-one, the accident that would make her a widow at forty-one. At each of these moments, Willa ended up on a path laid out for her by others.    

So when she receives a phone call telling her that her son’s ex-girlfriend has been shot and needs her help, she drops everything and flies across the country. The spur-of-the moment decision to look after this woman – and her nine-year-old daughter, and her dog – will lead Willa into uncharted territory. Surrounded by new and surprising neighbours, she is plunged into the rituals that make a community, and takes pleasure in the most unexpected things. 

A bittersweet novel of hope and regret, fulfilment and renewal, Clock Dance brings us the everyday life of a woman who decides it’s never too late to change direction, and choose your own path.

©2018 Anne Tyler (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

If Anne Tyler isn't the best writer in the world, who is? (Jane Garvey)
One of our greatest living fiction writers and if I was in charge, she'd have a Nobel by now (Julie Myerson)
Brims with the qualities that have brought her legions of fans and high critical acclaim. Characters pulse with lifelikeness. The tone flickers between humorous relish and sardonic shrewdness. Dialogue crackles with authenticity. Beneath it all is an insistence that it's never too soon to recognise how quickly life can speed by and never too late to make vitalising changes (Peter Kemp)

What listeners say about Clock Dance

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful - as you'd expect from such a fine write

I've loved Anne Tylers books for years and this doesn't disappoint.

it's slow evocative style gently draws out the quiet loneliness and desperation so many people live with and suffuses it gently with humanity and eventually meaning. All her books are essentially about connection and how people founder without it.

This is gorgeous book. It feels almost slight, but I am sure it will linger and come back to me as so many of her other have. In particular the characters are so well drawn they feel completely real. There's a strong feeling that long after you've finished the book they'll be quietly carrying on about their lives inside the virtual cover

If you're a fan of listening at faster speeds, this narration is beautiful slow and I easily listened at 2.5 speed. I deliberately slowed down in places to savour the words.

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6 people found this helpful

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I wish this book went on forever

I loved this book. I think it might become my new favourite Anne Tyler novel. The ease with which she weaves an utterly compelling story out of seemingly ‘ordinary’ lives is outstanding. The narration superb too. If I could give more than five stars I would.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Family Dynamics Laid Bare

Anne Tyler loves families and likes to get under their sin to show how they work, and sometimes don’t. Clock Dance is no exception. Beautifully written and read.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Will she or won't she?

Willa is a child in Lark City, Pennsylvania at the beginning of Anne Tyler’s22nd novel, bewildered by the temporary disappearance of her temperamental and destructive mother. I like the way her life is followed through the decades following into her sixties.
How do childhood experiences shape our lives? We see how Willa’s longing to be (unlike her mother) mild and unnoticed inspired her two marriages as a response to those early years. It’s not until the very last sentence that we see whether or not she will at long last break out. Will she return to the controlling husband who spends a lot of time on the golf course and calls her ‘little one’, or make a new life with all its risks and possibilities?
The narration and the people are (not surprisingly) very American, but Tyler’s observations are universal. Tyler’s skill is showing how quiet, ordinary lives are shaped by their early years: what is lost and more positively what can be salvaged and eventually grow. Well worth listening to if rather drawn out in places.

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Perfect!

Very much up to Anne Tyler’s usual high standard. A charming story, beautifully written and related.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Didn't live up to reviews

Story didn't really go anywhere and was a bit far-fetched. Main character not very credible. I didn't like the harsh American accent of narrator.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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emotional and touching

emotional and touching book of one life story of an ordinary and also extraordinary woman

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Lots to think about...

wonderfully observed, so well written and a great performance by the reader. Didn't want it to end!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Another outstanding piece of literature

One woman’s story is told with a gentle touch. I loved every page of this magnificent book. Highly Recommended!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Beautifully Written

Another excellent novel by Anne Tyler. Her dialogues are so realistic I feel I’m there. Some outstanding scenes including the very first one on the door step. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

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