In The Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler, Cordelia Grinstead is on holiday with her family at the beach. Almost out of nowhere, she gets up and begins walking ... and doesn't come back. Instead, she hitches a lift to a new town and reinvents herself. It's not that she becomes a daredevil or does anything particularly exciting. Instead, she gets a nothing much job, stays in a nothing much place and is very, very ordinary. And yet, she is happy. She is more herself, unconstricted by the demands her family placed on her ... where they never appreciated, or even seemed to notice her existence. When real life catches up with her some time later, the reader doesn't know whether to root for her to stick with this new life or go back to the people she'd left behind. Some may say that nothing much happens in this book, and they wouldn't be too far from the truth. Yet, this is a study of the ordinary, everyday lives of many, many women who lose themselves within a family environment and might think ... what if? If you are looking for crashes and bangs, this isn't for you. But if you want to read a beautifully written book with a quiet, yet determined woman at the centre, then there are much worse choices you could make. I borrowed this from my lovely Mum who was a big fan of Ann Tyler ... and now I am too. Thanks Mum.
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 448 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my Mum.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; MP3 CD; ebook.
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