Anne Tyler is one of those authors that people often talk about and I feel I should have read. She just sounds like my kind of writer. So when I found this book, I was pleased to have a chance to try her.

It seemed very slight to start with, and while it definitely improved as it went along, and you got to know Barnaby better, there weren't any "wow" moments. But I loved the structure, which seems untidy and unplanned, but like a patchwork is suddenly all fitted together at the very end. And looking back, Tyler had sneaked in some great reflections on ageing, relationships (husband/wife, parents/children, siblings), and just growing up. Barnaby is a more likeable person at the end than at the beginning, and you feel he's turned a corner and started to grow up and have more self-respect. I also really liked the minor characters, elderly people that Barnaby helps in his work for Rent-a-Back.

I'm not wildly enthusiastic, but while she's no Alice Munro, I might read more Anne Tyler.