Anne Tyler is the author of more than twenty novels. Her twentieth novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2015. Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. Her novel Clock Dance was our recent #VolumesBookClub pick. And now, we’re celebrating her lifetime of fantastic work through the unique experience audiobooks provide.
Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit. But one day his routines are blown apart when his “woman friend” tells him she’s facing eviction, and a teenager shows up at Micah’s door claiming to be his son. These surprises, and the ways they throw Micah’s meticulously organized life off-kilter, risk changing him forever.
Watch Now! A preview of Redhead by the Side of the Road read by MacLeod Andrews
Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life. Then, one day, Willa receives a startling phone call. Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to look after a young woman she’s never met, her daughter, and their dog, leading Willa into uncharted territory.
“Farr delivers Willa’s interior monologues with a wonderful combination of angst and humor.”—AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
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, here are four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around a sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house.
Kate Battista feels stuck in her life. She’s a preschool teacher who is adored by her students, but not their parents; her younger sister is busy running around with guys far too old for her; and her eccentric scientist father would probably forget his own head if it weren’t attached to his body. After years of running her family’s household, Kate is looking for a way to escape.
“Resplendent storyteller Tyler is perfectly paired with The Taming of the Shrew…”–Booklist (starred review)
Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. But when Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Gradually as he works in the vanity-publishing business turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, this beginner discovers there is a way of saying goodbye.
“…Exceptionally lithe and sparkling…A funny, sweet, and wise tale of lost and found love.” —Booklist (starred)
Liam Pennywell never much liked his job, so early retirement doesn’t bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his condominium. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is—well, something quite different.
Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport. After the instant babies from distant Asia are delivered, the Donaldsons invite the Yazdans to celebrate: an “arrival party” that from then on is repeated every year as the two families become more and more deeply intertwined.
They seemed like the perfect couple—young, good-looking, made for each other, and in the heat of World War II fervor, they are propelled into a hasty wedding. But they never should have married. While other young marrieds seemed to grow more seasoned, Pauline and Michael remain amateurs. Even almost thirty years later when they become instant parents to a grandson they still cannot bridge their deep-rooted differences.