Back When We Were Grownups

Ann Tyler

This is fairly typical Ann Tyler territory. The main character gives herself an identity crisis. When she was a girl she went to a party and met a man who sees her laughing. She marries him and becomes a party organiser. At the beginning of the book it dawns on her she is not really the sort of person she has become. The rest of the characters are difficult to distinguish and I think that is probably deliberate.
Andrew 28/7/02

One of the reasons I was attracted to this book is that the central character is the same age as me - and there aren't that many books where the main character is an "older woman" (i.e. over 40). I didn't find her sympathetic (have even forgotten her name) but the book does contain some very realistic depictions of the day-to-day banter of a big extended family, and the very entertaining character of Poppy, the hundred year old father-in-law of the central character. Her nerdish academic ex-boyfriend is also all-too-believable.
Jean 25/8/02

A woman is having a mid-life crisis. She married a man who thought she was a different sort of person and so she became this person. Now in her 50s and her husband long dead she speculates on how different things might have been, so contacts her teenage sweetheart. Things don't work out how you might expect. Very enjoyable.
Doreen 30/6/02

By the same author

The frames have gone all funny - click to make it good.