Mellkoh

Anne Tyler is quickly becoming one of my all-time favourite authors. She has an incredible knack for capturing the seemingly mundane lives of average people and making them interesting, mainly because she taps the main characters psyche in such a way that the "sap" comes running out.

In this particular book, we meet Ian, the youngest of three, who ends up being the de facto guardian of his brother's kids, all the while feeling the self-imposed guilt that put him in the situation in the first place. We travel along with Ian on his journey to understand his life. We also get to "watch" the three kids grow into adults and how they face their own struggles along the way.

There are always sub-texts that are woven into Ms. Tyler's books and I find they often resonate with me in some sort of way that lingers well beyond finishing the book. It's kind of a creeper effect and one that, so far anyway, I really enjoy!