by Anne Tyler
Our discussion this month was great. The majority of
the members enjoyed A Spool of Blue
Thread. The novel starts off slowly and includes a long list of names and
family relationships to piece together, but once you are past that the novel
pulls you in to the Whitshank family. We feel like we know a few of the
characters well, like Abby and Linnie Mae. However, we never really know the
motivations of Denny, Stem, or the girls.
Denny is a mystery to all of us. We do not
understand what made him the way he was. He kept his family on the hook
throughout his life. The Whitshank’s did not know Denny’s phone number or
address for long stretches of time. Then Denny would show up out of the blue
and stay with his family until they said something to anger him and he would
leave. We all recognize how taking in Stem affected Denny; however, we do not
understand why it made him withdraw from his family so completely.
The chapters dedicated to Linnie Mae and Junior were
rather shocking. Junior did not want anything to do with Linnie Mae when she
followed him to Philadelphia. Knowing that Junior thought Linnie Mae ruined his
life brought an additional level of meaning to the novel. The Whitshank family
line started with Junior and Linnie Mae, they both left their families behind
and did not go back or keep in contact. They only had each other to depend on
and knowing Junior often felt disappointed by Linnie Mae was sad.
