‘The Beginner’s Goodbye’ by Anne Tyler

The Beginner’s Goodbye, published last year, is Anne Tyler’s nineteenth novel. It also has one of the best opening sentences ever: ‘The strangest thing about my wife’s return from the dead was how other people reacted.’ Awesome. Immediately I knew that this was a book I needed in my life; a book I ought to read post-haste. And I did - I picked it up on Friday night after writing my review of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, read through Saturday, and finished it just this morning (Sunday). Granted, it isn’t very long - two hundred and sixty-two pages in mercifully large type - but this still speaks volumes about just how talented Anne Tyler is, and how she writes books that readers everywhere are loath to put down.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1941, Anne Tyler now resides in Baltimore, maryland where many of her novels are set (expect multiple mentions of the Orioles and the Johns Hopkins University campus). The Beginner’s Goodbye is likewise set in Baltimore. It is told from the perspective of Aaron Woolcott, a young man whose wife is killed in a freak accident involving an oak tree, a sun porch and a packet of biscuits. His neighbours are suitably sympathetic towards him, fussing and fetching casseroles, but in his grief he begins to see his wife, the dearly departed Dorothy, in the strangest places. The Beginner’s Goodbye is not a ghost story however, far from it, and these are not hauntings so much as unscheduled drop-ins, and soon Aaron and Dorothy start to bicker and berate each other.

The Beginner’s Goodbye is, in spite of its brevity, a profound and resonant read. Anne Tyler has a real knack for illuminating the monotony of everyday life and making a compelling story out of it. Aaron is a charmingly unreliable narrator - and, frankly, a bit of a bore - but for all his foibles and general obliviousness to everything he remains likeable throughout. The pairing of Aaron with the exotic and self-sufficient Dr Dorothy Rosales was not especially successful, but when she dies Aaron is guilty of looking through the rose-tinted glasses with which we all perceive the past. With time, however, the fraught nature of their marriage becomes clear, and with this knowledge Aaron is able to move on.

The Beginner’s Goodbye is a relatable and readily accessible read, and though the ending was maybe a shade too sunny for me (I like ambiguity) I do not doubt that many more readers will be charmed by the story of Aaron Woolcott.

This piece was originally published on alisonlaurabell.tumblr.com in February 2013.