Readers of Anne Tyler’s sixteenth novel, Back When We Were Grownups (2001), will encounter many of the plotline elements present in her previous works. These include: suburban Baltimore, Maryland, USA, as the setting; a traffic jam of unique, offbeat characters who say and do the unexpected; extended family celebrations that include non-related acquaintances and engender a sense of reconciliation; the theme of travel through time; and, most importantly, a fork in life’s road providing the opportunity for a second chance or major life transition for the central character.
Widowed for many years, 53-year-old Rebecca Holmes Davitch laments the fact that she has “turned into the wrong person” (3). …
Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are not a subscriber, please click here to read about membership. All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors.