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Back When We Were Grownups

Anne Tyler

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Aug 04, 2013 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it it was ok

Shelves: literary-fiction, summer-2013

4 Stars: Writing
3 Stars: Plot
1 Star: Characters
2.5 Stars: Overall

"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person."
On that day 53 year old Rebecca Davitch wondered if she made the right decision in dropping out of college, jilting her boyfriend, and marrying a handsome older divorced man. She starts having dreams of a young boy traveling with her on a train. She assumes that this is the son that she would have had if she had married Will Allenby. She 4 Stars: Writing
3 Stars: Plot
1 Star: Characters
2.5 Stars: Overall

"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person."
On that day 53 year old Rebecca Davitch wondered if she made the right decision in dropping out of college, jilting her boyfriend, and marrying a handsome older divorced man. She starts having dreams of a young boy traveling with her on a train. She assumes that this is the son that she would have had if she had married Will Allenby. She has decided that "her son" would be quiet and cerebral, unlike her three stepdaughters and her own daughter.

All of the Davitches are loud, chaotic, and sometimes thoughtless. Rebecca feels that this big Davitch family had never welcomed her, and she feels that she is always at its edges. She lives with her late husband's Uncle Poppy and they have that comfortable old married couple feel to them. Her brother in law, Zeb, is in love with her, but she is unaware of his feelings. The four girls have unusual nicknames and aren't very nice people. Rebecca decides to seek Will Allenby out and discover the young woman she had been back to when she and Will were grownups. Maybe it isn't too late to take that other fork she had abandoned 30 years ago. Would it be better? And would the Davitch family even miss her?

I was so exited with Back When We Were Grownups opening line. The plot was intriguing, since almost every woman has that thought sometime in her 50s, or at those I know. And Anne Tyler's characters are usually good, even with their faults. I liked that Rebecca was overweight and had worn her hair the same way for years. Uncle Poppy was wonderful and he was good for a good many smiles and chuckles. But the girls were just plain awful with their silly nicknames: Biddy, Patch, NoNo, and MinFoo. They were self absorbed and seemingly put out when having to attend the family parties. The fact that each one had asked for the party or expected it from Rebecca was lost on them. And to them, she was Beck, not Rebecca.

Usually I devour Anne Tyler's books, but this one I struggled to finish. The plot meandered along with below mediocre characters. I wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone but those true fans of Anne Tyler. ...more

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