The Beginner's Goodbye Hardback - 2012

Media reviews

“Small as it is, and simple on a superficial level, this is one of the best books I've read about death and loss. As always, Anne Tyler doesn't explain the powers of emotion or tip you into despair. Instead, she peels back the layers to show her readers how grief works. In this case, using her tremendous talent for detail and understanding, she walks us through the life of Aaron Woolcot in the weeks, months and years after his wife is killed by a falling tree.”
—The New Zealand Herald

“[A]n uplifting tale of love and forgiveness. By the end of this wonderful book, you’ve lived the lives and loves of these characters in the best possible way.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“[T]he tone of this whimsical fable is so light that it practically floats off the page.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Its gently wry story builds to something very affecting.”
—The Independent (UK)
 
“Touching and unexpectedly funny.”
—National Post
 
“Elegant . . . [Tyler’s] portrayal of his pain and clumsy resilience is beautifully intricate. By the exquisitely romantic emotional climax, Aaron’s ordinary life has bloomed into an opera.”
—Entertainment Weekly
 
“This scintillating gem of a novel will be one of Tyler’s most popular hits.”
—Booklist

“ . . . Tyler offers a dose of fictional solace and sustenance that few contemporary writers can provide. Part of what makes her fiction so comforting is its familiarity, and all the trademark Tylerisms are to be found in The Beginner's Goodbye: the shabby gentility of the Baltimore setting; the emotionally repressed and (literally) limp hero; the amusingly mismatched marriage; the fairytale ending.”
—The Guardian (UK)