Title : Clockdance
Author : Anne Tyler
Narrators : Kimberly Farr
Genre : Contemporary
Publisher : Random House Audio
Listening Length : 9 hours 12 minutes
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrator Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, I listened to this book and have been contemplating on whether I should review this book or not. I mean, it’s not a bad book, but it’s not a great one either. I had had high hopes from it, given that it’s authored by Anne Tyler, who’s written lovely ones like “Redhead by the Side of the Road”. Clockdance is kinda meh, nice enough, but so slow in it’s telling.

Willa Drake has had a bit of a rocky childhood – the progeny of a mild-mannered man and a histrionic woman who’s given to disappearing and re-appearing in their lives . As a young woman, Willa leaves college to go marry her first husband Derek. At 61, Willa has been widowed once, but is now married to Peter, a semi-retired attorney.

While her life is comfortable, Willa is a bit at loose ends. So when, a call comes from Baltimore asking Willa to come care for her grand-daughter because she temporarily needs an adult guardian, she gets on a flight (and Peter goes with her) and flies to Baltimore even though she doesn’t actually have a grand-daughter. She knows 9 year old Cheryl (the “grand-daughter”), and her mother Denise by the most tenuous of mistaken connections, but now that she is in Baltimore Willa decides to stay and help out.

When Peter deems that they should leave after a few days, ordinarily pliable Willa demurs – a rare rebellion for her. Peter leaves, but Willa stays, her days and her life becoming more and more intertwined with Cheryl and Denise’s. She know that the time will come when she actually has to go home to Peter, but for now she is needed here.

Clockdance, like Ladder of Years has a female protagonist, who’s searching for something besides the obvious, a sense of self, a sense of purpose perhaps? Early on in this book, an elderly character remarks about the need to find something to live for, and Willa’s story ties into that theme.

Tyler’s books have protagonists (male or female) with a problem. It’s not a material problem; it is generally not money or the rent. It is a hard-to-describe problem, this hunt for the self, a search for affection, the struggle to not get trodden upon. But describe it she does and how! In this book there are no bombastic events, no great big rushes of emotion. Ther are placid goings and comings, we hear people talk, narrate events, and feel. And we feel with them. Tyler has that great wonderful skill of subtly embedding emotion and nuance into her stories.

This is why I recommend Anne Tyler and can’t stop reading her. Yes, Clockdance with it’s large stretches of seeming nothingness and short, sporadic bursts of activity (I’d have preferred the reverse),  is a relative disappointment, but it still showcases a master at her craft.

Narrator Kimberly Farr is absolutely marvelous and voiced Willa so perfectly! She has a lovely pleasant voice and great pitch and tone. I would definitley pick up a book with her narration again!