Which Anne Tyler?

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I think my 18yo GD might like her, but I'm trying to decide which book is most likely to grab her attention. Any opinions please?

Most of her earlier novels are brilliant, especially "Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant " and "Saint Maybe". Such a great writer.

I really liked "digging to America" - about family dynamics and adoption, really well written characters.

Thank you both. Homesick was my first thought but Digging might be the one , for particular reasons.

I've just read Anne T's biography on Kindle - it's very recent. It's a bit tediously written but clearly had her cooperation , and lots of the detail is fascinating.

The Accidental Tourist is my favourite. Full of eccentric, funny characters who draw you in and irritate you in equal measure.

@Brontosaurus , Accidental Tourist was my first one and hooked me straightaway. It's hard to choose.

Digging to America
A Spool of Blue Thread
Vinegar Girl , rewriting of Taming of the Shrew
Back when we were Grown Ups

I'm going to start with Digging to America. Thanks all.

I haven't read an Anne Tyler for such a long time. I love her books so much that I made a decision not to rush through them but now I'm wishing that I had as I would be able to reread them at leisure.

Vinegar Girl for an 18 year old, I’d say.

The Accidental Tourist, hands down her best. I thought A Spool of Blue Thread was slow.

A bit late to this thread but can second A Spool of Blue Thread and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. If your GD would be interested in reading about an infuriating man-child who thinks the world owes him a living then Morgan's Passing would be up her street, otherwise don't touch with a barge pole.

I was the same age as your DD when I read A Slipping Down Life, it grabbed me straight away as the main character is a similar age.

Thanks to this thread I've started an Ann Tyler this morning. I chose Digging to America.

Saint Maybe is lovely

A Slipping Down Life is the first AT novel I read and I loved it. Saint Maybe and Ladder of Years are also really great. I love this writer.

I was about to say "A slipping down life"too. Immediately sprang to mind. I hope your daughter likes Anne Tyler. I love her books.

The film of The Accidental Tourist is fabulous also. I love Geena Davis.

Another vote for Accidental Tourist, but my favorite is Ladder of Years. It might not resonate as much with an 18 year old (it's about a middle-aged woman a bit overwhelmed by family life), but it is so good.

Thanks for messages. Grandchild now has Digging but hasn't got round to it yet, busy with her course. Hoping she'll let me know how she likes the book.

A Slipping Down Life came free with a magazine back in the 90s. I read it and loved it. It's quite short.

The biography I read quoted Anne Tyler as saying she wished she could destroy all the copies of her first four novels: that's Towards the End of the Morning, Slipping Down Life, Tin CanTree AND The Clockwinder. That's quite a chunk of her work.

That's interesting @Footle . Did it give any reason why? I've not read any of those ones so can't judge on why that might be.

@InTheCludgie, she recognises she hadn't got into her stride in her earlyish 20s. I'd disagree about Clockwinder, but it's true the earlier 3 don't flow as well. I'm glad I came across Accidental Tourist first, as I don't think I'd have been interested to carry on reading her if I'd started with Slipping Down, say.