This is one of those books that I didn't want to end. Turning the last page was like waving goodbye to family after they've been to stay for a while and now I sort of miss the Whitshanks. I'd forgotten that it was Anne Tyler who wrote The Accidental Tourist, which I loved, and now I am wondering why I've left it so long to pick up another book from Anne Tyler. There's a real familiarity to the people in her books, and not only can I visualise them clearly, but I can sense the atmosphere around them. In A Spool of Blue Thread, the Whitshanks are an established family living in a home that was built and occupied by Mr Whitshank's father. This solid home with it's fine wooden porch is integral to the story of the family, and it many ways it represents who they are. Mr Whitshank Senior originally built the house for another family, but during the construction he fell in love with it and had a sense that he would one day it would be his own. He was able to b...