French Braid

She is and always will be my favourite author

LIANE MORIARTY

Anne Tyler really is the best . . . her sheer brilliance makes it all seem so effortless

GRAHAM NORTON

One of my favourite writers

ALI SMITH

A queen of American literature

i newspaper

Fans of Anne Tyler will be delighted by French Braid, a family saga that takes us from the 1950s to the present

Must-Read Books 2022, Daily Mail

The ever reliable and delightful Anne Tyler

The Year Ahead in Books, Scotsman

A new Anne Tyler novel is an island of certainty in a tumultuous world

Reasons To Be Cheerful in 2022, Daily Telegraph

Tyler's sentences are wholly hers, instantly recognisable and impossible to duplicate

HANYA YANIGIHARA

Such a perfect work of fiction, you want to turn it over like a tapestry to see how it is done; how Tyler can sew gentle humour into a truly heart-wrenching story, and twist all of life's hurts into a family saga that is ultimately life-affirming, and a brisk and thrilling read. We readers are so lucky a writer like Tyler exists

MEG MASON

Lushly imagined, psychologically intricate, virtually inhalable...Tyler balances gracefully between tenderness and piquant humor, her insights into human nature luminous

Booklist

[A] stunning novel

Sainsbury's Magazine

A funny, joyful, brilliantly perceptive journey deep into one Baltimore family's foibles... An uncannily insightful novel that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives

Eastern Daily Press

An absorbing and perceptive family saga

Liz Earle Wellbeing Magazine

Clever and wise... French Braid is a family epic in miniature

Sameer Rahim, Daily Telegraph

A tender, humorous dissection of life

i

A typically perceptive portrait of a family from the 50s to the modern day - the ties that bind and pull apart. A tender, humorous dissection of life

i news

An author beloved by the most highbrow of critics, but who also produces stories that millions want to read

Waitrose magazine

I've been Anne Tyler-ed. After finishing French Braid, the 24th novel from the formidable American novelist, I was going about my life thinking nothing particularly radical had happened to me. And then I thought about it, and I thought about it some more, and I realised - boom - she really is a master

Jessie Thompson, Evening Standard

Anne Tyler's genius lies in her ability to make the lives of this unremarkable family as enthralling as those of the most heroic soldiers or diabolical serial killers... This is a novel to add to the list of her greatest triumphs

Jake Kerridge, Daily Express

Anne Tyler is the world's best living novelist... in French Braid Tyler demonstrates once again why she is so beloved... What she offers is...a glimpse into the very workings of the human heart

Cressida Connolly, Catholic Herald

[A] wonderful novel

Sarah Hayes, Tablet

Tyler's books are full of subtleties, tender compassion and humanity, and French Braid is no exception

UK Press Syndication

[Tyler's] style is striking... few are better at covering the passage of time, and hinting at the shifting cultural climate in a single sentence

Rosemary Goring, Herald

Deft and graceful, French Braid is utterly convincing. Fifty-eight years since she published her first novel, Tyler continues to capture life's joys, contradictions and ordinary heartbreaks with humour and precision

Sarah Collins, Prospect

Tyler pulls off the rare feat of presenting her characters both as they see themselves and as others see them

Scotsman, *Summer Reads of 2022*

A warm-hearted exploration of the foibles and dynamics of family life

The Times, *Summer Reads of 2022*

read her for the eccentric characters, the pitch-perfect dialogue, the humour and the tiny ordinary moments so exquisitely described they bring tears to your eyes

Liane Moriarty, Irish Daily Mail

A warm-hearted exploration of the foibles and dynamics of family life

The Times, *Books of the Year*

Tyler is a superb observer of family life... Heartbreak is deftly layered over a vibrant portrayal of the city, its codes and nuances

Lady, *Books of the Year*

Anne Tyler is a wonderful storyteller and French Braid is another classic... Funny but hearthbreaking, too. I loved every single page

Good Housekeeping, *Books of the Year*

Anne Tyler's genius lies in her ability to make this unremarkable family so enthralling

Sunday Express

Tyler is a genius at telling big stories with small details and this is an engrossing, fascinating family portrait

UK Press Syndication

Gentle and comforting, but with a hidden core of desperate, cloying sadness, and is vintage Tyler

Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*

An astute, well-observed and compulsively readable saga

Daily Mirror

I adore her [Tyler] books. She’s written 24 novels and I’ve read every single one. She’s 81 and yet French Braid, her latest, is one of her very best

Jacqueline Wilson, Sunday Times