The Tin Can Tree - by Anne Tyler (Paperback)

About the Book

A small-town family is hopelessly out of step with the daily rhythms of life after the tragic accidental death of their six-year-old daughter. Mrs. Pike seldom speaks now, blaming herself. Mr. Pike is forced to give up years' of comfortable silence. And 10-year-old Simon doesn't understand why his baby sister is gone. Popular author Anne Tyler outdoes herself with each novel.

Book Synopsis

The beloved bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author brings us a novel filled with "emotional power" (The New York Times). - "To read a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love." --PEOPLE

In the small town of Larksville, the Pike family is hopelessly out of step with the daily rhythms of life. Mrs. Pike seldom speaks, while Mr. Pike maintains a forced stoicism. Only their ten-year-old, Simon, seems able to acknowledge that their world has changed. He just doesn't understand why.

The Pikes may choose to stand still, to hide from an unnameable past, but the strange shroud over their home cannot be contained. Soon it's inching its way toward their neighbors, where brothers Ansel and James will have to confront their own dark secrets if they want to bring their neighborhood back out into the light.

Review Quotes

"Deceptively simple, hauntingly real, a glowing talent." --Kirkus Reviews

"Tyler has selected material slight enough to be controlled completely, and squeezed more emotional power from it than one would have thought it contained." --The New York Times

About the Author

ANNE TYLER was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of more than twenty novels. Her twentieth novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2015. Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.