A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (2015)

I picked this up on our popular reading shelf, but it moved too slowly, so I got it in audio, as it still seemed worth reading. This was a family story - four generations of Whitshanks - as the first couple arrives in Baltimore in the 1920's from a small town in the mountains. He starts a building business, builds his ideal home for a rich couple, and ends up buying it from them. They have a son Red, who inherits the business and home. Red and Abby raise four kids - each with his own travails, and then some of them have kids. We get most of the story from Red and Abby's family in the last few years with a few flashbacks here and there. Then towards the end of Abby's life, we finally get her story on how she fell in love with Red and a glimpse into grandma. Then it end's with grandpa's story - with an interesting male viewpoint - that he never was really interested in grandma (I don't have the book, read it a while ago and have already forgotten names), except originally for the obvious - and how wily she was to get him to marry her, though I am not sure they ever actually got married, just said they were. Makes me think that women over the ages must have done a lot of this to get those independent, gruff men to settle down. I know this is a very minor part of what was a well and kindly written book about a quirky, but average family. I haven't read anything by Tyler, at least not in the last 10 years, but I get a sense this is her style, and when I want something laid back, I may try something else by her.