Ladder Of Years

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend, and had never heard of Anne Tyler. I was surprised how quickly I was totally engrossed in the novel. While I have nothing in common with the heroine Delia, I could very easily get into her mindset and understand her. I think most of us have had a day where we want to just chuck it all and walk away from our lives.

Well-written and believable, I enjoyed following Delia on her adventure, basically her "coming of age" even though her children should be going through that stage. As much as I loved it, I really didn't care for the ending - the last two pages really ended abruptly and to me, not at all clearly. I felt like I must have missed something and read the last several pages three or four times to see what I'd missed, but it wasn't there.

I still recommend this book.

Anne Tyler's incessant theme is: Families, can't stand them, can't escape them.

In this one, her heroine, Delia Grinstead, attempts the escape in bold fashion. Mother of three grown-up or almost grown-up children, wife of a doctor who lives in her father's house, having lived in the same house her whole life, with one of her two sisters in residence in the same house, Delia simply walks away from a beach vacation, hitches a ride to an unfamiliar town, and never looks back.

Or almost never.

She feels she has no role in the family, is neglected or worse, scorned, and wants to have a life before hers runs out. No more being simply an appendage of others.

This works fine for a while, but in the new town, she insidiously gets sucked into new family entanglements. First her landlady, then her friends, then a man with a 10 year old son whose wife has run off and whose father--in the Assisted Living place--suddenly gets married to a woman a third his age.

Naturally, Delia can't permanently escape her original family, either.

They track her down, she is invited to her daughter's wedding, and suddenly she has: not zero family, not one family, but two--two big, extended, and growing families.

Somehow, Tyler manages to make terrific comedy of all this, with pitch-perfect dialogue and wonderful observations.

Tyler writes melancholy angst and befuddlement better than anyone, and this novel is another example -- i.e. more of the same. Her novels become so similar that it seems as though the various characters could be supplanted in any of her novels, and no reader would be any the wiser.
In any event, this novel finds Delia vaguely dissatisfied with her life, and she leaves her family to pursue a new life on her own. While the premise of the novel is exciting, the actual read is flat and lacks realism. It seemed implausible that she could leave her children for eighteen months without a word. When she finally finds herself coming full circle and returning home, it was absurd to me that she could simply step back into her old life. Finally, the ending left so many questions unanswered and so many loose ends that it was simply annoying. On the other hand, I was glad the book had ended...
So, this isn't Tyler's best work, but it is truly hers. If you enjoy her novels, you will enjoy this one despite its boat load of shortcomings.

This is the latest of Anne Tyler's wonderful stories.
Her characters all seem to have a bit of a "misfit" quality
about them and Delia is no exception. Married right out
of high school to a young doctor who came to work for her
father, the young couple lived and worked in her father's
medical practice right in the house she was born in. When
her father died, they stayed on and nothing ever changed for
Delia. In fact, even though she married and had children, she
never really grew up and had a life of her own. She begins to
see herself as irrelevant and while on a family vacation to
the seashore, she simply walks away and begins a new life.
During this time, she discovers the real Delia and finds that
she is really an important person after all. I think many woman
fantasize about doing exactly that

I know Tyler's specialty is quirky characters, but these people just seemed like real people who aren't very interesting or likeable. I didn't care what happened to this woman or her husband. I was halfway through the book, reading aloud to my husband as he drove, and he finally told me to jump to the last three pages and get it over with. I didn't even bother to read the last three pages. I totally didn't care.
The story seemed dated to its early '80s release, and even though I had hours of layovers and plane and train rides, I still wasn't desperate enough to read it. Tyler's details were KILLING me - watching the attendant serve drinks on the plane was as interesting as looking down and reading this book. There was a scene where she referenced someone fiddling with grocery bags over and over again. It was just tedium.
Might make a better movie than book. I really liked the film, "The Accidental Tourist." But I can't read Tyler.

Anne Tyler takes that secret thought of running away, of walking away from it all - and gives us Ladder of Years. The author has a genius for starting out books with a fanciful statement, captivates us completely, and then exposes all the warts. In this case a chance encounter in a grocery store (a place few of us dream about) sets off a woman's mid-life crisis. The main character, Delia, is not always terribly sympathetic and certainly has her flaws - and really seeks only a sense of self, tired of living vicariously through her family. The writing never seeks to glamorize or entice, but rather to focus our attention on those that surround us in a fresh manner. From difficult family members and quirky characters - Ms. Tyler doesn't polish any of them up, but instead gives us a story that will render the reader introspective and richer for the experience. I listened to the abridged recording of this book, which was well read - but I have enough questions that I suspect I will want to follow up with the real story.

The back cover says Delia Grinstead walks up a beach and away from her life as a wife and mother. Delia doesn't walk away -- not really. She drifts. The main character feels like an outsider in her life and the police report confirms that her family hasn't a clue who she is. But then neither does she. On a whim she drifts away, stumbles into a new life and finds she's not helpless. She can hold down a job of her own. Then her old life intrudes. But Delia drifts only marginally reacting when others act. We see the world through her eyes but she never makes a decision. She never says 'I have decided to whatever'. The ending is an insult to everyone. Once again I finished a Tyler book to throw it against the wall. If only her characters would DO something for themselves rather than just drift along not acting.

The thought of just walking away from a husband and three almost grown kids might pop into some women's minds, but who could actually do such a thing? Tyler's character Delia, that's who. Anyone unfamiliar with Anne Tyler's writing might be suprised at the plot of this book and the collection of quirky characters therein. But this is vintage Tyler and I loved this book as I have loved everything else she has written.
Delia is particularly poignant when she is reading about her missing self in a Baltimore newspaper: "It hurt to read her physical description: 'fair or light brown hair... eyes are blue or grey or perhaps green...' For heaven's sake, hadn't anyone in her family ever looked at her?"
If you have ever felt, even for a moment, that you are under appreciated, then you might just relate to Delia Grinstead.

While reading Tyler's, "Ladder of Years", I found myself easily relating myself to Delia. As one reader put it, "if you think it is unrealistic wait until you reach Delia's point in life." Sometimes the idea of leaving everything looks pretty good when you are incaptivated in the struggles of everyday life (especially as a woman). At the same time I did have many unanswered questions, like as to why she exactly left or how come it seemed so easy for everyone. However, I believe that is what intriqued me, I could come up with my own reasons to the questions. I could relate it back to my life and what I may feel while in Delia's shoes. I would highly recommend the book and am looking forward to reading more of Tyler's work.

Delia Grinstead never had much experience in life. She went from "her father's house to her husband's house" (actually, the same house!), without pursuing an independant life; even her secreterial work was connected to her father's/husband's medical practice. Delia decides to live her life over again, first by pursuing a man who reminds her of her only teenage boyfriend, then by travelling to a town that at first glace seems to be preserved from the early twentieth century. As her personal life proceeds, so does the "age" of the town and her various attempts at change, moving forward from an idealic past to a flawed present and future. Delia is forced to take notice of the true nature of her life.

A new author for me - this book caught my attention because I know very well Delia's feelings of being underappreciated and unvalued by those who surround her, and the sense of losing herself and her own identity in a routine and unsatifying life. The concept of walking away from it all and simplifying daily living has such appeal, and I immediately admired Delia's courage to forge ahead and find herself. The characterization and dialogue are very well written, but unfortunately, I wasn't drawn into an emotional connection with Delia as I expected to, relating to her situation as closely as I did. I felt she moved onto a new life that wasn't much more interesting or inspiring than the one she so desperately escaped from. So what was the point? The people in her new community were a colorful group, but there were too many names to keep straight and I kept confusing them in my mind. Most disappointedly, the ending was rushed and inconclusive - I'm not sure whether or not Delia resolved or reconciled her issues. The loose ends should have been tied up more neatly.

I was quite surprised at much I enjoyed this book, as I've never really enjoyed any of Anne Tyler's stuff before. I loved the realistic way Delia's life was depicted - a lesser author might have found her heroine a convenient love interest as an alternative to forcing her to take a realistic look at her own life and how invisible she has become to her family. I really enjoyed the way the story developed what must be a wish fulfillment fantasy for many people - to simply walk away from your life and start again afresh - into a believable outcome - you find a new life very similar to the old one, and people react to you in a similar way. Perhaps I'll take a look at some of A.Tyler's other books, I think her style of writing could really grow on me.<P ...

I was quite surprised at much I enjoyed this book, as I've never really enjoyed any of Anne Tyler's stuff before. I loved the realistic way Delia's life was depicted - a lesser author might have found her heroine a convenient love interest as an alternative to forcing her to take a realistic look at her own life and how invisible she has become to her family. I really enjoyed the way the story developed what must be a wish fulfillment fantasy for many people - to simply walk away from your life and start again afresh - into a believable outcome - you find a new life very similar to the old one, and people react to you in a similar way. Perhaps I'll take a look at some of A.Tyler's other books, I think her style of writing could really grow on me.<P ...

Just finished this book and I just remembered why I usually don't read fiction. Delia, honey, everyone feels overlooked and unappreciated from time to time. Walk out for 18 months and then come back like nothing ever happened; ooooooooohh that'll show'em! Except for having the moxie to walk off the beach, Delia was about as interesting as paste. If Anne Tyler's objective was to get me to the end of the book she did the job. I kept reading hoping and praying Delia would "find herself" somehow. As an avid reader I don't require a neatly, summed up happy ending to any book; I just require an ending worth reading. Did not happen for me in "Ladder of Years"

Delia Grinsted is a long-suffering wife in a loveless marriage and a mother of three obnoxious children in their late teens. She is the peace-maker, the try-harder, the doormat to these as well as to assorted other annoying relatives. One day, for reasons that are evident to the reader but surprising to Delia herself, she goes to the beach with the entire clan and, dressed only in a bathing suit and a beach robe, starts walking and keeps right on going. She arrives in a place called Bay Borough and decides to begin life anew.

The part of the book which she spends in Bay Borough, away from her annoying family, came to me as a breath of fresh air, since I was contemplating abandoning the book before this point. Delia finds a certain freedom in her poverty (I forgot to mention that she also arrived with only fifty dollars), and the ingenuity she shows in pulling herself up by her bootstraps and creating a satisfying, if unexciting, life I found enchanting. In addition, Bay Borough is a Brigadoon of a place - it's so sweet I kept expecting it to go `poof.' You will cheer for Delia's courage in uncoupling herself from the ingrates back home, who find out early on where she is but offer little encouragement for her to return.

Will Delia go back and resume her role lying down in front of the door back home? Or will she seek love and happiness in Brigadoon? Actually, she doesn't wrestle with this important life question the way one would expect that an ordinary person might. But the answer may surprise you.

I did not like this book, although I usually like Tyler's books.
I did not not like the main character, Delia. She is married to a
good,hard working man, and they have 4 grown children. Her husband,
Sam, is a doctor, not very exciting, and he is obsessed with remodeling their house.
So far there is nothing wrong with this picture. Thats the point. Delia,however, is not
happy and she runs away from her family while they are vacationing at the beach.
Millions of women would have loved Delia's life. Anyway Delia escaped to a new town.
She worked in an office, read books and got a kitten. She was not happy. I will not divulge
the ending.I know you can hardly wait to see what will make Delia happy!!!!

Ladder of Years was the first Anne Tyler book that I had ever read. I loved it, absolutely loved it. My biggest problem was that I didn't want the book to end; I longed for weeks and even months to know what became of Delia and more importantly, Joel and Noah. I felt such a deep connection to Tyler's characters; I believed that I knew them personally and that I could relate to what they were going through. Since reading this book, I've read four more books by Anne Tyler and I just can't say enough great things about her. Anne Tyler is one of America's greatest novelists and I hope that all the rest of her books provide me with as much enjoyment as Ladder of Years.

In this story Delia walks away from her husband and three children while on a family vacation at the beach. The whole premise of the book was hard for me to get past. It made the character difficult to like. Anne Tyler is a gifted author (also wrote The Accidental Tourist) and had an easy writing style. However, the story's concept was lost with me. I also was not thrilled with the ending. There is a lot that would make this book enjoyable as a book club selection. Many of the reviews reflected differing viewpoints.

This story, peopled by a truckload of the kind of quirky, vivid characters that are Anne Tyler's specialty, is a gem. Obviously, many people have a negative first reaction to the idea that a woman could simply walk away from her life, leaving husband, children, and sibs behind. But this is the genius of Tyler's writing. She spins a tale that almost borders on allegory. It is a wonderful world of "what if." What if I just took a walk down the beach and kept walking? How would I survive? Where would I go? What would I do? Do these people really need me at all?

Tyler's creation of Delia's alter-ego, Miss Grinstead, is inspired. The notion of starting over, tabula rasa, is magic and sets the imagination in motion. The bare room, the careful meals of vegetable soup and yogurt, the tiny purchases that Delia makes with such introspection, and her hunger to keep things simple set a great stage for building the rest of the story. Tyler sets it up like a castle of Lincoln Logs, one wonderful piece at a time. As new people enter Delia's life, the complexities of just being alive on the planet come wandering back in, because that is just the way life works!

The story does end a bit abruptly, or perhaps it only seems that way because the reader is left to wonder what becomes of all those new people in Delia's life. But really, that is ALSO how life works; things are rarely if ever wrapped up in a neat package, in the final analysis.

After reading Breathing Lessons and St. Maybe, I swore I wouldn't pick up Anne Tyler again. But I took this one out of the library and it sounded intriguing from the book jacket. Well, it was good--seeing a doormat housewife and mother finally just leave--and after the way everyone treated her, they didn't deserve a good-bye. But then Delia just drifts, not even thinking or considering what she would like in life. And the fact that she goes home again to assist in a family crisis, that's when the story really starting getting idiotic, and I started to dislike the character of Delia. And the ending is so bad--is it supposed to be intriguing, for the audience to decide what happens to her? Or do we assume, that this ends the same as other Anne Tyler books--dissatisfying, and leaving the reader totally fed up with the main character. This is the kind of the book where you want the character to come out ahead, and in this case, for Delia to firmly make a statement that she's not going back to her life with her husband and is going to take her life in a new, definite direction. But no, this is just the same old, same old for Anne Tyler.

When I first finished this book, I thought that rather pointless recitation of a about a woman that ties to change her life, and ends up pretty much the same person she was when she abandoned her family. However, upon consideration this is a very superficial, limited view of this novel. The book is about many things: regret over early life choices, children growing to adulthood, complacency in marriage and most of all, and the relationship between fathers and daughters. I found the last the most interesting and compelling presentation of the novel. This book, almost tacitly, explores the relationship of a woman to her father and the grieving process of losing a parent. For example, her husband was the same profession as her father, and took over his business, before his death. The main charter, Dellia, cannot articulate the reason whey she abandoned her family, and among many, one that was proffered, almost tangentially, was because of some unaddressed grief over losing her father. Introducing Nat as a character well into the book, Nat becomes a surrogate father figure. At the end of the book, with her family reunited, and depending upon her to reestablish the familial bonds after a period of alienation, oddly Nat shows up, uninvited, and without a clear purpose. During Nat's visit, he agonized over the way he treated his children, (three daughters, the same as in her family) and his life. At the end of the evening, Delia tucks him into her father's bed (who she would not let anyone use at the beginning of the book), and kissed him on the head, as she did with her Dad. At that time of closure, she also went back to her husband. It was a touching illustration of the complex father-daughter relationship.

A wife and mother who assumes she is peripheral in the lives of her family -- husband, kids, sister, distant relatives -- wanders off one summer day and establishes a new life in a town not all that far away, a life in which she knows that she is important to her new family.

But when she returns home for her daughter's wedding, it becomes subtly clear that she was not, in fact, peripheral. She has always been central to her "real" family's life, without knowing that she was.

This tricky premise, one that represents an idle dream so many married women have had at one time or another, is something that Tyler nevertheless makes real, if a bit "spacey."

With that indirect caveat, it is a wonderfully written book -- stylistically -- and a treat to watch Tyler pull it all off.

Ladder of Years is about a suburban Baltimore housewife named (Cor)Delia Winstead. She leads a seemingly normal life with her husband, three children, her sister, and her cat. With an encounter with a younger man, she realizes that her life isn't a fairy tale as she thought it would be. One day while she is on a family vacation, she makes an "unconscious" decision to to run away. She winds up in a quiet town of Bay Borough where she assumes a new identity of "Miss Grinstead." Through this experience, she seems to find out what kind of purpose she has in life and gets the attention from others that she seemed to not have gotten from her family. After a year and a half, she finally makes it home and by the very end, she chooses to stay there.

My thoughts on the book is that I didn't really like the book at all. There were many reviews that made her seem sympathetic, I also felt that way at first, but after a while, I did not feel sorry for her anymore. She seemed childish and always seemed to rationalize what she was doing. She seemed to have finally found herself in Bay Borough, but when she went back home and seemed to revert right back to her old ways. By the end of the book, I dis-invested in her because it seemed like all of her progress had went out of the door. This story was also one sided; it only showed how she felt about her family but it never showed what her family felt of her. I really believe that her family felt of her as what she thought of them. Also at the end of the book, her character didn't seem important to me, the characters that were left behind in Bay Borough were more important to me because Delia had lost all of my interest.

I wanted to know if Nat remained happy with his new family, whether Belle and Horace got married and remained happy. Did the Miller family have to suffer much when she left. She actually left them like she left her family, which I didn't like either. She also left behind her cat, which she seemed to have created a connection with also.

All in all, I am disappointed in this story. She initially left in a horrible way to find herself, only to leave horribly again to revert back to her old way of life.

Anne Tyler seems to have a very deep understanding of people and what lies behind their behavior. I have very much liked every one of her books and this one, I thought, was the best of them all. Ladder of Years made me think about my own self and how I would respond if I, like Delia, were suddenly and indefinitely separated from my family. It made me appreciate those around me more by causing me to recognize that they do not have to be perfect to be valuable, and no matter how trying they may sometimes be, I am glad to be in the family I have. And I don't have to be perfect, either.

It is indisputable that Anne Tyler writes well. She has studied people and conveys their idiosyncrasies flawlessly which makes this story so real - the actions, the speech, the thought processes. It is subtle, yet deep, light-hearted, yet still portraying such unspoken human emotion. You find yourself asking what has happened after all those pages have been turned. It has been a journey, metaphorical and physical, yet it can, in some ways, be summed up in a sentence or two. It is not a 'gripping page-turner', so why does the reader continue? Resolution.

Delia Grinstead married young, had kids and lived a self-effacing life. She woke up one day to discover she'd pretty much disappeared as a person who counted for anything in the eyes of her husband, her children, her friends - and even herself. So she did something I'll wager lots and lots of women have been tempted to do at some time or another: she walked away, took a bus to wherever it was going, settled in a small town in Nowhere, USA, and rediscovered/recreated herself.
This book is one of Anne Tyler's best. Spot-on characterization, situations, dialogue, effortless prose, hilarity and pathos on the same page. Satisfying and enlightening, endearing and emotional. A lesson in understanding and forgiveness, Ladder of Years bears up under reading and rereading.

I read 'Breathing Lessons' in the early '90s. It was a very good read, but somewhat a boring story. Ladder of Years is only the second Anne Tyler book I've read. She has such a natural style of writting and is very good at grabbing you into the story.

At the start of the book I totally understand Delia; can't really be mad at her for leaving. (PS: She had $500 dollars with her when she started her new life) By the middle of the book I'm screaming in my head, they are your kids! You have to go back, or at least visit them. Go on vacation and NOT get in touch with them. Can understand the husband, he should have asked her to come home, but what about your kids. Older or not, you are their mother.

Also, why didn't anyone in her family just ask, Please come home. It was obvious that is what she wanted.

Anyway, I had to reread the last couple of pages. I had to grasp what exactly Delia was going to do. Once I got to the last page I thought she was going to stay. Then I read the very last line and wasn't sure.

Next paragraph kind of tells the ending for those of you that haven't read the book yet.

I just finished this book about 1/2 hour ago and had to read the other reviews to see what everyone else thought. My opinion is that she stays. Read the paragraph that starts with 'It had all been a time trip' on the last page a couple times. If staying is what she does, I like the story. The other life was nice, but her kids and even her old cat, maybe even her husband, is her life.

The ending and the fact that I really disliked Delia for about 100 pages is why I gave 4 stars instead of 5.

Anne Tyler does many things very well. She describes quirky characters that come to life on the page, she takes us into a settings which feel real and full of color. Unfortunately, the story in this book was not all that compelling. Delia leaves her family during a family vacation, just walks away which is something I think we have all thought about from time to time. She starts a new life in a cute little town that I wanted to live in and just stay there with the fun characters she met which became her new family. Where this book fell apart for me was the ending. It just kind of ended abruptly with many loose ends. How about an epilogue?

The story began with a somewhat artificial device of a fading mid-forties housewife being picked up in a "Whole Foods" setting by a dashing young man. And then it meandered through her awakened dissatisfaction for the life she'd chosen. Just about the time that the "ho hums" were building steam, the heroine leapt from the tracks and created a new and realistic life in the Delmarva countryside: made friends, had a job, got a better one....when "Ta Da" she goes back to her family.

Miss Tyler has, once again, sliced an American pie right through the middle, taken out a damaged piece and served it with whipped cream. How many people, not just women, go unnoticed in thier every day existence? How many have become fixtures in the shadows of a home that never receive a personal thought. There was lots of truth in Ladders, also lots of hyperbole that made it tolerably unreal. The ending seemed a bit surreal given Delia's journey and distancing. I hoped for a different outcome, but, that's Tyler for you..

I confess I was quite bored reading the first nearly-half of Ladder of Years; if it hadn't been a school assignment, I would have given up on it. I am so used to jumping into a story and having the plot go forward immediately. Ladder of Years not only takes its time in developing Delia Grinstead's story, but when Delia walks away from her her husband and children (after several chapters of apparent dilly-dallying), it reads so serenely that it feels anti-climactic. Where's the drama, where's the emotional conflict, and exactly where was that Big Decision to not look back?! Oh, wait. This is Delia Grinstead. She didn't decide to do anything. It just happened.
Many events that take place in Ladder of Years "just happen." Loose ends pop up from the very beginning, and despite the quiet, lovely writing style of Anne Tyler, you begin to wonder if she is always this careless in her books.
It does get frustrating, and it doesn't help that you can never decide if Delia is a sympathetic character or just a pathetic one. She is essentially a good person but, as her actions show and the other characters often seem to think, she is also a childish, indecisive woman who doesn't know what she wants. I seesawed between empathising with Delia and wanting to shake the teeth out of her. Her convictions are wispy, unreliable. Delia told herself she'd just stay a few days in Bay Borough. She ends up staying a year. She "knows" she'd never work for Joel Miller. She ends up working for Joel Miller.
Having said all of this, you're probably wondering why I gave the book such a high rating. Ladder of Years is worth it. The second half of the book found me completely engrossed in the story. I began to understand why the first half of the novel is told at such a leisurely pace, the parallels Tyler is able to draw as a result and that the loose ends that seemed like loose ends are in fact more telling of Delia Grinstead than sloppiness on the part of author. Delia did not have an identity for most of her life. She managed to bypass her chance of acquiring one as a young woman by marrying the first man that appeared on the doorstep, without first pausing to find out who she was. Her belated journey to do so, as accidental and completely unplanned as it was, is endearing and wonderful to witness. Yes, I highly recommend this loopy tragicomic fairytale.

I really liked the premise of this book. Underappreciated housewife walks away from it all. But, it went no where from there. Delia, the wife and mother who walks away, was as hollow and unbelievable as any character I've ever read. Tyler failed to explore emotions of relief, guilt, doubt or any other feeling one might have in that situation. This 300+ page novel does nothing more than amble along a sleepy town where Delia goes about her new daily life without so much as a touch of introspection. The ending was terrible. I put down this book hating Delia, her family and quite frankly the author. This is my first Tyler book and would be my last but I already purchased A Patchwork Planet. That book couldn't be any worse.

While I initially found Anne Tyler's writing style dry, and her reluctance to delve into her character's psyche's disappointing, by the end of this novel, I actually began to appreciate how this approach allowed my imagination to fill in the gaps. I felt I almost knew more about the main character, Delia, by all the things she DIDN'T say, rather than by the little she did say. I also appreciated living vicariously through her when she literally walked away from her unappreciative family and began a new life apart from them. Although I was angry that she stayed away from her children as long as she did and did not even try to contact them, I did admire the courage it took (although she never did seem truly frightened)for her to take the time she needed to come to terms with herself, BY herself. Now that I think of it, however, she probably was never afraid of being on her own because she knew that help from Sam, or even her sisters, was only a phone call away. And it is that fact -- that unconditional acceptance from her family about her choice to run away -- that left me annoyed and yet just a little bit envious at this modern day fairy tale,where everything seems to turn out okay in the end. No one seems more than slightly ticked off that Delia left for a year.
She just waltzes back into everyone's life and things go on pretty much as usual. No questions (or too few, anyway) asked. Well, I guess that's why it's called fiction. Still, I would recommend this book because of its commentaries about marriage, families and not taking those we love for granted.

Tyler uses language very well and, in that sense, the book is a delight to read. On a few occasions I was positively delighted at some turn of phrase, description, or insight. In general,though, in reading Ladder of Years, I remembered why I hadn't read anything by Tyler since The Accidental Tourist. I really can't get that involved with her characters. Her women are so frustratingly out of touch and are not very interesting characters. They seem to lack emotional depth. Tyler tells us Delia cries herself to sleep every night for a long time, but she never convinces me that Delia has the emotional reactions I would expect a mother to have when she leaves her children and the rest of her family whom she claims to love.

The extraneous characters, who became Delia's friends, didn't make much sense to me. ( What was the point of Mr. Lamb? Another very desperate woman? or another man who Delia didn't see clearly?) I did like the growth in Delia when she developed a better relationship with Eleanor and even with
Joel's ex-wife. I wish these kind of relationships would have been developed more. I do think Delia is beginning to gain some insight at the end of the book.

I really enjoyed Ladder of Years. I was kept interested through the whole story. At the end of every chapter something new would happen that would make me want to keep reading. It is difficult for me to say my real opinion of the main character, Delia Grinstead. As a woman, I can easily sympathize with her. Most women all want to feel loved, needed, respected and wanted. Delia is always wondering how her family really feels about her. However, I agree with other reviewers who say there are times you want to "ring her little neck". There are many parts of the book where I see Delia as selfish. I say selfish because she seems to not consider the feelings of her children. I think it would be different if her kids were all married and on their own and the only person she was leaving was her husband. To me, it seems Delia's main problems were with her husband. When it comes to her children, that is a different story. Delia feels her children don't pay attention to her. Well, most kids don't pay all that much attention to their parents. As they grow up they begin to realize the importance of family. I think that Delia should take that into consideration. Therefore, I think she went about leaving her family the wrong way. Speaking of leaving her family, it seems Delia has gone and done it again to her new little family. She made a promise to Joel (her boss whom she lives with) and Noah (Joel's son) that she would be home soon. Well, it seems she is not going back. Delia must do well with just packing up and leaving people behind. On the other hand, I do admire her determination. It takes a lot of guts to just go start a new life. Delia started a new job (Well, actually she had two new jobs.), she made new friends, a new home and established herself in a new place. This takes such courage and strength. I'm sure a lot of women can feel envious of Delia. Yet, I do believe most women care to much about their families to just up and leave them without warning. Overall, I really liked the book it gives good warning to the future of women with families.

Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors, but this one wasn't her best. I read some of the other reviews, and have to agree that the ending was disappointing. I expected more from Ms. Tyler - she could have wrapped up the ending so much better. Like what happened with Delta's job and her new friends? Did she just abandon them like she abandoned her family? I expected more from Delia, I thought she had matured during her time away and felt unsatisfied at the ending.

Reading this novel for my college class has allowed me to understand that wanting to leave your family and see what would happen is normal! Delia did just that. While on vacation with her family after many years of playing housewife, secretary, and mom she finally works up the courage to speak up. She lets her family know that she doesn't want to be overlooked, dismissed, or unappreciated. She wants to stop being thought of as the "baby", always needing to be cared for by someone and watched over in case she needs help. Delia doesn't use words exactly when she does this, she simply walks away from it all. She wanders off and unintentionally starts a new life in a quaint little town, small enough were people get to know you're name. No husband, no, kids, or meddling family members to keep her from being her own woman. She is free to do whatever she wants and to stop having those "what if..." feelings. Overall this book shows how sometimes things can keep adding up inside until you blow up. I thought this book had a great story line and it had all the right characters. It enabled one to live step by step right along with her. However, I feel the book could've been a bit faster. At times Delia's days seemed to run into each other. When her life picked up an interesting situation it never really turned out the way you'd expect. Even though Delia was away from her family life she still stuck to her values, and in a roundabout way ended up living similarly to her life at home. She eventually came home, but again almost "unintentionally." She stayed and although some aspects of her family life and questions she had about her marriage were answered, the question I still had was "Were the answers fulfilling enough to her? and for how long would these answere tide her over?" Nonetheless this was a great book and it made you really think about your own life and the choices you have made to get there. What would you change? Would you leave?

I loved Ladder of Years because it reflects my own, and many others, unspoken desire to walk away from their life. After an exciting career, a good marriage, or wonderful children, most people go through a time of reflection and possible regret about things they never did with their life. Delia experiences this, but does what most people would never dare. She simply walks away. Tyler develops the characters of Delia and her family thoroughly as she sets the plot, making it easy to sympathize with everyone in this situation. Without this character development, I don't believe I would have liked Delia very much for abandoning her family. Tyler is also brilliant in her portrayal of Delia as a nurturing person even after she leaves her family. Delia takes in strays, from cats to people, causing the reader to step away from judging her as a cold-hearted selfish person. The wonderful part of the story is that in the end, Delia finds her way back to her family, and the reader can imagine that the family survives and become closer after this separation. Delia has found herself, accepted herself and her life's path, and finds room in her heart for those she loves and those who need it. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to readers looking for a little joy and hope.

I read "Ladder of Years" for a college english class. I initally viewed the book as just another assignment, but quickly found myself genuninely interested in the story as I continued reading. After completion of the novel, I reflected upon the various messages Anne Tyler was trying to convey in her novel. There are many different issues addressed in this novel. The one I found the most interesting is how the main character, Delia, uses fairy tales and imagination to convey her thoughts and feelings throughout the story. This process also helped to better understand Delia's actions in the novel. Another issue that was used in the novel was that of abandonment. Delia decided on the spur of the moment to leave her family and the novel shows how she alters her life as a result of her decision. The novel deals with a lot of powerful emotional and psychological issues. It is interesting to see how Delia uses her past and her imagination in her relationships with people in both her new life and her family back home. This is a novel was written with subtle messages included. The ending was somewhat disappointing to many readers, but it was a statisfactory one to me. It provided closure to one journey and as a result, opened Delia's eyes to what was really important to her in her life.

I enjoyed reading this book. I loved the clarity that Anne Tyler writes with. When reading her book you could feel the sand beneath your toes as if you were walking down the street with Delia. You could feel the thoughs racing through your head as if you were her. My thoughts enjoyed collaborating with her writing style. It also gave me another pers[ectove of how people handle life and deal with isues. I did not like how Delia communicated through out the book. She had a lot of issues going on but never really confronts them completely to others verbally. I believe she made her life the way it was. In the book, page nine (9)-paper back- it states' "She was sad, tired, anxious, forty-years-old woman who hadn't had a champagne brunch in decades. And her husband was even older, by a good fifteen years,...". I agree with a reader from Milwaukee- Feb. 15, 2001, who wrote about Delia missing out on life. Delia did enter into life early through marriage. Also a reader from UK-titled: Disappointing, June30, 2001,She states, " I like her writing style, but not this character." Delia did show to be a weak character. Never really voicing her opinion.

Does leaving your husband constitute as one rung on the Ladder of years, or the Ladder of a married woman's life? Well, for three women in this novel it does. Rosemary Bly-Brice, Cordelia Grinstead, and Ellie Miller all fled the marraige scene, perhaps in search for their lost idetities. I enjoyed the transfromation of Delia throughout the novel. At first, she was mystified with the demeanor of Rosemary because she looked glamorous and she left her husband to begin a new life. The awakenings that Delia experienced about herself in her meeting Adrian and Rosemry inspired her to leave the dependence and comfort of her family. As Delia emerged into her new life in Bay borough, she unconsiously transformed into an individual, shedding her old identity, to become MISS Grinstead. Enter Ellie Miller, the estranged wife of Joel Miller and mother to Noah. Delia basically responds to a job offer to replace Ellie as a live in caretaker. Delia and Ellie meet and eventually become friends. Just as Delia admired Rosemary in the beginning, Ellie was now envious of Delia's self-sufficiency. Ellie asked Delia how she could just take a vactation by herself. I enjoyed this pattern of trasformation in Delia, as well as the entire novel. Although I was upset with the ending and Delia's disrespectful grown kids, I believe that Delia had attained the independence that we all need to be accepted, respected, and appreciated.

When finishing the book, Ladder of Years, I sat on my couch looking out the window thinking to myself, " that was a terrible ending." It took me some time to really try and understand what the author was trying to do. For my own selfish reasons, I wanted the book to end very profoundly, but it didn't. I enjoyed the main character Delia Grinstead. To me she seemed to have a split personality (like we all do) in that she was the wife of a doctor and had 3 adolescent children, but yet she wanted to know what it would be like to be somebody else. When she was around her family she was the happy go lucky (almost flakey), problem solving, run to everyones' rescue house wife and mother. When she left her children and husband she became Ms. Grinstead who was the more serious and conservative woman who people in Bay Borough found intriguing. Anne Tyler was very clever in writing this book in which I first responded to with disgust. You are almost lead to believe that the way that Delia will work out her problems will be very complex since she seesm to have caught herself in a web. It suprised me how Anne Tyler played with my emotions in how I thought that the book was going to end with a bang, but it was ever so subtle. After spending some time and thinking about it for a while, I decided that I really enjoyed this book and learned that a book doesn't have to necessarily be deep in order to receive meaning out of it.

The Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler focuses in one main character, Delia Grainstead. Delia is a delicate woman who acts, dresses and thinks like a girl. She is 40 years in the story, but her actions make the reader think that she seems to be younger. In the book, Delia seems to be immature, whiny and wants to get the attention from her family. Right at the beginning of the story, her father's death left emptiness in her heart that nobody in her family has been able to heal. Delia married Sam when she was 17 years old. She had three children with Sam. Her youngest son is 15 years old, Carroll. The relationship with Carroll is not the greatest. Carroll is just a teenager and Delia seems not to understand the behavior of her son. She believes that she is invisible and nobody cares for her, but in reality she is just moving aside without sharing her feelings and thoughts with anyone. Delia feels that everyone in her family especially Sam ignores her. Delia, in order to escape from reality, she decided one day to walk away without letting anyone know. When she is leaving (from reality), she walks away without thinking about the consequences. She just wanted to be noticed. In the process of exploring new experiences, Delia meets new people and acts differently. She makes new friends in Bay Borough, a small town where everyone knows everyone. Throughout the story, Delia seems to be in a transformation process where she is desperate trying to find herself; however, she never reaches that point because at the end of the story she goes back to her family, feeling the same way she felt before. From the perspective as a woman who is married with children, the need to escape sometimes from stressful situations it passes through their mind; however, when you need to be alone and reflect on yourself, running away is not the best option.

I enjoyed "Ladder of Years" immensly even though I do not agree with the tactics of our main character Delia. In a fit of desperation and anger, she leaves her family because she feels insignificant, but this reflects selfishness on her part. What about the children? Anyone with children can relate to her feelings, but not her actions. The children may not realize how important you are, but in the mean time, you can't just forget them until they do! Unethical as it may seem, Delia's absense was good for both her and the family. She realized she could make it on her own, reestablishing her self confidence and family realized just how important mother is and most often, you never miss a good thing until it's gone. In the end, both parties got the attention that was needed. I noticed that the gender of the respondents to years greatly affects the interpretation of the story. Women respond to the novel as though it is an awakening for a repressed woman. Men respond differently, mainly because it is impossible for them to understand how it feels to be an underappreciated wife and mother, especially on who is unemployed. I have not read a previous Anne Tyler novel, but this one, by far, will not be the last.

Anne Tyler's book Ladder of Years kept me interested till the last page. Her character Delia is one that most readers could sympathize with, she is a normal person with everyday problems. Delia however, takes a very unordinary path to resolving them. While I couldn't relate to Delia's exact postion in life I could relate to the need to start over. I have often been tempted to start from scratch and reinvent myself in a new city. Tyler's book allowed me to experience this with Delia from the comfort of my own home.

In the story Ladder of Years the main character Delia could not stop "running away". I think even though she had many "runaways" she still did not acommplish anything. When she returned from her many runaways she still was not a change person and she still had little or no respect. Throughout the novel you can see no change through her pattern of escape. Delia was a person who would just drop everything and just "runaway". The author of the novel makes a very vivit picture of how no one even notices or may I dare say cares about Delia and her many escapes. Delia to me is an display of how woman reacts to things instead of taking charge and demanding respect. Delia reacted as a "runaway teenager" through her many escapes. As a reader her escapes allowed me to do what many novels allow readers to do. That is escape or runaway from a present stitution to a new found world that gives us that little needed respect. Even if when we return from our escape and things are still the same or have change only a little. It is still good to escape from the present once and a while and have things just as we wish they could be. That is why I give this book three ***. For allowing me and Delia to runway from the present and escape into the novel.

In Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler, the author brings up a very controversial issue regarding the woman's role and family. Delia, the main character in the book was somewhat disappointed with her boring life. She was married to a doctor and had 3 children. Her family really didn't seem to appreciate her at all and at times it seemed as if she was almost non-existant. As a woman I can relate to some of those feelings myself. I do not personally have a husband and children but through Tyler's intricate description of Delia and her family dynamics really made me sympathize with what she was going through.
I have to admit that this book did start of boring and it took me a awhile to get into it. I must also add that part of what kept me from setting the book down was the authors use of metaphors and her descriptive word choice. It was as if I could visualize each seen as if I were watching a movie. In frustration and desperation for independence Delia leaves her family and goes away, for what I thought would be full of hot steamy affairs and neverending adventure. But that was not the case, once in a different town she continued to fall into the same role she had with her family.
All in all, the book was a little dry at times but the authors distinct word choice and metaphorical aspects kept my mind focused. I enjoyed the book from that standpoint. I also could relate to Delia and her quest for independence and acceptance. The book served its purpose of pointing out an issue that many women may be afraid to deal with or accept. The story line however sort of let me down. I was expecting Delia to come back to her family a changed woman and to be more assertive.
Life can be challenging at times and I think this book illustrates how the way we choose to deal with life's challenges can either make us or break us. So in that respect Delia didn't let her family's unacceptance of her get her down, she took a break and came back ready and willing to deal with that challenge.

Delia feels intensely the diametrically opposed emotions many of us have as we reach the midpoint of our lives. Middle age is a time of retrospection-we wonder if the choices we made were good ones. We question our choice of spouse, our choice of career, our future without children in the house, our achievements (or lack thereof), even our very purpose in life. Delia acts on her doubts-pushed along by a grossly inattentive husband and acrimonious children. Without her unpleasant home life, Delia might have stayed forever, never knowing the answers to her questions. Tyler provides all of us going through the pangs of middle age with an alter ego through whom we experience what we might never actually do ourselves. She demonstrates her great talent by creating a sympathetic character in Delia. We feel for Delia, even though, in leaving her family, she commits an act generally condemned by society. As other readers have expressed, at one time or another everyone with a spouse and children has felt like walking away. However, Delia doesn't abandon her family, she is emotionally shoved out the door.

When I finished this book, Ladder of Years, I closed it and felt a little cheated. I had gone on this adventure with Delia, yet I didn't know what decisions she had made and how she really felt. Tyler doesn't really let you get to know the characters very well to become very passionate about them or have sympathy for all them. I agree with some other reviews when that you can't quite understand this book until you reach the point where Delia is at. I was more puzzled about the loss of a mother for the children and no real word on Christmas than I was sympathetic towards Delia. This has a lot to do with my age and my point of life. Also, when Delia left, I had hoped that she would come back stronger than she did when she left that day at the beach. However, it seemed to me as though that if we were to visit Delia today she would be in her pink dress with a bow and she would be bending over backwards to please everyone no matter what. Tyler seemed to say that even though you can have adventures, you do have a place in life. I would agree and appreciate that part of the book. Another thing I truly enjoyed about the book was the fact that Delia did not have an affair. She stayed true to her word and her bond. That was the only true characteristic that made her seem strong to me. It is good to see a character that will stand up for the value of marriage. Basically, I liked and disliked this book all at once. The child in me was mad at her for leaving and not truly looking back, yet the other part of me was impressed at the journey she tried to take.

Running away from a disappointing life and starting a new one... A fantasy for most of us, a reality for Delia Grinstead. Delia walks away from a world in which she is expected to be a doting wife, mother and sister and enters a new one as Miss Grinstead. Delia's new life seems exciting and full of promise but quickly starts to resemble her former one. She gets a job as a receptionist (she was her husband's receptionist) and later ends up cooking, cleaning and caring for a man and his child (sound familiar?) Her new, eccentric friend Belle Flint parallels her cooky aromatherapist sister, Eliza. Anne Tyler does a superb job of describing her characters and capturing their idiosyncrasies, however, I find myself wanting more. I had high hopes for Delia when she began this new life, but was quickly disappointed when I came to the realization that it was just a repeat of the one she left behind. Perhaps this is why Delia has such a strong affinity for cats, the idea of having nine lives. This book is enjoyable for its rich description of character and setting, you'll almost be able to see, taste, and smell Bay Borough, but the ending may just leave you as dissatisfied as Delia Grinstead herself.

"Ladder of Years" by Anne Tyler
I've been rereading Anne Tyler's novels, which I originally read when they were first published. I just finished "Ladder of Years", which is about Delia, a 41 year old woman. Delia is a doctor's wife and the mother of three children who have reached that irritating but important stage of life when they must separate from their parents and appear, to themselves, and especially to their mother, to have little need or interest in her. Her husband, of course, being a man, doesn't communicate much on the emotional level.
One ordinary day, during a family beach vacation, Delia wanders away and ends up in another town, where she makes another life for herself. Eventually she returns with a greater understanding of the nature of men and women and life in general.
It occurred to me that Tyler shares a characteristic I first noticed when rereading Charles Dickens' novels. That is, she creates a plethora of characters. Most novelists, while they often have multiple plots, can create only one, or perhaps two real characters. Tyler, like Dickens, positively overflows with them.
Since her prose is not so grand and her subject matter is personal, and primarily of interest to women, she is not likely to be considered in a class with Dickens, but as I completed my rereading this morning, the resemblance struck me.