One warm summer's day at the beach, forty-year-old Cordelia Grinstead, dressed only in a swimsuit and beach robe, walks away from her family and just keeps on going. After hitching a ride with a stranger to a new town where she knows no one, she reinvents herself as a single woman with no ties and begins living a new life altogether. But how long can she keep this up before her real life finds her? **ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE** 'Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing' Rachel ...
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One warm summer's day at the beach, forty-year-old Cordelia Grinstead, dressed only in a swimsuit and beach robe, walks away from her family and just keeps on going. After hitching a ride with a stranger to a new town where she knows no one, she reinvents herself as a single woman with no ties and begins living a new life altogether. But how long can she keep this up before her real life finds her? **ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE** 'Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing' Rachel Joyce 'She knows all the secrets of the human heart' Monica Ali 'A masterly author' Sebastian Faulks 'I love Anne Tyler. I've read every single book she's written' Jacqueline Wilson
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Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $7.55, good condition, Sold by M Godding Books Ltd rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Devizes, WILTS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
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Good. Size: 19 to 25 cm tall, Octavo, (8vo); Posted within 1 working day. 1st class tracked post to the UK, Airmail tracked worldwide. Robust recyclable packaging.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $8.18, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $8.20, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $9.27, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 300grams, ISBN: 9780099479413.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $11.87, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Random House.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $0.99, good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
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Good. Signs of wear to cover. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence!
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $2.25, good condition, Sold by Jenhams rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dundee, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $3.96, very good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $4.15, good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Vintage.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
Add this copy of Ladder of Years to cart. $4.47, good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1995 by Chatto & Windus.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Ripped/damaged jacket. The dust jacket of this book is slightly damaged/ripped, however, this does not affect the internal condition. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
Cordelia Grinstead is a wife and mother to three children. Her husband Sam, a doctor, recently suffered a heart attack, (though Delia, as she is commonly known, refers to it as chest pains). At or about the same time her father died after Delia had cared for him for some time in her own home.
Her children are all teenagers and have become more independent and less reliant on their mother. Delia?s husband has become distant and less attentive. Delia has becoming unsure of her role as a mother, a wife and in the world in general.
While on the annual family holiday with her family and her sisters, Eliza and Linda and the latter?s children, Delia asks a young man who was working on the holiday home to drive her to a place she knows nothing of. She asks the young man to stop at a small town and there she begins a new life with only the possessions she is wearing and what is within her tote bag.
On the surface, The Ladder of Years appears to be a run of the mill novel about a middle aged woman going through the proverbial mid-life crisis. This appearance seems justified when you throw stroppy, mumbling, uncommunicative teenagers and an inattentive older husband in to the mix.
However, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Anne Tyler has written a novel that defies cliché, stereotype and one?s preconceived ideas of what a woman?s mid-life crisis looks like. A clever choice on Anne Tyler?s part was to write the book in the third person. It would have been easier to have written the novel in the first person and allow us the reader to get a better and easier understanding of Delia?s motives and thoughts on her behaviour. But writing the novel in the third person puts the reader at a slight distance from Delia so making it harder to empathize or sympathize with her. It makes the reader have to work that bit harder in getting to understand Delia and her reasoning and in this process makes the reading of the novel that much more satisfying.
I also believe that writing in the third person allows many male readers to follow Delia?s character without feelings of being uncomfortable in their male skin than had the novel been written in the first person. It is possible that many male readers would have found it uncomfortable or off putting to follow the character had they had access to her inner thoughts and feelings. By writing in the third person male readers are allowed to keep their distance and not made to feel that they inhabit a female persona.
All the characters within The Ladder of Years are rounded three dimensional people and as a reader I felt that I knew and understood each of the novel?s inhabitants by the end of the book. This knowing and understanding is from the perspective of a friend of the family and not as a family member. By this I mean that as much as I believed I knew the character?s motives and reasons for what they did and how they lived I still couldn?t be sure I was getting the full picture. This I believe was intentional on the author?s part. I believe that Anne Tyler was trying to communicate that we never fully know someone else even when they are family. There are times in our lives when we feel like we are an outsider within our own family group looking in through a window that becomes more opaque as time moves on.
Anne Tyler?s novel is a well crafted moving and at times funny novel that will not disappoint any reader, even the male of the species.
Number of pages ? 326
Sex scenes ? none
Profanity ? none
Genre ? drama/fiction
RatherBeReading
Aug 13, 2009
How many wives and mothers want to just "walk away" from their overwhelming and unfulfilling lives like Delia Grinstead did, but don't?. What Anne Tyler depicted in Delia was a woman confused about her own identitiy and desperately needing to "find" herself. I couldn't wait to find out what adventures were awaiting her and loved all the characters in the book. The story was very well develolped, I enjoyed every chapter and I was happy with the ending!!
This is a very good book.
akapulko2020
May 23, 2007
Interesting and enjoyable read
Although I'm far from the heroine's age ,I found myself sympathizing with some of her issues ,and definitely seeing things from a new perspective. The book is very believable and realistic ,which is a huge plus in my view - all the magic that inside is entirely possible and every-day type of magic...
I was somewhat disappointed with the ending ,but on afterthought realized it wouldn't have been right to end the book any other way .
