Digging to America by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler is good – her Pulitzer Prize is evidence of that, but I had given up on reading her books some time ago. I found her work to be too depressing, and, after “Accidental Tourist”, too close to home. “Digging to America” was the only one of the “Arlington Reads” campaign books I had not read yet, so I decided to give Ms. Tyler another try. Her crisp writing style and visceral descriptions are clear right from the start. A local author, she opens with an arrival scene in the late hours at BWI airport. You can “feel” the space so well that it seems like you are there. After this prologue, she delves into the stories of two Baltimore families who adopted Korean children that night. One family is a liberal leaning Caucasian family, the other, Iranian Americans who struggle with the balance between their current and past cultures. Each chapter swings from one voice to the next, weaving the storyline over successive years. There is nothing extraordinary here, no deep tragedies or high drama, just the stuff that makes up day to day life. That, I think, is where Anne Tyler excels. These are real people. They are flawed, but she never judges them, she just lets them be who they are, both good and bad. I particularly liked Maryam’s comment near the end of the story that the real cultural battle may be one between men and women, not different races. This story is more upbeat than others of hers I have read. I was again saddened by one of the storylines, but yes, I think it is because it may have hit too close to home (and the resolution of this character’s issues seemed to me to be the one somewhat forced moment in the book). Overall, excellent and compelling. This 275 page book made for an intense and detailed read.