“Clock Dance” by Anne Tyler

Rating:

Oh boy. I just finished Clock Dance written by Anne Tyler and as much as I don’t want to write a review for this book, I really can’t get it off my mind. I am hoping to write quickly, because I have things to do, but I fear this may be a very long post. I honestly do not know.

Let’s start off by quoting the description of the novel found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble: “Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life. In 1967, she is a schoolgirl coping with her mother’s sudden disappearance. In 1977, she is a college coed considering a marriage proposal. In 1997, she is a young widow trying to piece her life back together. And in 2017, she yearns to be a grandmother but isn’t sure she ever will be. Then, one day, Willa receives a startling phone call from a stranger. Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to look after a young woman she’s never met, her nine-year-old daughter, and their dog, Airplane. This impulsive decision will lead Willa into uncharted territory–surrounded by eccentric neighbors who treat each other like family, she finds solace and fulfillment in unexpected places. A bewitching novel of hope and transformation, Clock Dance gives us Anne Tyler at the height of her powers.”

What a misleading description. Willa’s mother’s “sudden disappearance” happens because her mother has something mentally wrong and it isn’t diagnosed (at least that’s what I gathered), had a fight with her husband, and only left for two days. Now, that would that be a traumatic event in any little girl’s life, but I was expecting so much more: the mystery of the disappearing mother. Maybe she returns later in the book and Willa can get some closure. Nope. She comes back before the first part of the book even ends. A little disappointing, to be honest.

I really enjoyed the story over all and had thought it had great potential. Clock Dance was a short read and a very easy read. It didn’t have a super crazy story line, it was easy enough to follow (for the most part), and it didn’t have many crazy words I had to look up. The book even had heartwarming moments and interesting characters. And that is all the positive things I can say about this book.

It was poorly written and executed. There was no detail, just brief, quick descriptions of characters. I think the dog, Airplane, was probably the character that was given the most description in the book. It was mentioned that some characters had an accent, but every piece of dialogue they had was written out properly, so the reader does not get a feel of that accent.

There were parts that were absolutely confusing to me. For instance, as the description states, Willa becomes a widow. At one part, she dreams that her husband is alive again, but then Willa is awoken. After a few minutes, she tries to go back to sleep but it is said that she is just so awake, like she drank a whole pot of coffee. The doorbell rings and when she opens the door, her husband is standing there. That’s how that part ends. Then, the start of the next part, it talks about how she and her husband moved to Arizona, then later in the chapter names the husband, who happens to be named differently than the first husband. I was thrown for a moment.

Going off of that, we find out a little bit more about her new husband: he is older than Willa and likes to golf. That’s pretty much it. Later in the book, he is freaking out about work related events that he might miss. Then, later than that, the reader is then told he is retired! Whaaaat? Yup. “Meet this character. He likes to golf. Oh, and he’s a workaholic. Did I mention that he’s retired?” That makes total sense. There may have been a reason for that, but I couldn’t tell you what it would be and I honestly would just chalk that up to poor writing.

I did not connect with any of the characters. Ok, maybe Willa ONLY because she’s a push over and so am I. Other than that, I did not feel anything for her – or any other character for that matter. I want to say it’s because there was barely any description and even point out that other than Willa and those related to her, there was very minimal back story for those the reader meets.

And the ending! Ahhhh! The ending! It was so frustrating. The reader can see exactly what Willa wants to do and you’re lead to believe she is going to do something completely different. She goes through all this trouble to do the opposite of what she wants to do, only to turn around and end up doing what she wanted to do in the first place. All those paragraphs and extra story for nothing! It would have been more satisfying to see her take control of her life and what she wanted to do, prior to when she actually does that.

I was highly disappointed in this book. I’ve seen Anne Tyler’s other books around and even wanted to read some of them prior to this book’s release, but I read some reviews that say Clock Dance is basically the same pattern as her other books. So that’s off putting.

Did you read Clock Dance? What did you think of it? Any other books that you had high hopes for that disappointed you? Let me know in the comments below.