Breathing Lessons (by Anne Tyler)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m glad I decided to re-read my books by Anne Tyler. She’s an American novelist who writes in a quirky, light style with amazing attention to detail, and a depth of understanding of human nature that makes the books surprisingly profound and thought-provoking.

It’s more than twenty years since I last read ‘Breathing Lessons’, and all I remembered about it was that it took place over the course of one day, when a middle-aged American couple made a car journey. Essentially, that’s the plot. In the hands of almost any other author, it could be mundane, or long-winded, or possibly just very short. But Anne Tyler has managed a remarkable novel despite the majority of it taking place inside a car.

Ira and Maggie have been married for twenty-eight years, and we meet them when they’re about to set off to a funeral in the next state. They have had very short notice about this, and Maggie has to pick the car up from the repair shop before they can leave. As we quickly learn, Maggie is quite scatter-brained, leaping to conclusions and regularly getting things wrong .But she’s also very well-meaning and kind.

Ira, by contrast, is quieter, more organised and likes a bit of structure in his life. He isn’t into spontaneity, nor does he befriend everyone he meets, like Maggie does. Ira has a lot of responsibilities and has shouldered them without reproach; he runs a framing shop as his father, who owns it, is chronically sick. Ira has two sisters, one of whom is mentally disabled. The other is plagued by phobias and won’t leave the house.

Ira and Maggie have an adult son, Jesse, who is divorced and hasn’t seen his only child for about five years. And Maggie decides that on the way back from the funeral, they could call in to see her former daughter-in-law and grandchild. Ira thinks this is a terrible idea, and that they should phone first…

The book covers conversations, memories - with flashbacks - and meetings with various people. At the funeral, of Maggie’s schoolfriend Serena’s husband, she becomes re-acquainted with some of their former classmates, and is persuaded to re-run some of the songs from Serena’s wedding. Maggie goes with the flow and chats to everyone, Ira hangs back.

As a personality study, I thought it excellent. Caricatured a little, perhaps, but Ira seems likeable and realistic, and Maggie believable too, in a fluffy, somewhat irritating and yet extremely well-meaning way. I could entirely understand her need to think the best of everyone, to imagine she knows something, or heard something, and then to embroider a little, in the hope of healing emotional wounds or bringing people together. Ira and Maggie are completely different, and have a lot of arguments, but they still love each other very much.

The writing is extremely good, meaning that even though nothing much happened I kept reading, feeling myself drawn into the lives of these two people, seeing others from Maggie’s point of view, even if frustrated at times by her well-meaning (but clearly wrong) advice or comments.

Recommended if you like this kind of character-driven novel that’s gentle on the surface, but quite probing and thought-provoking too. First published in 1988, 'Breathing Lessons' won the Pulitzer Prize, and is still in print, including in Kindle form.

Review copyright 2023 Sue's Book Reviews