I’m re-reading the novels I’ve acquired, over the years, by Anne Tyler. She’s an American novelist whose work I was first introduced to about three decades ago when we lived in the United States for a couple of years. I very much like her quirky style and her way with words, but recall almost nothing about any of the books. I last read ‘Morgan’s Passing’ in 2002, although apparently I didn’t review it afterwards. 
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The novel opens with a village fair, and a puppet show. The children are getting a bit fidgety as Cinderella and the Prince are having a conversation at the ball, and even more so when the puppets disappear entirely. A young man emerges from the puppet booth, offers everyone their money back, and asks if there is a doctor in the house.
My first thought was that someone (‘Morgan’, perhaps?) had died, and that the book would then flash back to his life, or possibly move forward into the aftermath. However it turns out to be a different kind of emergency, affecting the young man’s wife. Morgan is the man who comes forward and takes charge, dealing competently with the problem and then driving the couple to the hospital.
However Morgan is not all he appears. Or, rather, he appears to be a good many different people, and everyone knows him differently. He’s eccentric in his dress - with many hats and outfits in his possession - and a neglectful tolerance of his own family. His wife Bonny looks after him well, if a little haphazardly, and they have five daughters, most of them teenagers when the story starts.
But for some reason Morgan becomes obsessed with the young couple he has helped, and starts stalking them. It seems rather creepy in today’s society; but this book was first published in 1980, when, perhaps, such things were considered less unacceptable. It’s not that he intends any harm; far from it. Sometimes he isn’t sure why he doesn’t go right up to them and start talking. He’s not even very good at hiding, since the couple are aware of his presence, but they feel too embarrassed to speak to him.
I wondered if they were going to continue in this way, never actually getting to know each other, but they do in fact meet at last, and become quite friendly. Morgan’s wife Bonny likes them too, but to leave it like that would not produce a story. Instead, Morgan does something irresponsible and immoral, which made me entirely lose my mild liking for him and for the other person concerned.
I kept reading; the writing is good, the dialogue clever and light-hearted in places. There are some caricatures (such as Morgan’s mother and sister) which are rather sad, although probably intended to be amusing. Morgan himself is so weird that I never really believed in him. And the ending all seems rather depressing.
It took me over a week to finish this; the chapters are short and it’s not heavy-going, but I found that after two or three chapters my mind started wandering. I was never gripped, nor did I care much what was going to happen next. Definitely not one of Anne Tyler's best novels. I didn’t hate it, but it’s not a book I expect to read again.
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