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Ladder of Years: A Novel Paperback – March 26, 1996

by Anne Tyler (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 2,041 ratings
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Breathing Lessons

"BALTIMORE WOMAN DISAPPEARS DURING FAMILY VACATION."

The headlines are all the same: Beloved mother and wife Delia Grinstead was last seen strolling down the Delaware shore, wearing only a bathing suit and carrying a beach tote with five hundred dollars tucked inside. To the best of her family's knowledge, she has disappeared without a trace. But Delia didn't disappear. She ran.

Exhausted with her routine and everyone else's plans for her, Delia needed an out, a chance to make a new life for herself and to become a different person. The new Delia can let go of all the hurt and resentment that left her stuck in her past. As she eagerly sheds the pieces of herself she no longer needs, Delia discovers feelings of passion and wonder she'd long since forgotten. The thrill of walking away from it all leads to a newfound sense of self and the feeling that she is, finally, the star of her own life story.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    March 26, 1996
  5. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0449910571
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0449910573
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Utterly compelling...wonderfully satisfying...virtually flawless." --Chicago Tribune

"Tyler details Delia's adventure with great skill. . . . [and] creates distinct characters caught in poignantly funny situations. . . . Tyler writes with a clarity that makes the commonplace seem fresh and the pathetic touching." --The New York Times

From the Inside Flap

IMES NOTABLE BOOK
BALTIMORE WOMAN DISAPPEARS DURING FAMILY VACATION, declares the headline. Forty-year-old Delia Grinstead is last seen strolling down the Delaware shore, wearing nothing more than a bathing suit and carrying a beach tote with five hundred dollars tucked inside. To her husband and three almost-grown children, she has vanished without trace or reason. But for Delia, who feels like a tiny gnat buzzing around her family's edges, "walking away from it all" is not a premeditated act, but an impulse that will lead her into a new, exciting, and unimagined life . . . .
"TYLER DETAILS DELIA'S ADVENTURE WITH GREAT SKILL . . . As so often in her earlier fiction--Celestial Navigation, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, and her nine other novels--[she] creates distinct characters caught in poignantly funny situations. . . .Tyler writes with a clarity that makes the commonplace seem fresh and the pathetic touching."
--The New York Times&

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (March 26, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0449910571
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0449910573
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 2,041 ratings

About the author

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Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler

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Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her bestselling novels include Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, Back When We Were Grownups, A Patchwork Planet, The Amateur Marriage, Digging to America, A Spool of Blue Thread, Vinegar Girl and Clock Dance.

In 1989 she won the Pulitzer Prize for Breathing Lessons; in 1994 she was nominated by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby as 'the greatest novelist writing in English'; in 2012 she received the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence; and in 2015 A Spool of Blue Thread was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
2,041 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States

Gardner W. Skinner
5.0 out of 5 stars Odd characters that come to life
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2022
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Anne Tyler always seems to write about odd characters; just like in Accidental Tourist. They come to life and it is so refreshingly different than other writers do with their characters. Her books are so fun and interesting and again, I find her refreshing. A different view point of life that makes us look at any subject with a certain amount of humor. This one, in my opinion, should be made into a movie. I laughed so hard when reading the scene around that Thanksgiving dinner and absolutely fell in love with these odd people, especially, Belle. I would suggest that this is a must read and we must expect that it is different. Thank God, because reading always the same linear things gets a bit boring. Read it for enjoyment
and with a different slant that this author offers. Jeannette Skinner
5 people found this helpful
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Readergurl
4.0 out of 5 stars Well - I Liked It...
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2008
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This was my first Anne Tyler book, so i guess i didnt know what to expect. I actually couldnt put the book down, and stayed up wayyy late two nites in a row just to finish it. I thought the writing was really good. I agree that alot more of her feelings could have been explored, alot more of the family's feelings - but all in all i liked the story. It just could have gone alot further and deeper, and been a much longer and more involved story. I will check some reviews and see what others think are her better books, because i do like her style of writing.
3 people found this helpful
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Lynne P Caldwell
3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of slow read....
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2003
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After reading the first page of LADDER OF YEARS, I knew that this would be a hilarious story. By the time I finished the first chapter I was disappointed. This book was not funny. "Breathing Lessons," it's not. Gone are Tyler's quirky characters (the characters in this book were all one dimensional, even Delia's children and husband). I also had a little bit of trouble with the subject matter. I'm sure all mothers (especially of teenagers) fantasize about leaving home but most do not. What do we think about fathers who leave home? They are horrible people. How could a mother leave her children for a year and a half? I realize that Delia was probably going through a mid life crisis and a form of depression but I kept wanting to say, "Call your children and see if they are okay!"
Anne Tyler is still brilliant when writing about the mundane things of every day life.
5 people found this helpful
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Claudine Wolk
5.0 out of 5 stars Every Mother's Dirty Little Secret
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2010
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I first read Ladder of Years when I was a young mother in my thirties. I loved the book but didn't quite get it. I felt a little upset with the main character, Delia, for taking off and leaving her family while on vacation. Fast-forward 10+ years and I read the book again, (Yes, it is that good) and this time, after the first few chapters, I'm begging Delia to walk away from her family. I totally get it. Anne Tyler reveals every wife and mother's dirty little secret. Oh, how we would all love to take a walk away from what seems like an ungrateful (one reviewer described them as acrimonious), self-centered family and just keep on walking! Even though we might never actually do it, the percentage of women who have had that fantasy has got to be in the top percentages.

But Tyler doesn't stop there. We are slowly and cleverly getting to know Delia. She is NOT a cold-hearted, closed-off person. Even though she has a new way of dressing, a new job, and a new residence, she still cries herself to sleep every night. It's clear she is desperate for her family to reach out to her and tell her that they need her, but that message is not forthcoming. Delia copes the only way she knows how by getting up everyday and following the routine she has established for herself. Inevitably, Delia meets and forms relationships in the little town where she settles. She even tires of her first job and searches for another. Just as her life may take an irreversible turn, she is summoned back home for the wedding of her daughter. Tyler's portrayal of events when Delia returns home is nothing short of brilliant.

Some feel the ending is lacking in answers. I thought so, too, at first glance but on second thought (and this is the kind of book you have lots of second thoughts about), the ending is perfectly fitting and the answers have been revealed along the way.
30 people found this helpful
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Jeanne
5.0 out of 5 stars Good service
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2023
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T. E. Meadows books delivered this book in good shape, on time. I enjoy Anne Tyler's books so much for her portrayal of quiet ordinary people who live their lives through ups and downs. Something reassuring that. looking forward to reading "Ladder of Years"
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Sandy Love
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2022
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Bought it for a gift
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TLC
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Anne Tyler novel
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2011
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I have read every novel by Anne Tyler, and just re-read this one on my Kindle. It is my favorite. So poignant, funny, and real. Tyler's characters are always people you know and recognize. But Delia, the main character, is possibly her most fully formed and relatable ever. I love Delia--BECAUSE of her flaws, not in spite of them. This is a coming-of-age book...about a middle-aged woman. It's also a story about the intricate relationships among women. The women in this book overlap--each "taking over" something from another. If it hadn't been called "Ladder of Years," it could very well have been called "The Interwoven Lives of Women," (or something more creative).

I savored every page in this second reading, and, as usual, was sad to see the book end. Tyler's realism is always both satisfying and frustrating. Things change, but they don't. The nature of her characters never changes. There's never a magical ending. Life moves forward in a slightly different direction, but with the knowledge that circumstances have not changed all that much.

I don't know of a mother who has not fantasized about doing what Delia does in the book (although it is not easily admitted). Read the book. See what happens to one woman who--mistakenly or not--takes a mid-life adventure. It's a joy.
4 people found this helpful
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Anne L. Watson
2.0 out of 5 stars Very Strange Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2024
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Obviously well written -- that's what earned the two stars. But I ended up with a bad taste in my mouth. The characters all treat each other as disposables. Someone annoys you? Throw them away. Including friends, spouses, relatives, kids, fiancés...no one is more than one mistake away from the dumpster.
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Top reviews from other countries

Parama Biswas
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
Reviewed in India on October 10, 2018
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Anne Tyler is brilliant and insightful
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Clare carvill
5.0 out of 5 stars Tantastic
Reviewed in Spain on August 19, 2018
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Just enthralled with this author., God she’s good.,
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Ann Fairweather
5.0 out of 5 stars A totally brilliant, immersive modern classic!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2018
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Ladder of years is an engrossing read. It takes only a few lines to be captivated by the character of Delia Grinstead, an average woman and wife if any. The preambule to her escape is telling. It’s a woman quietly on edge and when the tipping point is reached, it reels with consequences. Sweet, quiet, obedient Delia just walks out. And good for her. I think many a women-readers do cheer then. In no time at all, she swiftly, skillfully creates a new life for herself in a little town some distance away from previous Baltimore and Anne Tyler here is a master at rendering the small happenings of her new daily life as riveting as any thriller. How Delia reconstructs herself, builds new strengths and explores new sides of her identity is just fascinating. I certainly envied her courage and sheer oompgh at having the guts to do what one can only dream of, most of the time: to escape your own life! It is an all round brilliant, immersive read. And yet, yet, (but depending of you are of course) the ending will come perhaps as a huge disappointement. I would not have made that choice myself but...Anne Tyler decided it so. In any case, whatever one thinks of the end, it is definitely a modern classic, a book to read, recommend, to talk about and re-read!
2 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful read.
Reviewed in Australia on August 2, 2018
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This is my favourite novel. The ordinary is made fascinating. I wish I knew how Anne Tyler does it.
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geraldine
5.0 out of 5 stars original!
Reviewed in France on June 10, 2014
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A wonderful story of a married woman confronted to big teenagers, and a busy husband,asking herself if she is useful anymore...
One person found this helpful
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