Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Audiobook By Anne Tyler cover art

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

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Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

By: Anne Tyler
Narrated by: Elizabeth Rodgers
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Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not of her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore's Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the older son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet, clumsy Ezra, Pearl's favorite, who never stops yearning for the perfect family that could never be his own. Now Pearl and her three grown children have gathered together again - with anger, hope, and a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.

©1982 Anne Tyler (P)2020 Recorded Books Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
Masterful Character Development • Engrossing Storytelling • Masterful Voice Acting • Realistic Family Dynamics
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Anne Tyler has an amazing style, and the performer was wonderful, but I never felt momentum or a real purpose in the plot. This certainly is a very good book, just not a great book.

Great writing style and performance, lethargic plo

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This book did not disappoint! It was an intriguing journey as the author, Anne Tyler, took the reader through a family abandoned by their father. Each family member dealt with their unspoken grief uniquely, which is true for most families. The matriarch of the family chose to not to address her grief or acknowledge her children's loss. Powerful story!

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

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I've always been a fan of Ann Tyler but couldn't get into this particular book. Can't really put my finger on why I didn't like it particularly, it just didn't grab me.

Just so-so

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I enjoyed the story however it’s so much like real life it is depressing. Very easy to connect with.

Sad

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That says it all. Always negative energy and stressful situations. Bad feeling until the last 10 minutes.

I would have enjoyed at least one likable person in the story…

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I'm a fan of Anne Tyler but Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is not one of my favorites. The characters were generally unlikable and the plot seemed to meander. Like other reviewers, I found the treatment of children (neglect, physical and emotional abuse) to be quite disturbing. This is not an uplifting story; rather, it is a study in the impact of unresolved childhood trauma and it's ripple effect across generations.

Not My Favorite

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I read this book and had memories of it being 5 stars all the way. But after listening to it I'm not so sure. Anne Tyler still wrote a great book, but it is missing the humor present in so many of her work. She has a knack for giving us a laugh or some hope in tough situations, but not in this book.

To day that this family is dysfunctional is an understatement. It opens as the mother of the family is dying. Then it goes through years and characters. I like some, I dislike others, and some I'm still not sure. Be prepared to be sad.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but if you've read a lot of Anne Tyler forget that she wrote it. You will like it better that way. I think the narration is 5 stars.

Well-written but kind of depressing

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I’m still not sure what the point of this story was. Lots of going back and forth in time related to family remembrances. None of it enlightening. I stuck with it hoping it would have an ah-ha moment that never came.

Depressing

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I almost gave up on this book but I stuck it out for love of of one of the characters. I had to find out what might become of him. Being in the midst of the life of this family affected my sleep. I am glad to come out the other side. Listen at your own peril. The narrator is superb.

A painful story too close to home

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Well thought out and well written. Sad to know pain like this exists in many families!

Excellent!

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