If you want to read a novel by a master of characterisation and observation, try Anne Tylers’s “Digging to America.” I’ve been a fan of hers for years—the most devastating of her novels being, in my view, “Saint Maybe,” but it’s been a while since I’ve read anything by her. A copy of “Digging” showed up as a free accompaniment to the most recent issue of “Psychologies” magazine.
It’s about two families whose only link is that they both adopt Korean orphans but whose lives become intertwined over the years. But it’s also about what it means to be foreign, what it means to be American, what friendship and love are about, all revealed via Tyler’s wry observations—and she doesn’t miss a thing.
Anybody interested in writing fiction can also learn a lot from the way she handles a story that covers decades, and the subtle ways that she lets you into the minds of the various characters, without any clumsy “she thoughts.”
Of course if you’re new to Tyler you could also start with her best-known novel, “The Accidental Tourist,” which was made into a surprisingly good film as well.
