The Beginner's Goodbye - Anne Tyler

'That was one of the worst things about losing your wife, I found: your wife is the very person you want to discuss it all with.'

Aaron Woolcott loses his wife Dorothy suddenly one day, after a tragic accident at their home that leaves a lot of it damaged. This novel charts the time after her death as friends and family try and help him in their own ways. It also sees him looking back to when and how he and Dorothy first met. Then, almost a year after she passed away, one day Dorothy comes back from the dead and Aaron is somehow aware of her presence. He knows that to see a dead person would be considered 'crazy', he isn't a religious person, but as he points out, if you lost a loved one and then saw them again, 'you wouldn't question your sanity, because you couldn't bear to think this wasn't real.'

It's a moving story, narrated by Aaron throughout. He fills his days immediately after Dorothy's death with his work, at Woolcott Publishing, the family business. Looking back, he remembers the early days they spent together, how they related to each other then. At other times he thinks back on silly squabbles. It is evident that Aaron and Dorothy loved each other and like most couples they accepted each others quirks, indeed after Aaron being cosseted by his mother and sister whilst growing up, he embraces how Dorothy is different, and asks 'Is it any wonder I found Dorothy a breath of fresh air?...She was one of a kind'. He developed an illness when he was a two-year-old that left him with little use in his right leg or right arm. On the occasions when Dorothy is present after her death, Aaron notices that they start to argue. He doesn't extensively question why she is there, he tries to just appreciate it there and then, in the moment; somehow he just knows she is there, and he is glad of it:

'Think of when you're threading your way through a crowd with a friend - how, even if you don't look over, you somehow know your friend is keeping pace with you. That's what it was like with Dorothy. It's the best I can describe it.'

His sister Nandina encourages him to see that, at only age 36, one day he will want to pick up his life and find a new future, but that's further ahead than he can grasp in his early stages of grief. His neighbours leave meals for him that he can't hope to eat. The small team at the publishing firm all worry about him. I felt these supporting characters came to life, I could imagine them from the way Aaron describes them and their behaviour. The firm has had it's main success from a series of books entitled The Beginner's Guide to.. various subjects. 

This novel is written with real warmth for people, relationships, families and love. It demonstrates how our perceptions of people we think we know well can be both confirmed and shattered too. The story is touching yet optimistic. It is warm-hearted and charming but not overly sweet or sentimental. Aaron is an enjoyable, thoughtful character to be in the company of. Like previous novels by this author, it is set in Baltimore, USA. At fewer than two hundred pages, it is fairly short and yet on closing the book, to me it felt complete and satisfying.  A lovely read. 

Published by Chatto & Windus on 5 April 2012.