Families in literature: the Tulls in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

By exploring the very different experiences of one household from the viewpoints of each member, this novel reveals some universal truths

It’s a weakness of mine to look for general truths in literature. So where can I find such truths about the family?

Not in Tolstoy’s famous slogan about happy and unhappy families, certainly. That one is just as (im)plausible if you reverse the adjectives. All happy families are not the same – though they are presumably quite a challenge for the novelist.

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