Paperbacks: The Beginner's Goodbye By Anne Tyler

"The strangest thing about my wife's return from the dead was how other people reacted."

The first line of Tyler's latest novel is a cracker, but fans can be assured that the author hasn't suddenly decided to take a turn for the supernatural. Aaron has been married for 11 years when his wife is killed in a freak accident. Over the course of the novel his grief takes various forms including ghostly visitations but mostly he's haunted by the small tiffs and unkindness that might have been avoided. Tyler's playful humour imbues this unsentimental portrait of a mismatched marriage.