Literary Fiction · WarmOne long day of driving to a funeral, one long marriage
Breathing Lessons
by Anne Tyler
A Baltimore couple spend one day driving to a funeral and back
Ira and Maggie Moran have been married for a long time. In the course of one day they drive ninety miles from Baltimore to a funeral and return home. During the trip their incompatibilities and their lasting love come out, and Maggie tries to reconcile her son with his estranged wife.
More about this book
Who
Ira and Maggie Moran, a long-married couple, along with their son and daughter-in-law.
World
Baltimore and the road to a funeral ninety miles away, over a single day.
What makes it different
The whole novel centers on one ordinary day in a marriage, and both characters have given up their youthful dreams for an ordinary life. It won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was made into a 1994 television film with James Garner and Joanne Woodward.
Feel
Gentle, funny and familiar, a story about how a couple get along after many years.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- Breathing LessonsWikipedia