This week’s BotW is Armistead Maupin’s eighth book in the Tales of the City series – Mary Ann in Autumn. I discovered the series last year as book nine came out and have loved every installment so far.
In Mary Ann in Autumn our favourite characters have reached middle age with new challenges and old ones. Mary Ann has never been my favourite character in the series, but in this she comes across as the most human and real that I’ve seen her. It does make me sad that Mrs Madrigal is much older and frailer in this book, but that’s life and that’s aging. And it means we get more of Jake.
I think it’s a real testament that Maupin has been able to keep the series feeling fresh and real and relevant 30 years after it started. Not all authors would have been happy to keep bringing their characters up to date – and still less of them would have been able to do it and make it beliveable and true. The “final” book in the series is just out in paperback and I need to get my hands on a copy asap. Although with the current state of the to read pile I may try to hang fire on that for a week or two.
You should be able to get Mary Ann in Autumn from all the usual sources, but do yourself a favour and start from the beginning of the series. Even The Boy likes them!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 