The Return Trip Is Shorter

The Return Trip Is Shorter Synopsis

The joyous, perceptive new novel from bestselling, prizewinning Anne Tyler: an unforgettable brother and sister learn to help each other navigate life's surprises, big and small

Ben Sullivan wants to be left in peace. After his beloved wife's death, he's living alone for the first time in over thirty years. His two bossy older sisters have been trying to coax him past his grief, but that's easy: he's simply stopped answering their calls.

Then, one morning, who should he find on his doorstep but his youngest sister, Cecily. The baby of the family, born when Ben was already away at college, it feels like they barely even know each other. But Cecily has broken up with her latest boyfriend, and needs a place to stay. Chatty, forgetful, clumsy and altogether too attached to frozen dinners, she soon proves hard to get rid of.

As Cecily and her various dramas make themselves at home at Ben's, memories are set off for him of childhood, family and his own marriage, both its joys and its shadows. When Cecily's future takes an unexpected turn, Ben is swept up in a kind of family life he thought he'd waved goodbye to years ago. And finds himself stepping up in ways he didn't even know he was capable of.