“Redhead by the Side of the Road” by Anne Tyler – Connections out of Reach

Anne Tyler has long been known for her profound understanding of the emotional depth characteristic to human nature, and in Redhead by the Side of the Road she explores the power of human connections from a more lighthearted perspective.

Following the story of the neatly-organized Micah Mortimer, we witness a series of events throwing his life in complete upheaval, in the process surprising him and leading him on a journey of self-discovery bound to change him forever.

Anne Tyler Begins the Metamorphosis

Whether good or bad, life is the kind of phenomenon which always keeps surprising us, especially when we think we have something figured out and found some semblance of stability. The control we have over ourselves is, in part at least, illusionary, with so many factors being outside our field of influence.

However, as Micah Mortimer in Anne Tyler's Redhead by the Side of the Road is bound to realize at one point or another, life's unpredictability doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing... as a matter of fact, it might be an essential element to making life worth living.

The story begins by briefly introducing us to Micah and the kind of life he leads for himself: neat, organized, and overly-cautious. Self-employed as a personal IT consultant, as well as the handyman of his Baltimore building, Micah leads a life structured to a perfection of steadiness, making him about as content as a human being can be. However, the sky is about to come crashing down on this creature of habit, and there is nothing he can do about it.

The first sign of trouble comes from his better half who suddenly breaks the news she is facing eviction and essentially has nowhere to go. Escalating further, a teenage kid shows up to his door, and drops the hammer on Micah, claiming to be his son.

Begrudgingly saying goodbye to his old life of apex stability and contentment, Micah tries to make the best of his new situation, and in the process learns quite a bit about himself, how the world is perceived by others, and perhaps most importantly, the necessity of forming those elusive human connections, whose power and importance are nearly-indescribable.

Intimate Connections in Redhead by the Side of the Road

As you might have already deduced from the premise of this novel, the bulk of it revolves around character development, rather than any sort of action or adventure, almost being a slice-of-life-type story.

While personally I can't say I am familiar with Tyler's other writings (as of writing this review), I do have the impression character development really is her great strength she developed over many years as an author.

To begin with the obvious, I found her portrayal of Micah very compelling, realistic, and profoundly-detailed. We become privy to his innermost thoughts, desires and meditations, and I think many of us will find some ground over which they can relate to him.

Tyler shows a very acute understanding of how humans think in general and how interactions tend to go in the real world; on more than one occasion I found Micah's thoughts and tendencies to be similar to some of my own.

Additionally, his portrayal also carries with some elegant comedic elements, largely stemming from the social misunderstandings he finds himself in due to his own ineptitude.

The rest of the characters are given almost the same treatment as Micah in terms of depth and realistic portrayal, with the exception we don't get to see many of them for more than a few pages.

If anything, I wish this book was somewhat longer to get us better acquainted with the rest of the people, but at the same time I do understand this would have made the book a bit too slow and dull for a quite a few people by slowing the pace down even further.

The Fascinating Unexpectedness of Life

I think by a certain young age most of us have experienced the particular phenomenon in life where it throws seemingly negative surprises your way, only for them to end up turning into positives in the end.

Now, I'm not saying this happens every day nor does it apply to every negative thing we experience, but it is a fairly strange and delightful occurrence, and this is what the whole novel revolves around essentially, at least in my opinion.

It's simply captivating to watch Micah make his way through the whole experience while finding himself transformed in the process, in large part through his own decisions and realizations.

There is just something comforting and familiar watching a good character we can relate to turn what would seem like a personal disaster into a benefit by changing his way of looking at things.

If anything, I felt like it was a reminder I ought to try and do the same when the time comes, and I think especially these days it's a healthy philosophy to keep in mind.

While much of this book is indeed about character development, it works in tandem with the carefully-structured plot which has a couple of interesting twists along the way. While it doesn't necessarily move very fast (also despite this being a short novel), it does provide in the way of entertainment by consistently moving forward.

Micah is always tackling one thing or another, constantly making us wonder how will find his own way through the next set of seemingly interminable problems. The pace might not be fast, but it is sustained and our desire for plot developments is very much kept in mind by Tyler.

The Final Verdict

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler is an interesting and thought-provoking lighthearted story about the power of human connections, the unexpected packages life brings us, and how they force us to adapt and change our perception of things, lest we descend into total misery.

If you are looking for a humorous family life fiction story with expertly-developed characters complemented by insightful meditations, then I strongly recommend you give this novel a read.

---

Anne Tyler Personal site Anne Tyler is an American literary critic, short story writer and novelist with 22 books to her name so far. Some of her better-known works include The Accidental Tourist and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as Breathing Lessons, which won the prize in 1989. Additionally she also received the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as the Ambassador Book Award.