SOURCE: Coleman, Cheryl Devon. “Metaphorical Redemption in Anne Tyler's The Clock Winder and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.” Christianity and Literature 49, no. 4 (summer 2000): 511-32.

In the following essay, Coleman considers the role of redemption in The Clock Winder and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

Anne Tyler's literary career spans more than thirty years and includes fourteen published novels, approximately fifty short stories, and numerous book reviews for the National Observer, New York Times, Washington Post, and New Republic. The recipient of a citation from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for fiction by an American woman, O. Henry Awards, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and a Pulitzer, Tyler is attracting an increasing amount of critical study. When evaluating her novels, critics often take note of her emphasis on characterization and the individual in...