A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler: The Novel Cure for failure to compromise

Anne Tyler's latest novel shows just how self-defeating a refusal to compromise can be

Ailment: Failure to compromise

Cure: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Compromise is crucial to the health of any long-term relationship, whether it's with a partner, parents, children – or another nation. Leaders must be prepared to temper their vision, just as individuals must learn to meet the other half way, whether it's over where to live, where to send the kids to school, or just where to go out for the evening. Yet relinquishing a standpoint can sometimes feel threatening. If you recognise this feeling, read Anne Tyler's latest novel to see just how self-defeating a refusal to compromise can be.

It is a testament to Lynnie Mae's determination that she has married Junior at all. Five years earlier, the couple were caught in flagrante in Linnie Mae's father's barn when she was only 13, and Junior was forced out of town. When she comes of age, she tracks him down and won't take no for an answer. Junior, meanwhile, is possessed of no less steely stuff. Determined to rise above his lowly origins, and obsessed with high-end carpentry, he falls in love with the house he's building and, against the odds, manages to make it his.

No sooner have they secured their future home, however, than they begin to find each other's sticking points. Junior wants a swing seat on the porch with a honey hue; Linnie Mae yearns to paint it a "summer sky" blue. He does it his way; then Linnie Mae re-paints it behind his back. Afterwards, with no discussion, Junior has it stripped back to its natural shade again. Clearly they are each as bad as the other.

Think what a harmonious time Lynnie Mae and Junior could have had on their swing seat if only they had found a way to compromise! Instead, their refusal to budge leads to a deeper entrenchment on either side. Be ready to compromise early, and seek out ways to make the issues over which you disagree into symbols of unification.

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