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Tales of the City #9
Anna Madrigal
Traduit de l'anglais (États-Unis) par Bernard Cohen.
Anna Madrigal, la légende du 28, Barbary Lane, sait qu'elle n'est pas éternelle. A 93 ans, elle voudrait partir comme une reine. Entourée de tous ceux qu'elle aime, elle retourne dans le Nevada, là où elle fut Andy, adolescent amoureux du ténébreux Lasko... Quelques kilomètres et quelques joints plus loin, ses aventures vont la conduire jusqu'au Burning Man, un festival déjanté où tout peut arriver.
Anna Madrigal, la légende du 28, Barbary Lane, sait qu'elle n'est pas éternelle. A 93 ans, elle voudrait partir comme une reine. Entourée de tous ceux qu'elle aime, elle retourne dans le Nevada, là où elle fut Andy, adolescent amoureux du ténébreux Lasko... Quelques kilomètres et quelques joints plus loin, ses aventures vont la conduire jusqu'au Burning Man, un festival déjanté où tout peut arriver.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 21, 2014
221 people are currently reading
4235 people want to read
About the author
Armistead Maupin
147 books1,968 followersArmistead Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., in 1944 but grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, he served as a naval officer in the Mediterranean and with the River Patrol Force in Vietnam.
Maupin worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, before being assigned to the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971. In 1976 he launched his groundbreaking Tales of the City serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Maupin is the author of nine novels, including the six-volume Tales of the City series, Maybe the Moon, The Night Listener and, most recently, Michael Tolliver Lives. Three miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.
He is currently writing a musical version of Tales of the City with Jason Sellards (aka Jake Shears) and John Garden (aka JJ) of the disco and glam rock-inspired pop group Scissor Sisters. Tales will be directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q and Shrek).
Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner.
Maupin worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, before being assigned to the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971. In 1976 he launched his groundbreaking Tales of the City serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Maupin is the author of nine novels, including the six-volume Tales of the City series, Maybe the Moon, The Night Listener and, most recently, Michael Tolliver Lives. Three miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.
He is currently writing a musical version of Tales of the City with Jason Sellards (aka Jake Shears) and John Garden (aka JJ) of the disco and glam rock-inspired pop group Scissor Sisters. Tales will be directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q and Shrek).
Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner.
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August 10, 2025
You cannot be loved by someone who doesn't want to know you.
The Days of Anna Madrigal ~~ Armistead Maupin
I committed a cardinal sin ~~ I began reading Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City years after moving out of San Francisco ~~ the city in which these tales are based ~~ and prior to my moving there. The love that both Maupin ~~ and I ~~ have for this city shines through every page of this series; as somebody who counts San Francisco as one of their favorite cities in the world, I could hardly avoid becoming an avid follower of Maupin’s world ~~ even though I was late to the table. Interestingly enough, both Maupin and I moved out of San Francisco within months of each other.
I was so involved in this world that I read all nine books in less than a month.
Today, I finished the last book ~~ The Days of Anna Madrigal. It was a wonderful ending to a series that had a couple of missteps along the way.
The Days of Anna Madrigal is the ninth book in the The Tales of the City series; The focus here is on Anna Madrigal’s life, childhood and how Andy evolved into Anna.
The Days of Anna Madrigal is told ~~ as are most of the Tales of the City series are ~~ with third person narration with each short chapter focusing on a different character. The difference here is that we also flash back to Anna’s time in Winnemucca, back when she was still 16 year old Andy. This is new territory for Maupin ~~ he has never done this before ~~ his focus has always been very much the present day. I loved getting to meet Andy Ramsey. He seemed like a nice boy, and much surer of things than I would have expected. I do wish that Maupin had gone further into Andy’s story ~~ he goes to war, gets married, has a daughter, Mona, before he finally decides to live his life as the person he is inside. Hopefully, that will be a later story, though it seems Maupin has moved on from Barbary Lane for good this time.
With this being a road-trip book, everybody going off in opposite directions ~~ with most of the original crew from Barbary Lane heading to Burning Man. For reasons I can't share here, Anna ends up at Burning Man ~~ becoming the queen of this ball. The descriptions of Burning Man are phenomenal ~~ yes, I've been. Anna takes us on quite a journey.
The ending wasn’t what I expected ~~~ in a very good way ~~~ there were some heart-wrenching moments on this journey. It was a fantastic ride.
The Days of Anna Madrigal ~~ Armistead Maupin
I committed a cardinal sin ~~ I began reading Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City years after moving out of San Francisco ~~ the city in which these tales are based ~~ and prior to my moving there. The love that both Maupin ~~ and I ~~ have for this city shines through every page of this series; as somebody who counts San Francisco as one of their favorite cities in the world, I could hardly avoid becoming an avid follower of Maupin’s world ~~ even though I was late to the table. Interestingly enough, both Maupin and I moved out of San Francisco within months of each other.
I was so involved in this world that I read all nine books in less than a month.
Today, I finished the last book ~~ The Days of Anna Madrigal. It was a wonderful ending to a series that had a couple of missteps along the way.
The Days of Anna Madrigal is the ninth book in the The Tales of the City series; The focus here is on Anna Madrigal’s life, childhood and how Andy evolved into Anna.
The Days of Anna Madrigal is told ~~ as are most of the Tales of the City series are ~~ with third person narration with each short chapter focusing on a different character. The difference here is that we also flash back to Anna’s time in Winnemucca, back when she was still 16 year old Andy. This is new territory for Maupin ~~ he has never done this before ~~ his focus has always been very much the present day. I loved getting to meet Andy Ramsey. He seemed like a nice boy, and much surer of things than I would have expected. I do wish that Maupin had gone further into Andy’s story ~~ he goes to war, gets married, has a daughter, Mona, before he finally decides to live his life as the person he is inside. Hopefully, that will be a later story, though it seems Maupin has moved on from Barbary Lane for good this time.
With this being a road-trip book, everybody going off in opposite directions ~~ with most of the original crew from Barbary Lane heading to Burning Man. For reasons I can't share here, Anna ends up at Burning Man ~~ becoming the queen of this ball. The descriptions of Burning Man are phenomenal ~~ yes, I've been. Anna takes us on quite a journey.
The ending wasn’t what I expected ~~~ in a very good way ~~~ there were some heart-wrenching moments on this journey. It was a fantastic ride.
December 16, 2013
Having read all of the Tales series, I was very excited to dive into what is to be the last book in the series, which as the title suggests, catches us up on the beloved Anna Madrigal. We find Anna in her 90s, aging gracefully and still with all her wit and charm. Her storyline shines here through flashbacks to when she was "Andy" and living at the Blue Moon, a whorehouse run by his mother. We see Andy's interest in a local town boy named Lasko, and a horrible misunderstanding that Anna regrets later in life and wishes to apologize for.
It's a wonderful plot line that at least keeps the book a bit interesting because the rest of the storylines are sadly not interesting at all. There's Jake, Anna's caretaker, and his boyfriend Amos. Jake is also a transexual. They want to pay homage to Anna with a giant bike at the Burning Man festival. There's Brian and Wren, who take Anna home to make amends. There's Shawna, who wants to get pregnant through insemination at the festival. And of course, there's Michael and his Beau who are off to Burning Man too. Mary Ann even pops up and makes a brief and boring appearance at the festival.
One would hope that all of our favorite characters would celebrate their lives together at the festival for what could have been a wonderful reunion. Sadly, most of them don't even cross paths. While the attention is put back on Anna in the end as it should be, I still had hoped she would have at least had a last scene with Michael. Instead, it's as if Maupin forgot about them and never got around to writing that scene, or didn't know how to.
There's just no drive to the storylines that keep them interesting other than Anna's, which means you could skip about every two chapters and still come away satisfied knowing what happens to her. Maupin also uses crutches like Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist sprinkled throughout to put the reader and his characters into a certain present day time. Though humorous, they stuck out like obvious cliches that everyone uses time and time again. I've seen Maupin's pics of him attending Burning Man, so it's easy to see where he drew his inspiration for that setting, but even it wasn't as interesting as it could have been.
Eh, it's an okay book. I am not mad at having read it and would suggest any other Tales fan to go ahead and read it too. It's just not the ending to the series I think most of us wanted.
It's a wonderful plot line that at least keeps the book a bit interesting because the rest of the storylines are sadly not interesting at all. There's Jake, Anna's caretaker, and his boyfriend Amos. Jake is also a transexual. They want to pay homage to Anna with a giant bike at the Burning Man festival. There's Brian and Wren, who take Anna home to make amends. There's Shawna, who wants to get pregnant through insemination at the festival. And of course, there's Michael and his Beau who are off to Burning Man too. Mary Ann even pops up and makes a brief and boring appearance at the festival.
One would hope that all of our favorite characters would celebrate their lives together at the festival for what could have been a wonderful reunion. Sadly, most of them don't even cross paths. While the attention is put back on Anna in the end as it should be, I still had hoped she would have at least had a last scene with Michael. Instead, it's as if Maupin forgot about them and never got around to writing that scene, or didn't know how to.
There's just no drive to the storylines that keep them interesting other than Anna's, which means you could skip about every two chapters and still come away satisfied knowing what happens to her. Maupin also uses crutches like Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist sprinkled throughout to put the reader and his characters into a certain present day time. Though humorous, they stuck out like obvious cliches that everyone uses time and time again. I've seen Maupin's pics of him attending Burning Man, so it's easy to see where he drew his inspiration for that setting, but even it wasn't as interesting as it could have been.
Eh, it's an okay book. I am not mad at having read it and would suggest any other Tales fan to go ahead and read it too. It's just not the ending to the series I think most of us wanted.
January 22, 2014
Stories, in the end, are personal, and because of that reviews tend to be bullshit.
The Tales of the City Saga helped me Come Out 25 years ago. It taught me the meaning of family - real family - although I constantly struggle in effectively communicating that today. Nearly 18 years later, the series would teach me how to begin growing old, and, in a way that I find eerie to this day, I would find myself living a part of the Tales Saga through my last great relationship. You cannot review something like this. You're too close. It means too much.
All the other reviews have mentioned that this is the End of the Saga. Maybe. Perhaps it can be, and if so, perhaps Armistead did end it in the best way - an ending without an ending. Because, face it, that is so life, and Tales of the City is about nothing more than life, if a bit oddly presented. There is nothing here that mandates that the stories end, although, perhaps now, they can.
In the words of Anna herself, "I've said all I need to say to each and every one of you. [...] It's in you now for good. [...] There's nothing you have to say, nothing you have to do...and nowhere I have to be. It's all free time from here on out."
In the end, while Armistead is a good writer, I think this book, more than the others, needs the others to work. You cannot read it alone. Oh, it makes sense - the reading makes sense - I think, but without its history I don't think its possible to communicate its emotional depth.
If you have read Tales of the City, if you are caught up, then read this book. If you have not, don't start here. Your journey starts 2073 pages before and 38 years ago.
The Tales of the City Saga helped me Come Out 25 years ago. It taught me the meaning of family - real family - although I constantly struggle in effectively communicating that today. Nearly 18 years later, the series would teach me how to begin growing old, and, in a way that I find eerie to this day, I would find myself living a part of the Tales Saga through my last great relationship. You cannot review something like this. You're too close. It means too much.
All the other reviews have mentioned that this is the End of the Saga. Maybe. Perhaps it can be, and if so, perhaps Armistead did end it in the best way - an ending without an ending. Because, face it, that is so life, and Tales of the City is about nothing more than life, if a bit oddly presented. There is nothing here that mandates that the stories end, although, perhaps now, they can.
In the words of Anna herself, "I've said all I need to say to each and every one of you. [...] It's in you now for good. [...] There's nothing you have to say, nothing you have to do...and nowhere I have to be. It's all free time from here on out."
In the end, while Armistead is a good writer, I think this book, more than the others, needs the others to work. You cannot read it alone. Oh, it makes sense - the reading makes sense - I think, but without its history I don't think its possible to communicate its emotional depth.
If you have read Tales of the City, if you are caught up, then read this book. If you have not, don't start here. Your journey starts 2073 pages before and 38 years ago.
June 26, 2021
Rating: 4.8* of five
The Publisher Says: Suspenseful, comic, and touching, the ninth and final novel in Armistead Maupin's bestselling Tales of the City series follows one of modern literature's most unforgettable and enduring characters—Anna Madrigal, the legendary transgender landlady of 28 Barbary Lane—on a road trip that will take her deep in her past.
Now a fragile ninety-two years old and committed to the notion of "leaving like a lady," Anna Madrigal has seemingly found peace in the bosom of her "logical family" in San Francisco: her devoted young caretaker, Jake Greenleaf; her former tenant Brian Hawkins; Brian's daughter Shawna; and Michael Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton, who have known and loved Anna for nearly four decades.
Some members of Anna's family are bound for the otherworldly landscape of Burning Man, the art festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada where sixty thousand revelers build a temporary city (Michael calls it "a Fellini carnival on Mars") designed to last only one week. Anna herself has another Nevada destination in mind: a lonely stretch of road outside of Winnemucca where the sixteen-year-old boy she used to be ran away from the whorehouse he then called home. With Brian and his beat-up RV, she journeys into the dusty, troubled heart of her Depression-era childhood, where she begins to unearth a lifetime of secrets and dreams, and to attend to unfinished business she has long avoided.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt, the thirty-first and (blessedly) last, is a book that reminds you of someone special.
My Gentleman Caller. My own dear love.
A series of novels spanning 40 years (give or take) is bound to cope with the facts of aging, exactly as the author himself is. The dealing is by doing, as it is in every other facet of life. At least, of a life that one would want to live.
Doing something has always been Mrs. Madrigal's way. It takes some doing to change one's body from male to female. It takes some doing to create a life that doesn't simply pass by. It takes a lot of doing to love anyone on the surface of the earth, doing and doing and doing. Anna Madrigal has never not done her part.
Endings frightened me for many years. They never, ever seem to look the way I want them to. I can't fathom why it took me so very long to learn that endings aren't real. The story never ends, it never begins either, it simply is. So this final installment in a series of novels I've never not set store by should have me shaking in my boots.
I'm so happy I've left the party. I'm content to be right here, right now. Anna Madrigal helped me see that more clearly than any actual physical person I've ever known: Here is where you are, so be here.
It helps to know, like Mrs. Madrigal, that all times are now, and all places are here, it's just perspective that causes things to look so different.
I've loved growing up with these books, seeing them in different ways at different times in my life, loving and hating and understanding the complex people that weave in and out of the tales. Forgiving them. Becoming so much like them that it scares me sometimes. And now, aspiring to be Mrs. Madrigal after years as Mary Ann, Mouse, Brian, and *shudder* feeling like Norman.
None of which will make even a little bit of sense to the uninitiated. Never mind, loves, it's all still there. If and when you want to find it, Barbary Lane will be there, a Brigadoon of deeply felt and nourishingly offered drafts from the Well of Loneliness.
We're all queer in our own ways. Drink it down and savor it. Try not to piss it away.
The Publisher Says: Suspenseful, comic, and touching, the ninth and final novel in Armistead Maupin's bestselling Tales of the City series follows one of modern literature's most unforgettable and enduring characters—Anna Madrigal, the legendary transgender landlady of 28 Barbary Lane—on a road trip that will take her deep in her past.
Now a fragile ninety-two years old and committed to the notion of "leaving like a lady," Anna Madrigal has seemingly found peace in the bosom of her "logical family" in San Francisco: her devoted young caretaker, Jake Greenleaf; her former tenant Brian Hawkins; Brian's daughter Shawna; and Michael Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton, who have known and loved Anna for nearly four decades.
Some members of Anna's family are bound for the otherworldly landscape of Burning Man, the art festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada where sixty thousand revelers build a temporary city (Michael calls it "a Fellini carnival on Mars") designed to last only one week. Anna herself has another Nevada destination in mind: a lonely stretch of road outside of Winnemucca where the sixteen-year-old boy she used to be ran away from the whorehouse he then called home. With Brian and his beat-up RV, she journeys into the dusty, troubled heart of her Depression-era childhood, where she begins to unearth a lifetime of secrets and dreams, and to attend to unfinished business she has long avoided.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt, the thirty-first and (blessedly) last, is a book that reminds you of someone special.
It took so long to find you...and now I don't want it to change. I want it all set in amber. I want us and nobody else in the most selfish way you can imagine. I can't help it--I'm old-fashioned. I believe marriage is between a man and a man.
My Gentleman Caller. My own dear love.
A series of novels spanning 40 years (give or take) is bound to cope with the facts of aging, exactly as the author himself is. The dealing is by doing, as it is in every other facet of life. At least, of a life that one would want to live.
Doing something has always been Mrs. Madrigal's way. It takes some doing to change one's body from male to female. It takes some doing to create a life that doesn't simply pass by. It takes a lot of doing to love anyone on the surface of the earth, doing and doing and doing. Anna Madrigal has never not done her part.
Endings frightened me for many years. They never, ever seem to look the way I want them to. I can't fathom why it took me so very long to learn that endings aren't real. The story never ends, it never begins either, it simply is. So this final installment in a series of novels I've never not set store by should have me shaking in my boots.
I'm so happy I've left the party. I'm content to be right here, right now. Anna Madrigal helped me see that more clearly than any actual physical person I've ever known: Here is where you are, so be here.
It helps to know, like Mrs. Madrigal, that all times are now, and all places are here, it's just perspective that causes things to look so different.
I've loved growing up with these books, seeing them in different ways at different times in my life, loving and hating and understanding the complex people that weave in and out of the tales. Forgiving them. Becoming so much like them that it scares me sometimes. And now, aspiring to be Mrs. Madrigal after years as Mary Ann, Mouse, Brian, and *shudder* feeling like Norman.
None of which will make even a little bit of sense to the uninitiated. Never mind, loves, it's all still there. If and when you want to find it, Barbary Lane will be there, a Brigadoon of deeply felt and nourishingly offered drafts from the Well of Loneliness.
It was like school spirit back in high school. He didn’t have it then, and he didn’t have it now. To him, the biggest advantage of being queer was being queer.
We're all queer in our own ways. Drink it down and savor it. Try not to piss it away.
January 25, 2014
I have loved this series, and have read many of the books multiple times. While the writing is fairly average, the CHARACTERS created and developed over the past few decades (since 1976) have been warm and endearing and real. When walking around SF, it feels like they have truly walked there before me. I’ve gone in search of some spots immortalized in the novels and mini series, climbed the steps at Macondray (aka Barbary) Lane, and an Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista immediately after moving here, etc. In retrospect, in addition to these remarkable characters, the books captured the additional character of “San Francisco” in a way no one else ever has. While I already loved this city, Maupin made me fall deeper in love with it and what it meant to those who chose to call it home.
This last book in the Tales series left me wanting. I finished it a few days ago, and I think I have figured out what bothered me the most. While all the characters from this series were amazing, the strongest and most consistent one to me was the City itself….and it was all but missing in this last novel. To me, this largest and most vibrant “character” was disregarded. It reminds me of the SATC tv series – NYC itself was a huge “5th character”. Both of these stories were so intertwined with the location where they were set, the actual name of the city did not have to be spelled out, just mentioned as “The City” in their respective titles (Tales of the City, Sex and the City). When SATC made the mistake of not only making a 2nd movie but changing the setting to Abu Dhabi, it was doomed to flop. The removed the heart of the story by moving it, and that is how I feel about The Days of Anna Madrigal. My beloved SF was cast aside, and in doing so the story lost its soul.
Interestingly, I went to a book launch for this novel, with Armistead Maupin and Andrew Sean Greer (The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells) and the two were talking quite a bit about their personal experiences at Burning Man. At one point Andy said, you know, I think most Burning Man stories are excruciatingly boring to anyone who wasn’t there (or something to this effect). At that time I didn’t realize much of the story took place at Burning Man, or with the planning to go to BM or the drive to BM. And Andy was right. The book did not give me any clue what it is really like, the descriptions I think are lost on anyone who has not been there, and unlike the way SF was presented in earlier books, this story did not ignite any desire whatsoever to ever go to BM. It was dull, the characters who were so well developed over the past 35+ years felt flat and boring and superficial, and it left me liking them all (yes all) a little bit less. I think these characters deserved better, and certainly the heart and soul of the previous 8 novels, “the city”, deserved to be a shining beacon rather than cast aside.
For those who LOVE these characters and fell in love (or deeper in love) with San Francisco though reading the first 8 books, you might want to take a pass on this one.
This last book in the Tales series left me wanting. I finished it a few days ago, and I think I have figured out what bothered me the most. While all the characters from this series were amazing, the strongest and most consistent one to me was the City itself….and it was all but missing in this last novel. To me, this largest and most vibrant “character” was disregarded. It reminds me of the SATC tv series – NYC itself was a huge “5th character”. Both of these stories were so intertwined with the location where they were set, the actual name of the city did not have to be spelled out, just mentioned as “The City” in their respective titles (Tales of the City, Sex and the City). When SATC made the mistake of not only making a 2nd movie but changing the setting to Abu Dhabi, it was doomed to flop. The removed the heart of the story by moving it, and that is how I feel about The Days of Anna Madrigal. My beloved SF was cast aside, and in doing so the story lost its soul.
Interestingly, I went to a book launch for this novel, with Armistead Maupin and Andrew Sean Greer (The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells) and the two were talking quite a bit about their personal experiences at Burning Man. At one point Andy said, you know, I think most Burning Man stories are excruciatingly boring to anyone who wasn’t there (or something to this effect). At that time I didn’t realize much of the story took place at Burning Man, or with the planning to go to BM or the drive to BM. And Andy was right. The book did not give me any clue what it is really like, the descriptions I think are lost on anyone who has not been there, and unlike the way SF was presented in earlier books, this story did not ignite any desire whatsoever to ever go to BM. It was dull, the characters who were so well developed over the past 35+ years felt flat and boring and superficial, and it left me liking them all (yes all) a little bit less. I think these characters deserved better, and certainly the heart and soul of the previous 8 novels, “the city”, deserved to be a shining beacon rather than cast aside.
For those who LOVE these characters and fell in love (or deeper in love) with San Francisco though reading the first 8 books, you might want to take a pass on this one.
April 14, 2016
I feel like a broken record: I loved this book and I'm sad to see the series end. Seems like I've been saying that about a lot of these books. Maupin keeps moving the goal post on us. But, you know what? Who cares! I'm happy to spend as much time with these zany people as possible.
In The Days of Anna Madrigal, Maupin redeems the series in expert fashion. The last couple of books were the weakest of the bunch, but they did introduce a device that is used to great effect here: They were more or less single character studies with some ancillary characters thrown in. In this one, we get a real intimate look at the always enigmatic (but eminently endearing) Anna Madrigal, born Andy Ramsey - if you've been reading the series that won't be a spoiler; if you haven't, my bad. She's in her early 90's now and ready to shuffle off this mortal coil, but first there's some unfinished business the former landlady of 28 Barbary Lane has to accomplish back home in Winnemucca, Nevada.
There's another interesting development here for the Tales series. Maupin spends a good amount of the book back in Andy's past, which means this book is as much a historical novel as it is an up-to-the-minute observation of life in the City by the Bay. I particularly enjoyed the portions of the book set in the 30's. The atmosphere was great, and it was really fun to learn about that part of Anna's past. The modern day stuff was, as usual, expertly observed.
If this really is the final book in the series, I think Maupin ended it on a great note. There are still some unfinished stories, but I think I can live with them as they are. There's a commentary on life cycles there somewhere.
If you liked this, make sure to follow me on Goodreads for more reviews!
In The Days of Anna Madrigal, Maupin redeems the series in expert fashion. The last couple of books were the weakest of the bunch, but they did introduce a device that is used to great effect here: They were more or less single character studies with some ancillary characters thrown in. In this one, we get a real intimate look at the always enigmatic (but eminently endearing) Anna Madrigal, born Andy Ramsey - if you've been reading the series that won't be a spoiler; if you haven't, my bad. She's in her early 90's now and ready to shuffle off this mortal coil, but first there's some unfinished business the former landlady of 28 Barbary Lane has to accomplish back home in Winnemucca, Nevada.
There's another interesting development here for the Tales series. Maupin spends a good amount of the book back in Andy's past, which means this book is as much a historical novel as it is an up-to-the-minute observation of life in the City by the Bay. I particularly enjoyed the portions of the book set in the 30's. The atmosphere was great, and it was really fun to learn about that part of Anna's past. The modern day stuff was, as usual, expertly observed.
If this really is the final book in the series, I think Maupin ended it on a great note. There are still some unfinished stories, but I think I can live with them as they are. There's a commentary on life cycles there somewhere.
If you liked this, make sure to follow me on Goodreads for more reviews!
February 2, 2014
Mostly really good. The Michael character is the only one who feels a little less like his old character and more like the author himself (which, yes I know, he was since the beginning). Or perhaps it is because we now know Armistead Maupin and his life more than we did before. Of course I loved it because it is a series that was so important to me from day one of my coming out, and I think it was a lovely, sweet, sad, appropriate end to the series. It's easy to wish that there was more of one or less of another, but it was AM's journey and tale to tell. The best way to relive them is to go back to day one page one and start all over. "Mary Ann Singleton was 25 years old when she saw San Francisco for the first time . . . . "
October 27, 2013
It’s funny how things work out. I share a place with my sister (we are the proverbial Baldwin sisters, she a widow, me a spinster). She flew to the left coast for a reunion with friends and I stayed home only to be reunited with my Barbary Lane friends. I am not a quick reader, I tend to savour, doubly true in this instance. I don’t look at these books as independent volumes, but rather additional chapters in the same story. Maupin has said this is the last in the series. I hope not. Sinatra announced his retirement how many times? Who knows, maybe in ten years he’ll desire yet another visit.
So, what’s the verdict on "The Days of Anna Madrigal"? I loved it. All our friends both old and new are represented. However, my favourite part of this novel was learning about Andy Ramsey as a boy. Set in Winnemucca in 1936 it is a heartfelt, emotionally engaging coming-of-age tale. The ending was especially moving, simply executed and spiritually liberating for this reader – and not at all what I thought it would be. Oh sure, some of the story felt predictable (I thought I might go all Annie Wilkes at one point) and Armistead has always been rather free with a coinkydink – but we lovers of "Tales of the City" are comfortable with and accepting of these traits. Besides, coinkydinks happen. Why only last week I was writing about Mr. Tumnus and researching fauns and satyrs, and presto: a faun appears in these pages. Ah, serendipity.
So, what’s the verdict on "The Days of Anna Madrigal"? I loved it. All our friends both old and new are represented. However, my favourite part of this novel was learning about Andy Ramsey as a boy. Set in Winnemucca in 1936 it is a heartfelt, emotionally engaging coming-of-age tale. The ending was especially moving, simply executed and spiritually liberating for this reader – and not at all what I thought it would be. Oh sure, some of the story felt predictable (I thought I might go all Annie Wilkes at one point) and Armistead has always been rather free with a coinkydink – but we lovers of "Tales of the City" are comfortable with and accepting of these traits. Besides, coinkydinks happen. Why only last week I was writing about Mr. Tumnus and researching fauns and satyrs, and presto: a faun appears in these pages. Ah, serendipity.
November 18, 2013
so...Burning Man. Mr. Maupin, you're lucky I love you.
January 25, 2015
"You cannot be loved by someone who doesn't want to know you."
The ninth book in a series, the final book in a series, is often phoned in. So many times the reader is as weary as the author, and the partnership is somehow a collusion of two people pretending to still care. This, on the other hand, is a benediction. A definite farewell, a summation, a wrapping up with bawdy wrapping paper and EL ribbons. Things come together in the same magical fashion that one remembers from the earliest moments of the series, and the things which happen only seem absurd on their face. They are, in fact, inevitable.
After nine books, I've grown to know and love these people. More in some cases than people who stalk through my life in all their flesh-and-blood realness. It's hard to say goodbye, but it's time. It's right and proper, and Maupin hits it out of the fucking park with this final installment.
He's certainly matured as a writer over the length of the series. He is at the top of his game here, in all the ways that matter. The flashbacks are gorgeous, the San Francisco bits a little poignant, and the Burning Man interlude is just ... well, on fire. The places where the characters hearken back and recall made me smile (and sometimes snort) and the places where the characters look forward made me smile (and sometimes cry). It is a transcendent piece of writing, a warm and winsome end to a beloved series.
You know it's done right when you think about it and realize you don't need any more. The ending is perfect.
Abyssinia.
The ninth book in a series, the final book in a series, is often phoned in. So many times the reader is as weary as the author, and the partnership is somehow a collusion of two people pretending to still care. This, on the other hand, is a benediction. A definite farewell, a summation, a wrapping up with bawdy wrapping paper and EL ribbons. Things come together in the same magical fashion that one remembers from the earliest moments of the series, and the things which happen only seem absurd on their face. They are, in fact, inevitable.
After nine books, I've grown to know and love these people. More in some cases than people who stalk through my life in all their flesh-and-blood realness. It's hard to say goodbye, but it's time. It's right and proper, and Maupin hits it out of the fucking park with this final installment.
He's certainly matured as a writer over the length of the series. He is at the top of his game here, in all the ways that matter. The flashbacks are gorgeous, the San Francisco bits a little poignant, and the Burning Man interlude is just ... well, on fire. The places where the characters hearken back and recall made me smile (and sometimes snort) and the places where the characters look forward made me smile (and sometimes cry). It is a transcendent piece of writing, a warm and winsome end to a beloved series.
You know it's done right when you think about it and realize you don't need any more. The ending is perfect.
Abyssinia.
January 27, 2014
I enjoyed this, probably more than it deserved. I’m a huge fan of the entire series, and I was so happy to have a new installment that I pretty much gobbled it up. I’m particularly fond of what I call the “old guard” but my husband insists are the “classic characters”: Michael, Mary Ann, Brian, and of course Anna. (Does anyone else still miss Mona?) They were all there (though Mary Ann’s part seemed rather superficial), but a lot of pages--too many pages, in my opinion--were given over to the “new” folks: Wren (revived from Significant Others), Shawna, Jake, Ben (Okay, I do like Ben), and a smattering of minor characters from earlier novels who reappear in a series of Maupin’s trademark coinkydinks. Also, since very little of the novel was set in San Francisco, the energy of that wonderful city was not in evidence. By far the best and most moving storyline was the one told in flashbacks to Anna’s youth as Andy Ramsey in Winnemucca. Those sections were pure gold. I could say more, but to avoid spoilers, I’ll stop here and defend my four stars because, hey...it’s my review, and I’m willing to inflate my grades for an author who has brought me so very much pleasure over the years.
August 16, 2020
The ninth entry in the series, we really begin to say goodbye.
But that we read of these radically independent souls, so seldomly now it seems, is a crime!
We enjoy a story from the Matriarch of Russian Hill--when she was a kid and her sex was biological and... wrong! And that the octogenerian makes it back to Nevada, or that the kids make it happen, is what the spirit of Tales is all about: revere the past, embrace the present, change the future.
But that we read of these radically independent souls, so seldomly now it seems, is a crime!
We enjoy a story from the Matriarch of Russian Hill--when she was a kid and her sex was biological and... wrong! And that the octogenerian makes it back to Nevada, or that the kids make it happen, is what the spirit of Tales is all about: revere the past, embrace the present, change the future.
February 4, 2014
I was reluctant to begin this latest "Tales Of The City" adventure. I have read and and loved all of the volumes leading up to this, the ninth. My reluctance came only because I knew that this was to be the last of the series, and I did not want to see it end. I did not want to say goodbye to Mrs. Madrigal, to Michael, to Mary Ann, to Brian and Jon, to all of those who peopled the world that is San Francisco.
But, like me, the characters have aged. Anna Madrigal is in her nineties, Mouse and Mary Ann are in their 60s and everyone else has aged proportionately. Their lives have and will continue to go on, but from this point onward, they will be given the privacy they deserve, and we will not see how they get on..... Except in our own imagination.
Armisted Maupin has given us an enormous gift. He has given life to these wonderful characters who became our friends and companions. Through his talent and the grace inherent in his abilities, he allowed us to be privy to their trials and their triumphs, their strengths and their foibles. I will miss them all, but how wonderful it has been to know them!
But, like me, the characters have aged. Anna Madrigal is in her nineties, Mouse and Mary Ann are in their 60s and everyone else has aged proportionately. Their lives have and will continue to go on, but from this point onward, they will be given the privacy they deserve, and we will not see how they get on..... Except in our own imagination.
Armisted Maupin has given us an enormous gift. He has given life to these wonderful characters who became our friends and companions. Through his talent and the grace inherent in his abilities, he allowed us to be privy to their trials and their triumphs, their strengths and their foibles. I will miss them all, but how wonderful it has been to know them!
September 14, 2016
This is a book awash with nostalgia. Many, many former characters, living and dead, notable and not notable, are brought back and remembered for one last time, because this is, as Maupin has widely stated, the final book in the series.
And it's because of this nostalgia, I think, that the book somehow misses it's mark. By moving the setting from San Francisco to Burning Man, Maupin tries to evoke a place similar to San Francisco in the 70's (I think, I wasn't alive then), where anything goes and people are allowed to be weird. But Burning Man isn't San Francisco, and many of these characters feel out of place in Burning Man. Which is strange, because the characters left San Francisco many times in the past - A Caribbean cruise, Lesbos, Alaska, Russia, the English countryside, Seattle, Winnemucca, and that all worked. I think it's because, in all of those instances, the characters brought a little bit of San Francisco with them, and we knew that they would most likely return. Here it feels like San Francisco has been discarded, replaced almost, and the book loses a bit of it's charm as it tries to position Burning Man as the new San Francisco (or maybe I'm reading too much into this all.)
But that's not to say that the book is bad. In fact, the portion of the book focusing on characters returning to Winnemucca are fantastic - serving, as it were, as Anna's origin story, revealing why she ended up in San Francisco in the first place. I found myself looking forward to these scenes, because even though they were set in 1936, they evoked the same mystery and wonder that I remember when I read the first book back as a junior in high school.
I did like this book. It had a lot going for it. The ending was perfect, and there were twists that I didn't expect. It was good to see several characters again (Brian, especially, finally making his triumphant return). Even Connie Bradshaw, who always got kind of a raw deal early on, gets a touching memorial. It's a pity, though, that Mary Ann, who haunts the narrative from the beginning, is given such a small supporting role, while other characters I would have liked to say goodbye to - DeDe and D'orothea - are entirely absent; and in their place we get to spend lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of time with the insufferable Jake Greenleaf, who, I will admit, gets one nice bit of characterization, which still doesn't make up for all of his whiny self-importance.
This is an ending, but not the ending that I really wanted. I'm not saying that I can write the book for him, but if this is, in fact, the end of the series, I would have liked an opportunity to say goodbye to some of these characters - Mary Ann especially, also San Francisco - that I've lived with for so long. I know we don't always get to say goodbye, and that life inevitably goes on, even after the things that we love are gone, but in this instance, I think that it would have been nice to see more of some of these characters and (much) less of others.
And it's because of this nostalgia, I think, that the book somehow misses it's mark. By moving the setting from San Francisco to Burning Man, Maupin tries to evoke a place similar to San Francisco in the 70's (I think, I wasn't alive then), where anything goes and people are allowed to be weird. But Burning Man isn't San Francisco, and many of these characters feel out of place in Burning Man. Which is strange, because the characters left San Francisco many times in the past - A Caribbean cruise, Lesbos, Alaska, Russia, the English countryside, Seattle, Winnemucca, and that all worked. I think it's because, in all of those instances, the characters brought a little bit of San Francisco with them, and we knew that they would most likely return. Here it feels like San Francisco has been discarded, replaced almost, and the book loses a bit of it's charm as it tries to position Burning Man as the new San Francisco (or maybe I'm reading too much into this all.)
But that's not to say that the book is bad. In fact, the portion of the book focusing on characters returning to Winnemucca are fantastic - serving, as it were, as Anna's origin story, revealing why she ended up in San Francisco in the first place. I found myself looking forward to these scenes, because even though they were set in 1936, they evoked the same mystery and wonder that I remember when I read the first book back as a junior in high school.
I did like this book. It had a lot going for it. The ending was perfect, and there were twists that I didn't expect. It was good to see several characters again (Brian, especially, finally making his triumphant return). Even Connie Bradshaw, who always got kind of a raw deal early on, gets a touching memorial. It's a pity, though, that Mary Ann, who haunts the narrative from the beginning, is given such a small supporting role, while other characters I would have liked to say goodbye to - DeDe and D'orothea - are entirely absent; and in their place we get to spend lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of time with the insufferable Jake Greenleaf, who, I will admit, gets one nice bit of characterization, which still doesn't make up for all of his whiny self-importance.
This is an ending, but not the ending that I really wanted. I'm not saying that I can write the book for him, but if this is, in fact, the end of the series, I would have liked an opportunity to say goodbye to some of these characters - Mary Ann especially, also San Francisco - that I've lived with for so long. I know we don't always get to say goodbye, and that life inevitably goes on, even after the things that we love are gone, but in this instance, I think that it would have been nice to see more of some of these characters and (much) less of others.
July 5, 2020
It is with sadness that I write about The Days of Anna Madrigal. I often reread the Tales of the City series when life feels dark since it leaves me feeling optimistic and hopeful. However, when I get to Book Nine, I know my time with the logical family from 28 Barbary Lane is over; this is is the last book of the series. So, when I close the book, I feel like I have lost dear friends even though the series ends on a beautiful and hopeful note. I grieve.
This plot of this final book of the series revolves around 92-year-old Anna Madrigal as she recalls her years as a teen-aged boy named Andy. During a visit to her childhood town of Winnemucca Anna reconciles herself to her past and the role she played in the death of a 16-year-old gay boy.
There are two subplots of the novel: 1) Shawna, the adopted daughter of Brian and Mary Ann seeks a sperm-donor, and 2) Michael, Ben, Jake, Mary Ann, Shawna, and even Anna Madrigal go to Burning Man.
All three plot lines focus on mortality and the continuation of life.
Beginning in 1976 when San Francisco was a beacon for those looking for a release from conformity and puritanism and ending in 2014 when wealthy dot-commers turned the city into a “5-star B and B” Tales of the Cityis also the story of a great American city and a country that also underwent dramatic change over the decades.
Though the series began more than 45 years ago, it is still fresh as our country so openly struggles with questions about identity, diversity, freedom, joy, community, wealth, and “American values” and finds itself being torn by those who want to move forward and expand the “logical family” of the country, and those who want to go backward and shrink the country so it benefits only certain members who “look” alike.
The series looks long but it reads so easily and quickly. Do not let its length, or its age, hold you back. I love this series. Even in its flaws and moments of weakness, it is one I come back to time and again. Quite simply, it is my favorite book series though once again, I grieve that it has come to an end.
This plot of this final book of the series revolves around 92-year-old Anna Madrigal as she recalls her years as a teen-aged boy named Andy. During a visit to her childhood town of Winnemucca Anna reconciles herself to her past and the role she played in the death of a 16-year-old gay boy.
There are two subplots of the novel: 1) Shawna, the adopted daughter of Brian and Mary Ann seeks a sperm-donor, and 2) Michael, Ben, Jake, Mary Ann, Shawna, and even Anna Madrigal go to Burning Man.
All three plot lines focus on mortality and the continuation of life.
Beginning in 1976 when San Francisco was a beacon for those looking for a release from conformity and puritanism and ending in 2014 when wealthy dot-commers turned the city into a “5-star B and B” Tales of the Cityis also the story of a great American city and a country that also underwent dramatic change over the decades.
Though the series began more than 45 years ago, it is still fresh as our country so openly struggles with questions about identity, diversity, freedom, joy, community, wealth, and “American values” and finds itself being torn by those who want to move forward and expand the “logical family” of the country, and those who want to go backward and shrink the country so it benefits only certain members who “look” alike.
The series looks long but it reads so easily and quickly. Do not let its length, or its age, hold you back. I love this series. Even in its flaws and moments of weakness, it is one I come back to time and again. Quite simply, it is my favorite book series though once again, I grieve that it has come to an end.
February 7, 2014
An Ending
“The Days of Anna Madrigal” is the story of matriarch Anna’s last days. As you’ll remember Anna is the feisty transvestite and proprietor/house mother of San Francisco’s Barbary Lane from Maupin’s earlier books. She’s now 93 and all her extended family are gathering around her hoping to make her remaining days or years pleasant. To achieve this Brian and his new love take Anna on a trip down memory lane, a trip through her childhood. Maupin is great at intertwining the stories of many individuals and making them into a coherent whole but the thing that kept me turning pages so quickly in this last book was an eagerness to read about 16 year old Andy who grew up at odds with a Nevada frontier town in the 20’s and 30’s. His story is affecting and heartwarming….and realistic. For all its quirkiness it has a boy next door ring of authenticity to it.
If you’re familiar with any of the other books in this series Maupin has a disconcerting way of making the unusual seem homey and almost banal while at the same time interesting. In other words he makes unusual lives usual….and I mean that in a good way. We’re fascinated with these characters because they’re so funny and loving not because they’re gay/lesbian/transsexual but because they’re relatable.
This reviews is based on an Advance Readers Copy provided by the publisher.
(Disclaimer given as required by the FTC.)
“The Days of Anna Madrigal” is the story of matriarch Anna’s last days. As you’ll remember Anna is the feisty transvestite and proprietor/house mother of San Francisco’s Barbary Lane from Maupin’s earlier books. She’s now 93 and all her extended family are gathering around her hoping to make her remaining days or years pleasant. To achieve this Brian and his new love take Anna on a trip down memory lane, a trip through her childhood. Maupin is great at intertwining the stories of many individuals and making them into a coherent whole but the thing that kept me turning pages so quickly in this last book was an eagerness to read about 16 year old Andy who grew up at odds with a Nevada frontier town in the 20’s and 30’s. His story is affecting and heartwarming….and realistic. For all its quirkiness it has a boy next door ring of authenticity to it.
If you’re familiar with any of the other books in this series Maupin has a disconcerting way of making the unusual seem homey and almost banal while at the same time interesting. In other words he makes unusual lives usual….and I mean that in a good way. We’re fascinated with these characters because they’re so funny and loving not because they’re gay/lesbian/transsexual but because they’re relatable.
This reviews is based on an Advance Readers Copy provided by the publisher.
(Disclaimer given as required by the FTC.)
April 11, 2017
If this really is the end (Say it ain't so!), it is a perfect last chapter. Much less frustrating than Sure of You, the first "final" book... even though I liked that ending more than most people did...
This is probably my second favorite book in the entire series (after the second installment, More Tales, which is my favorite book ever). It takes a minute to get rolling - although there is a delightful surprise early on - and it isn't as driven by suspense and mystery as many of the earlier novels. It is, however, smoothly plotted and completely delightful; I was thrilled to see a number of minor characters from the past make new appearances. I won't name names, because you deserve to be surprised.
Maupin does vary his style a bit with this outing, as it has a lengthy flashback to an incident from young Anna's - Andy's, really - early life at the Blue Moon. I was a little wary of the device at first, but soon found myself looking forward to those chapters. Actually, they turned out to be my favorite part. Maybe it's me, but the new characters seemed, well, new. Fresh. I can't imagine a character quite like Lasko appearing in any of the other books, and I mean that in a good way.
It probably doesn't stand alone very well, but I don't know that the ninth book in a series really needs to.
Thank you, Mrs. Madrigal. And thank you, Mr. Maupin.
This is probably my second favorite book in the entire series (after the second installment, More Tales, which is my favorite book ever). It takes a minute to get rolling - although there is a delightful surprise early on - and it isn't as driven by suspense and mystery as many of the earlier novels. It is, however, smoothly plotted and completely delightful; I was thrilled to see a number of minor characters from the past make new appearances. I won't name names, because you deserve to be surprised.
Maupin does vary his style a bit with this outing, as it has a lengthy flashback to an incident from young Anna's - Andy's, really - early life at the Blue Moon. I was a little wary of the device at first, but soon found myself looking forward to those chapters. Actually, they turned out to be my favorite part. Maybe it's me, but the new characters seemed, well, new. Fresh. I can't imagine a character quite like Lasko appearing in any of the other books, and I mean that in a good way.
It probably doesn't stand alone very well, but I don't know that the ninth book in a series really needs to.
Thank you, Mrs. Madrigal. And thank you, Mr. Maupin.
August 28, 2025
A story of two parts, part one is where the logical family are all together (but at Burning Man not Barbary Lane) and in true TOTC style we are treated to some wacky adventures, some amazing reunions and as always some truly unbelievable coincidences. 😉
Part two, though, was my favourite, I loved dipping into Anna's past and hearing the origin of her name, learning about her life at The Blue Moon Lodge and the love she had when she was Andy.
This is a perfect ending to the series, and I know there's Mona Of The Manor now, but that's set before this one.
A wonderful book, reminding us being different is perfectly fine.
Part two, though, was my favourite, I loved dipping into Anna's past and hearing the origin of her name, learning about her life at The Blue Moon Lodge and the love she had when she was Andy.
This is a perfect ending to the series, and I know there's Mona Of The Manor now, but that's set before this one.
A wonderful book, reminding us being different is perfectly fine.
July 17, 2017
From BBC Radio 4:
Episode 1/2:
Anna Madrigal is now 92, but key ghosts in her past are troubling her. Is she prepared to confront them?
Episode 2/2:
The legendary landlady of 28 Barbary Lane embarks on a road trip that will take her deep into her past.
Stars Kate Harper.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xh9tt
Episode 1/2:
Anna Madrigal is now 92, but key ghosts in her past are troubling her. Is she prepared to confront them?
Episode 2/2:
The legendary landlady of 28 Barbary Lane embarks on a road trip that will take her deep into her past.
Stars Kate Harper.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xh9tt
February 8, 2014
I have loved the Tales of the City books and I did truly cry at the end. Somehow this went out with a whimper for me though. It felt a little forced. It it drove me crazy that Maupin spelled Emeryville - EMORYville. Been away that long???
April 4, 2014
I have been a fan of this series since I began reading it back in the early 1980s. It just gets sweeter, more profound, funnier, and more poignant as it goes along.
June 3, 2021
Well, that was not the best ending I was expecting to a series I absolutely loved
June 28, 2024
In their ninth wondrous tale, the ever-evolving and inclusionary gang goes on the road and into the woods.
April 28, 2014
I loved this series, and realized before reading this last book that there was no way it could end that would make me feel like the ending had done justice to the series. The more involved we got with ancillary characters, and the further in time and distance we got from Barbary Lane, the more I just wanted Mary Ann and Mouse and Mona and Anna back. Delving into backstory and the whole burning man thing -- it lost me. So I will say that I love ANY time I get to spend with these characters, but I was disappointed with the book overall. It also left me realizing that while Anna was the core of the family, for me, ever since the beginning, it's always been about Mary Ann and Mouse.
January 17, 2014
I was utterly charmed by this book. There is something so wonderful about meeting these characters again after many years, it feels like you are catching up with people you know and it's bittersweet too as they have all aged and anna madrigal is 92 and getting frail.
All the guys are here - anna, brian, michael and mary ann along with new characters too, and there is also quite a lot about anna's childhood at the whorehouse which I really enjoyed.
Has cute contemporary references too about etsy convo's, zooey deschanel and googling which just added to the adorability.
All the guys are here - anna, brian, michael and mary ann along with new characters too, and there is also quite a lot about anna's childhood at the whorehouse which I really enjoyed.
Has cute contemporary references too about etsy convo's, zooey deschanel and googling which just added to the adorability.
February 16, 2019
“It took so long to find you [...] I want it all set in amber. I want us and nobody else in the most selfish way you can possibly imagine.”
After fifteen years since the first book I read, the Tales saga comes to an end, and it couldn’t be in a better way.
A way of remembering without regret or remorse, a way of living the present with a smile, a way of enjoying what life gives us, a way of having hope for the future, near or far, to come.
Anna Madrigal unveils the last details of her own life to the readers, and amends with that long forgotten youth she once had, celebrating her lover as she couldn’t back then.
Anna, Mouse, Brian, Mary Ann, and all the others that have appeared, will always hold a special place in my heart.
After fifteen years since the first book I read, the Tales saga comes to an end, and it couldn’t be in a better way.
A way of remembering without regret or remorse, a way of living the present with a smile, a way of enjoying what life gives us, a way of having hope for the future, near or far, to come.
Anna Madrigal unveils the last details of her own life to the readers, and amends with that long forgotten youth she once had, celebrating her lover as she couldn’t back then.
Anna, Mouse, Brian, Mary Ann, and all the others that have appeared, will always hold a special place in my heart.
October 26, 2023
If you haven't read the other books in this series, don't start with this. It's been years since I finished all the other books; after I started this, I realized I should've gone back to re-read them before I read this.
It was heart-warming and felt like coming home, to re-visit all these characters. It's not the end I would have liked to see for the series, though. It really left me wanting a lot more.
It was heart-warming and felt like coming home, to re-visit all these characters. It's not the end I would have liked to see for the series, though. It really left me wanting a lot more.
June 5, 2021
Felt more like a conclusion for Anna specifically than the end of a 9 book series.
I still really liked it but there were things I'd change, like the fact that the main cast was split into different groups for majority of the book and how Mary Ann, the first character we meet in the whole series and (arguably) the main character of majority of the series was only in 3 scenes and didn't even talk to Anna or Brian throughout the whole thing.
Still really good and my favorite series, I was just a little disappointed with how things turned out as a conclusion 9 books.
I still really liked it but there were things I'd change, like the fact that the main cast was split into different groups for majority of the book and how Mary Ann, the first character we meet in the whole series and (arguably) the main character of majority of the series was only in 3 scenes and didn't even talk to Anna or Brian throughout the whole thing.
Still really good and my favorite series, I was just a little disappointed with how things turned out as a conclusion 9 books.
June 23, 2024
I found this a little plodding, but ended up sniffing a bit at the end.
August 13, 2021
Even though I’m fairly the antithesis of a Burner, a trip to Black Rock (with a rather significant stop in, surprise, Winnemucca) is just what the doctor ordered to wrap up the TALES OF THE CITY series. This 9th book provides meaty chunks of Anna’s backstory in the 1930s, along with bringing back a few folks from earlier novels as beautiful surprises. It’s divine. I wish TALES was like the 7UP film series, where we can just keep checking in, because… I’m gonna miss Mouse, and Anna Madrigal, and Brian, and Mary Ann, and Shawna. But every journey has an end.
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