Back When We Were Grownups
by Anne Tyler
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler holds a well received rating of 3.51 out of 5, based on 13.4K reader ratings. First published in 2001. The book spans 336 pages.
About Back When We Were Grownups
Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person.So Anne Tyler opens this irresistible new novel.The woman is Rebecca Davitch, a fifty-three-year-old grandmother. Is she an impostor in her own life? she asks herself. Is it indeed her own life? Or is it someone else’s?On the surface, Beck, as she is known to the Davitch clan, is outgoing, joyous, a natural celebrator. Giving parties is, after all, her vocation—something she slipped into even before finishing college, when Joe Davitch spotted her at an engagement party in his family’s crumbling nineteenth-century Baltimore row house, where giving parties was the family business. What caught his fancy was that she seemed to be having such a wonderful time. Soon this large-spirited older man, a divorcé with three little girls, swept her into his orbit, and before she knew it she was embracing his extended family plus a child of their own, and hosting endless parties in the ornate, high-ceilinged rooms of The Open Arms.Now, some thirty years later, after presiding over a disastrous family picnic, Rebecca is caught un-awares by the question of who she really is. How she answers it—how she tries to recover her girlhood self, that dignified grownup she had once been—is the story told in this beguiling, funny, and deeply moving novel.As always with Anne Tyler’s novels, once we enter her world it is hard to leave. But in Back When We Were Grownups she so sharpens our perceptions and awakens so many untapped feelings that we come away not only refreshed and delighted, but also infinitely wiser.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Author | Anne Tyler |
| Published | 2001 |
| Pages | 336 |
| Genres | Fiction, Fiction, Chick-lit, Romance, Classics |
| Average Rating | 3.51 / 5.00 |
| Total Ratings | 13,416 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What genre is Back When We Were Grownups?
Back When We Were Grownups is categorized as Fiction, Fiction, Chick-lit, Romance. Its primary genre classification is Romance.
Is Back When We Were Grownups worth reading?
Based on 13.4K reader ratings, Back When We Were Grownups has an average score of 3.51 out of 5.00, which is considered "Well Received."
How many pages is Back When We Were Grownups?
Back When We Were Grownups has 336 pages.
Who wrote Back When We Were Grownups?
Back When We Were Grownups was written by Anne Tyler. It was first published in 2001.
What is the ISBN for Back When We Were Grownups?
The ISBN-13 for Back When We Were Grownups is 9780345477250.0.
Data sourced from community book ratings and reviews. Last updated: April 15, 2026
