Four generations of the Whitshank family live in this large Baltimore house, built by Junior Whitshank for somebody else. To Junior, a homebuilder by trade, this particular house is so special he is determined to one day own it himself, and one day he does. He and Linnie Mae raise their children, Merrick and Red, there, and Red and his wife, Abby, raise their own family there. Later their grandchildren spend part of their early lives in the same house. The novel ends when the last Whitshank moves out.
Other than the house, does the novel have a central character? For several pages various members take command of the story, then fade into the background. Junior and Linnie Mae, perhaps the most interesting characters of all, don't take the spotlight until late in the novel, the beginning of the story nearly becoming its end. Abby dominates early on, Red not so much until after her death. Restless, unpredictable, undependable Denny, their son, may be the true protagonist, his instability a counterpoint to the stability of the house.
Denny has never come to terms with the fact that Stem, his brother, isn't actually a Whitshank. Abandoned by his mother, Stem is the son of one of Red's employees who dies. Abby insists upon keeping the little boy until his mother or some other suitable relative can be found, but soon decides just to keep him as her own. Everyone else in the family accepts that decision, but not Denny, whose feelings don't emerge until later after he has grown up and become a mysterious wanderer usually out of touch with his family.
When Abby becomes mentally unstable late in life, however, Denny comes home to stay, then is resentful when Stem comes, too, bringing his family with him. Not until the end of the novel does Tyler reveal the mystery of Denny's private life, a secret he never shares with his family.
Tyler has written a number of outstanding novels about Baltimore families. A Spool of Blue Thread ranks high on that list.
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