A Novel for Grown-ups: "Noah's Compass"

I enjoy novels about characters of all ages, but I sometimes particularly appreciate reading about characters in their fifties, sixties, and older, and their experiences and perspectives. I just finished reading one such novel, "Noah's Compass" (Knopf, 2009), by Anne Tyler (who is 68 years old herself). The main character, Liam Pennywell, is 60 years old, recently retired, and at loose ends. He is, like many of Tyler's characters, seemingly quite ordinary, stolid, and somewhat passive. He is neither unhappy nor particularly happy. He says at one point, "I just...don't seem to have the hang of things, somehow. It's as if I've never been entirely present in my own life" (p. 263). It is a heartbreaking realization. Such a tamped-down character is unlikely to immediately intrigue readers, who may be tempted to bail out of what seems that it will be a rather depressing story, but somehow Tyler's portrayal of how Liam ponders and responds to the events and everyday moments of his life draws us in, and we begin to admire his essential modesty and goodness, and his determination to be satisfied with what he has in life. I realize that this description of "Noah's Compass" probably won't send you running to the bookstore or library, but I urge you to give the novel a chance to win you over, as it did me.