A review by kathleenitpdx
Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

3.0

A mid-life crisis domestic drama. A woman disappears during a family vacation. Tyler makes Delia's (the protagonist) background a little extreme. Delia has always lived in the same house. The family house is where her father and then her husband have their medical office. Delia has done the office work for them, raised her kids, did end of life care for her father in that same house. She has not ever lived alone. She has not ever worked for anyone other than her father or husband. She accidentally ends up in a small town that she has never visited and establishes a life for herself. She finds that she can be independent. I am not sure why the author has her end up in a domestic family care-taker position.
Anyway her family reacts in some strange ways. And Delia meets interesting people. And the ending was not surprising to me.