Earthly possessions

Both authors write thought-provoking, intimate, character-centered stories and novels about families, leading readers into a deeper understanding of their own lives. Characters in these books live through family trauma and come to understand themselves better. Edwards and Tyler both often write about two or more families in order to compare and contrast them. -- Becky Spratford

Using the mundane trials and tribulations of everyday people in counterpoint to the miraculous nature of friendship and love, Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Berg both create realistic fiction with a hopeful edge. Elizabeth Berg's works are slightly lighter in tone and theme than those of Anne Tyler. -- Tara Bannon Williamson

Anne Tyler's acknowledged mentor, Eudora Welty, taught her the value of the ordinary. Both authors are accomplished storytellers, and their novels share a rambling, old-fashioned feel, Southern charm, and quirky but somehow familiar characters. -- Katherine Johnson

Anne Tyler is to Baltimore as Anna Quindlen is to New York, creating a mirror reflecting the essence of a place while capturing individual people. Both authors write intimate, women-centered family tales with characters that are equally realistic in their foibles and oft-endearing human shortcomings. -- Shauna Griffin

Anne Tyler fans will appreciate the intriguing people in Pat Conroy's books who frequently find themselves on a journey of self-discovery. Also, in both authors' tales, setting is essential, and Conroy's works will especially appeal to Tyler's readers who appreciate the decidedly Southern flair of her Baltimore-set books. -- Dawn Towery

Though Anne Tyler's writing is down to earth and Ann Patchett's contains hints of magical realism, both authors show deep insight into human nature in their thoughtful, somewhat bittersweet, character-driven novels. Both develop themes defining friendship and family in contemporary America; and how different yet interlinked people respond to significant life events. -- Matthew Ransom

Anne Tyler's and Richard Russo's literary novels share a penchant for quirky characters, settings in small towns or close-knit communities, and the ability to illuminate bigger issues through small details. -- Krista Biggs

In their character-driven domestic fiction, Sarah Pekkanen and Anne Tyler feature relatable, realistic adult protagonists who find their marriages and very lives falling apart through infidelity, unexpected death, and worse. Both are adept at conjuring deadly suburban ennui and the sudden, shocking realizations adults experience when they hit middle age. -- Mike Nilsson

While Amy Bloom's work represents a greater degree of intersectionality than Anne Tyler's both examine the lives of ordinary people through women's perspectives. Using moving, bittersweet, and reflective tones., their absorbing storylines bring to life believable characters in domestic settings. -- Katherine Johnson

Anne Tyler and Mary Lawson pen intimate stories about complicated family dynamics. Their sensitive portrayals are character-driven, reflective, and move at a leisurely pace, however, Tyler's novels tend to be a tad bit lighter than Lawson's more muted, somber reads. -- Catherine Coles

Kaye Gibbons and Anne Tyler, both Southern writers of literary women's lives and relationships stories, will each appeal to the other's readers. They share a fondness for family stories, quirky characters, usually women, and deft descriptions of people and situations. Gibbons's settings, however, are more rural and sometimes historical. -- Katherine Johnson

These Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists write eloquent, character-driven stories of the small scale, everyday dramas of modern life -- homesickness, grief, uncertainty. Their characters are authentic and flawed; their writing style thoughtful and detailed. -- Shauna Griffin