Kindle
$11.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$8.46
Paperback
$14.42
Kindle Price: $11.99

Save $4.01 (25%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $18.80

Save: $11.31 (60%)

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Anne Tyler
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Clock Winder (1st Ballantine Books trade ed) Kindle Edition

by Anne Tyler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 1,189 ratings
See all formats and editions
With wondrous observations and bittersweet humor, the beloved best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author tells the story of an unsuspecting young woman who becomes the North star that helps a stumbling, dysfunctional family find its footing.

Mrs. Emerson, widowed with seven adult children, lives alone in crumbling Victorian mansion outside Baltimore with only a collection of antique clocks to keep her company. Elizabeth Abbott—twenty-three years old, aimless, bohemian, and beautiful—leads a vagabond lifestyle until she happens upon Mrs. Emerson’s home and convinces the older woman to hire her as a handyman. When three of the strange, idiosyncratic Emerson children return to their childhood home for a visit, they are irresistibly drawn to Elizabeth.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 2
    1st Ballantine Books trade ed
  2. Print length
    322 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Vintage
  6. Publication date
    January 26, 2011
  7. File size
    5183 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
All 2 for you in this series See full series
See included books
Total Price: $23.98
By clicking on above button, you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use
More like The Clock Winder (1st Ballantine Books trade ed)
Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1
Previous page
  3. 1st Ballantine Books trade ed    2 book series
Next page
Loading...

Editorial Reviews

Review

“To read a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love.” —People

“Her brilliance in capturing the ripples on the surface of family life gives her claim to be the Jane Austen of our age.” —The Daily Mail (London)

“Tyler has explored the oddities of humanity with a cool yet loving eye, finding unexpected depth in ordinary people and showing how they manage to hand on to each other despite all the forces that conspire to drive them apart.” —The Washington Post

From the Inside Flap

Evans lives a lonely new widowhood outside of Baltimore, with only a house full of ticking clocks for company. Then she hires eccentric Elizabeth Abbott as a handyman and both discover that parts don't have to be a perfect match to work.

"Anne Tyler is a magical writer."

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004IK8PKU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reissue edition (January 26, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 26, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5183 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0449911799
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 1,189 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her bestselling novels include Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, Back When We Were Grownups, A Patchwork Planet, The Amateur Marriage, Digging to America, A Spool of Blue Thread, Vinegar Girl and Clock Dance.

In 1989 she won the Pulitzer Prize for Breathing Lessons; in 1994 she was nominated by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby as 'the greatest novelist writing in English'; in 2012 she received the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence; and in 2015 A Spool of Blue Thread was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
1,189 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Judy Shiflet
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
An older Tyler book that is one of her best.
Helpful
 Report
Anne
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but…
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
Love Anne Tyler. I found a bizarre how the two main characters interact it and at the end help the girl was treated like a servant by the matriarch. It was sad and made sense in a way but not all the way.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Robin
3.0 out of 5 stars I love Anne Tyler's novels but this was not one of ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
I love Anne Tyler's novels but this was not one of my favorites. When I got to the end I thought maybe I was missing a chapter but no, the resolution seemed a little thrown together to me, almost like she just sort of ran out of steam at the end or grew tired of writing the book.
Helpful
 Report
JoanFord
5.0 out of 5 stars Had to review to get out of my kindle
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2020
Verified Purchase
Drives me crazy I have to review to get to my next book
It should not be this hard, frustrating
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Chris
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Anne Tyler
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
I loved the character development of the quirky Baltimore clan. The story moved slowly but just enough to make me wonder how it would resolve itself. Always a story of family - the good, the bad and definitely the crazy.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
gayle
2.0 out of 5 stars Slow and boring
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2023
Verified Purchase
Characters that are weird and poorly formed spend the entire book complaining. No action, no plot. It’s is giant yawn all the way.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Enus
3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading but not great
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2017
i read somewhere that Anne Tyler hated her first few books. I thought her first book was quite good but the second and third were pretty bad. The Clock Winder being her fourth novel was an improvement even though I found the ending not too convincing and some of the characters such as a Andrew and Elizabeth bordering on unbelievable. Anne Tyler has always been good with character and it's always been her strength. The plots are very basic and usually just platforms for the quirks of her characters. The trouble is if every character is odd or or eccentric the book becomes bland and becomes less than believable.

The story started like that and some of the characters mainly Elizabeth were simply irritating. The first third of the book was so so but it turned around and became something more substantial after the incident with Timothy. It became a bit darker and realistic.Tyler is good at portraying disappointed lives and the frustrations of finding the right career and the right partner let alone coping with families. The final third of the book was good but the ending with the arrival of the youngest son seemed to be added as an after thought and the book would have been better if it was thirty pages shorter. The formula is already in place for Tyler's later and greater books. The two best characters in Andrew and Elizabeth are also the most flawed. Tyler is very good when writing about intelligent people making bad decisions. Pretty good but more of a early indicator of her greater books to come.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
jym
5.0 out of 5 stars Anne Tyler must have gotten her humor from North Carolina
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2019
Verified Purchase
Never read an Anne Tyler book that I didn’t like. She tangled a good tale and it was fun to read.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Ms. M. Leask
5.0 out of 5 stars I own all of Anne Tyler's books in hard back but now find due to advancing years they are more easily read on my Kindle where I can enlarge the ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2018
Verified Purchase
Holds one's interest from start to finish as does all of Anne Tyler's books. I own all of Anne Tyler's books in hard back but now find due to advancing years they are more easily read on my Kindle where I can enlarge the print. I am in the process of reading everyone of her books for possibly the third time and enjoying every second.
5 people found this helpful
 Report
Ms. S. H. H. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in France on August 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
As usual a small masterpiece from Anne Tyler. She never disappoints and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a skilful and delicate read.
One person found this helpful
 Report
christiane Petit
4.0 out of 5 stars The clock winder
Reviewed in France on September 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
i am a big fan of Ann Tyler and have enjoyed all her books. The clock winder is one of them. Moving, well written. Ann Tyler takes you straight into the life of her characters and you never leave them till the last line of the book.
a most enjoyable novel.
Report
patricia clancy
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing unpredictable as always
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 26, 2016
Verified Purchase
I loved the clockwinder.I disliked nothing about the book. The characters are such individuals I should never be surprised at anything they say or do but delightfully I am.Anne Tyler has such imagination I love all of her books.
Report
Ashley
3.0 out of 5 stars There is little evidence of the mai character windi g clocks
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
I read this book as part of a book group but did not rate it as highly as some other members of the group. There are some hints that Anne Tyler can write well but over all the story is lazily constructed with inconsistencies of character and melodrama used to give the plot some much needed impetus. There is some gentle humour, which is nice but unfortunately the family at the heart of tbe novel are either unsympathetic controlling patricians or, in one case, a dangerous fruitcake, who bring trouble on themselves. The catalytic character, Elizabeth is a welcome foil but responds to events where one wants her to take charge and use her practicality to shake up the dysfunctional personalities around her.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report