Clock Dance (2018) is Anne Tyler’s 22nd domestic literary fiction novel that explores the smaller details of the human condition. Clock Dance, which spans time periods from 1967 to 2017, follows Willa, a woman who’s always made herself useful to those around her without any regard for her own needs. Through Willa’s life, Clock Dance explores themes of self-fulfillment, appreciation, passivity, and community to show how people do (or don’t) change throughout time. This novel is divided into two parts, with Part 1 featuring three large chapters, each giving a glimpse into a period of Willa’s life at different intervals across three decades. Part 2 is set in 2017 and is broken up into 12 traditional chapters.

This study guide follows the April 2019 First Vintage Books Edition paperback version of the novel.

Content Warning: There are two instances where characters use slurs or derogatory terms for gay men and sex workers as insults.

Plot Summary

In 1967, 11-year-old Willa Drake comes home from school to find that her mother has stormed out, temporarily abandoning the family. This is not the first time. Willa struggles to understand why her mother gets so angry at her passive, mild-mannered father, whom she adores. Willa does her best to help around the house by getting her sister Elaine ready for bed and school. Elaine struggles to deal with their mother’s absence, especially when they go to bed without their mother home for the first time. Willa does her best to make Elaine comfortable, recruiting Elaine to help with dishes and making chocolate pudding as a surprise for their father. However, when they mess up the pudding, their father lectures Willa about not reading directions and never thanks her for the effort or for helping with Elaine and the dishes. The next morning, their mother is home. She acts as though nothing is wrong and does not apologize for leaving the family. Elaine forgives her, but Willa is still upset at both of her parents.

In 1977, Willa and her college boyfriend Derek fly home for Easter weekend. Derek wants to marry Willa. He’d like her to move in with him when he starts his career that summer, but Willa still has a year left of college in a program she loves. She wants to marry Derek, but she isn’t sure about doing it on his terms. On the plane, a man quietly jabs a gun into Willa’s ribs. He threatens to shoot her if she moves. Willa sits there obediently until Derek suggests they switch seats so Willa can look out the window. The man does not shoot, and nothing else happens on the plane ride. Willa tells Derek about this man when they get off, but Derek is incredulous, downplaying her story and assuming the man was messing with her. When Willa tells her parents the story, Derek adds his opinion to the narrative, and Willa’s parents agree with him. Willa spends the weekend thinking about the man with the gun and how wronged she feels by Derek and her family’s reaction. Before they fly out after Easter dinner, Derek and Willa announce their engagement to Willa’s parents. Derek’s plans to have Willa leave college anger Willa’s mother. Willa quickly quiets the growing tension between her parents and Derek by saying she’s going to marry Derek anyway.

In 1997, Willa and Derek are parents to two teen boys, Ian and Sean. While Willa and Derek are driving on the highway, a station wagon driving badly near them angers Derek. In a fit of road rage, he tries to get in front of the vehicle, causing an accident that results in his death.

Willa struggles to cope with Derek’s death. She invites her father and Elaine to the funeral. Willa’s mother has already died from a stroke. Willa and Elaine are distant. Sean and Ian remain aloof through the grieving process. Willa is fine with them having their own lives. She wants them to never worry about how she’s feeling or what she’ll do next the way she and Elaine worried about their mother. Willa’s father worked through his grief by breaking his day into moments. Willa tries this, but it doesn’t work for her. Instead, she finds comfort in busy streets and crowded malls, where she imagines the people around her have also gone through loss and pressed on with their lives.

One day, the man who drove the station wagon comes to the door to apologize for his role in the accident that killed Derek. He was driving distractedly because he is going through a divorce. He’s grieving the death of his relationship the way Willa is grieving Derek’s death. One day, while Willa is dreaming of Derek, the man who drove the station wagon returns. He wants to take Willa out. Willa declines the invitation and tries to return to her dream.

In 2017, 61-year-old Willa is remarried to a 72-year-old man named Peter. Peter has recently moved their household to a golfing community in Arizona. Willa gave up her beloved job to move with him, and she’s struggled to make friends in the new neighborhood. Willa receives a call from a woman named Callie in Baltimore. Callie is taking care of a little girl named Cheryl, the daughter of a woman named Denise. Denise is Sean’s ex-girlfriend, and Callie believes that Willa is Cheryl’s grandmother. Willa has never met Denise or Cheryl because Sean lives far away and doesn’t keep in touch. Callie needs Willa to fly to Baltimore to take over caring for Cheryl because Denise is in the hospital, shot in the leg by a stray bullet. Willa doesn’t clarify that she’s not Cheryl’s grandmother, but she accepts the invitation to Baltimore. She justifies this to Peter by explaining she needs to feel useful. Peter begrudgingly agrees to go to Baltimore with Willa. In the airport, Willa tells Peter about the incident with the gunman her first time flying, and Peter also questions if the man actually had a gun.

In Baltimore, Willa meets Cheryl at Callie’s house. Callie explains that the police are investigating the shooting but have no leads. Cheryl is receptive toward Willa and Peter. She and her dog, Airplane, lead Willa and Peter back to her house and settle in for the night. In the morning, they visit Denise in the hospital. Denise is embarrassed that Willa was called, explaining that Willa’s number was on the emergency contacts list by mistake. Denise and Sean broke up because Sean was having an affair with the neighbor’s wife, Elissa. They ran off together and now share an apartment. Denise will be in the hospital for several more days. Peter is unhappy that they have to stay that long, but Willa is enjoying being a grandmother figure.

Over the course of a few days, Willa grows closer to Cheryl and learns about the girl’s habits, hobbies, and interests. Peter remains distant and eager to leave. Willa also meets many of the neighbors: Erland, the 15-year-old boy Willa catches trimming Denise’s hedges; Mrs. Minton, the elderly woman with mobility issues; and Ben, a doctor who sees patients out of his home. When Denise is released from the hospital, Peter believes they’ll be heading home, but Willa insists they stay because Denise is still struggling to walk, cannot drive, and cannot look after a child by herself. Peter makes flight reservations anyway.

The day before the flight, Willa tells Peter again that their help is still needed. They get into an argument, and Willa decides to stay in Baltimore without him. Peter flies out in the morning without waking Willa to say goodbye. That evening, Willa has dinner with Sean and his new girlfriend, Elissa. Sean doesn’t offer to pick Willa up despite knowing her driving anxieties. Throughout the dinner, Sean criticizes Denise and Peter. When Willa offers to pay, Sean doubts that she has her own money. Willa looks forward to returning to Denise and Cheryl.

Willa continues to bond with Denise as a daughter and Cheryl as a granddaughter. Denise’s leg heals and she eventually gets into a walking cast. When Willa speaks to Peter on the phone, he pressures her to fly home, so she omits information about Denise’s recovery. Willa also builds friendships with the neighbors. One day, Erland confides in Willa that he is the one who accidentally shot Denise. He’d shown his stepbrother’s gun to a peer from school, and the boy attempted to take it. While Erland was trying to stop him, the gun went off and hit Denise. Cheryl saw. They’ve kept it a secret since. Willa tells Erland he needs to tell his stepbrother and accompanies Erland to complete the task. Erland is afraid his stepbrother will kick him out. However, the stepbrother agrees that Erland can stay after he confesses with Willa’s help.

Denise finds out that Cheryl and Willa kept what Erland did from her. She gets angry and accuses Willa of meddling in her life. Willa decides to fly out the next day. She leaves Peter a voicemail informing him of her flight. When Willa is about to leave, Denise tells her she doesn’t have to go, but Willa has already made up her mind. When Willa gets to the airport, she gets an angry voicemail from Peter, who tells her to find her own ride home because he’s busy. When Willa lands in Arizona, she turns around and flies back to Baltimore. She wants to get her own place, help with Ben’s patients, and be a grandmother to Cheryl.