Back When We Were Grownups
Encyclopedia
Back When We Were Grownups is a 2001 novel written by Anne Tyler
in memory of her husband, who died in 1997.
Tyler's 15th novel, like most of her work, is set in Baltimore, Maryland. It opens with the sentence, "Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person." The woman in question is Rebecca Davitch, a 53-year-old widow
, mother, grandmother, and proprietor of a party and catering business run from her home called Open Arms. At an engagement party for one of her stepdaughters, she finds herself questioning everything about her life, and decides to take steps to resurrect her former self. Her self-improvement project includes a visit to her hometown in Virginia, picking up old hobbies, reading books that she had read in college, and eventually getting reacquainted with her old college/high school sweetheart, now divorced and living nearby, and renewing her intellectual interests, without abandoning her many matriarchal and professional duties.
Susanna Styron
adapted the novel for a CBS
Hallmark Hall of Fame
production that first aired on November 21, 2004. Starring Blythe Danner
, Peter Fonda
, Jack Palance
, Faye Dunaway
, Peter Riegert
, Ione Skye
, Anjul Nigam
, and Jonathon Pickett, it was directed by Ron Underwood
. It garnered both Emmy Award
and Golden Globe nominations for Danner.
Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler is an American novelist.Tyler, the eldest of four children, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was a chemist and her mother a social worker. Her early childhood was spent in a succession of Quaker communities in the mountains of North Carolina and in Raleigh...
in memory of her husband, who died in 1997.
Tyler's 15th novel, like most of her work, is set in Baltimore, Maryland. It opens with the sentence, "Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person." The woman in question is Rebecca Davitch, a 53-year-old widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
, mother, grandmother, and proprietor of a party and catering business run from her home called Open Arms. At an engagement party for one of her stepdaughters, she finds herself questioning everything about her life, and decides to take steps to resurrect her former self. Her self-improvement project includes a visit to her hometown in Virginia, picking up old hobbies, reading books that she had read in college, and eventually getting reacquainted with her old college/high school sweetheart, now divorced and living nearby, and renewing her intellectual interests, without abandoning her many matriarchal and professional duties.
Susanna Styron
Susanna Styron
Susanna Styron is an American film and documentary maker. She is one of the four children of writer and novelist William Styron and his wife, Rose....
adapted the novel for a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
production that first aired on November 21, 2004. Starring Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
, Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
, Jack Palance
Jack Palance
Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
, Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
, Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos.-Early life:...
, Ione Skye
Ione Skye
Ione Skye Lee is an English-born American actress, who became a teen idol after the 1989 movie Say Anything.... In 2006 VH1 placed her at number 84 in the "100 Greatest Teen Stars" list.-Early life:...
, Anjul Nigam
Anjul Nigam
Anjul Nigam is an established character actor.Nigam was born in Kanpur, India. He is a graduate of Cheshire High School and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and is known for his recurring role as "Dr. Raj, the Psych Doc" on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy...
, and Jonathon Pickett, it was directed by Ron Underwood
Ron Underwood
Ronald Brian "Ron" Underwood is an American film director.-Early Life:-Early career :-Mainstream breakthrough :-Filmography:...
. It garnered both Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and Golden Globe nominations for Danner.