Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is a 1982 contemporary fiction novel by Anne Tyler that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, along with The Accidental Tourist (1985). Tyler won the Pulitzer for her 1988 novel, Breathing Lessons. Tyler's other well-known works include Saint Maybe (1991), Clock Dance (2018), and French Braid (2022).

Plot Summary

Pearl Tull lies in her bed, aware that she is close to death. She begins to reflect on her life. Aged 30, she married a salesman named Beck Tull. Beck transferred frequently for his work and Pearl followed, eventually giving birth to three children. In 1944, Beck leaves and Pearl never sees him again. Pearl raises the children, becoming increasingly isolated and ill-tempered. Pearl’s oldest son, Cody Tull, remembers when his father bought an archery set. Cody accidentally shot his mother with an arrow and blamed his brother, Ezra Tull. Cody plays mean-spirited pranks on Ezra, whom he believes is Pearl’s favorite child; Cody resents this.

Jenny Tull, the youngest child, wants to be a doctor. Ezra is drafted into the army, and Jenny agrees to visit various people on his behalf: Mrs. Scarlatti, the owner of a restaurant where Ezra worked, and Josiah, a large boy with learning difficulties. Jenny visits Josiah’s home, stays for dinner, and—when he walks her home—he kisses her. Pearl catches them and shouts at Jenny. Ezra is discharged from the army for sleepwalking. Jenny goes to college and meets a genius named Harley, who proposes to her; Jenny accepts. At a family dinner, Ezra announces that he is a full partner in Scarlatti’s restaurant. Jenny moves to Paulham with Harley to attend medical school. Mrs. Scarlatti contracts cancer; Jenny’s marriage fails; Jenny speaks to Josiah again at Ezra’s restaurant, and Pearl becomes enraged. Ezra visits Mrs. Scarlatti in the hospital. Ezra is running the restaurant on his own, and he begins to make minor changes that gradually become major renovations. Mrs. Scarlatti is released from the hospital. On seeing the changes, she is devastated. The friendship between Ezra and Mrs. Scarlatti becomes a formal partnership. Before she dies, she tells him to change the name of the restaurant; Ezra renames it the Homesick Restaurant.

Cody has always resented Ezra; all of Cody’s girlfriends have seemed inordinately interested in his brother. Soon after, Cody always dumps them. Cody becomes a successful businessman in New York. He buys a 40-acre farm in upstate Baltimore, planning to move there and start a family. Ezra begins dating Ruth Spivey, a chef from a rural area. Cody becomes obsessed with Ruth and tries to seduce her. Eventually, he succeeds. Cody and Ruth tell Ezra; Ezra is devastated. As they leave, Cody wonders whether his resentment toward Ezra was ever justified. Cody’s farm falls into disrepair, and it falls on Pearl to maintain it (with Ezra’s help). Cody’s work takes him across the country, and he has given up on moving to the farm. Pearl blames Cody for the sullen disposition that has taken hold of Ezra ever since Ruth left. Cody becomes incredibly jealous whenever Ruth and Ezra interact; Pearl notices a tension in their marriage. Three years later, Ruth gives birth to a boy named Luke, but Cody rarely visits home. When Luke is eight, he visits for the first time. When he and Ezra seem to bond, Cody becomes convinced that Ezra is trying to steal his son.

Jenny gets married for the third time; she meets a man named Joe who has six children. Jenny has a child of her own named Rebecca from her second marriage. Jenny helps to raise her stepchildren and finds that one—Slevin, the eldest—has trouble dealing with his parents’ divorce. As his behavior worsens, Jenny talks to Slevin about her own parents breaking up, and they bond. Jenny reflects on the birth of Rebecca, when the stress nearly killed her and she got through with Pearl’s help. Cody has an accident at work. After two days in a coma, he wakes up but is bedridden. Luke is bored; the constant moving between cities means he has no friends. Cody becomes irritable and begins to obsess over the idea that Luke is Ezra’s son, rather than his own. Eventually, the obsession becomes too much, and Luke runs away; he hitchhikes to Baltimore to see Ezra. When Luke reaches Baltimore, Ezra recognizes him and takes him back to Pearl’s house. Cody and Ruth drive Luke home.

Pearl’s vision is failing, but she refuses to admit it. Ezra takes care of her in the morning and then goes to the restaurant in the evening. He reads to Pearl from her diaries. One day, he reads Pearl a diary entry from a time when she was absolutely happy. She thanks him, as though she has been searching for this moment. Pearl dies in her sleep. Cody, Ruth, and Luke travel to Baltimore for the funeral. Arriving at the family home, they discover that Ezra has invited Beck as per Pearl’s request. After a short, vague service, the three children are reunited with their father in the church parking lot. The reunion is awkward. They all go to Ezra’s restaurant for a meal, during which Cody makes pointed remarks about Beck’s departure. When Jenny’s baby begins to choke, Beck uses the chaos to slip out of the door. Ezra insists that they go and find him, and Cody reluctantly agrees. Cody finds Beck sitting on a stoop; they talk. Satisfied, Cody escorts Beck back to the Homesick Restaurant.