Four defining moments

1967 ~ "Willa Drake and Sonya Bailey were selling candy bars door-to-door.  This was for the Herbert Malone Elementary School Orchestra" (p. 5).
1977 ~ "Willa's college had a jitney that made several runs to the airport before any major holiday" (p. 41).
1997 ~ "Willa and Derek were out on the freeway, driving to a swim party in Coronado" (p. 77).
2017 ~ "The phone call came on a Tuesday afternoon in mid-July" (p. 107).

Clock Dance ~ by Anne Tyler, 2018, fiction

Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life.  In 1967, she is a schoolgirl coping with her mother's sudden disappearance.   In 1977, she is a college coed considering a marriage proposal.  In 1997, she is a young widow trying to piece her life back together.  And in 2017, she yearns to be a grandmother, but isn't sure she ever will be.   Then, one day, Willa receives a startling phone call from a stranger.  Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to look after a young woman she's never met, her nine-year-old daughter, and their dog, Airplane.  This impulsive decision will lead Willa into uncharted territory ― surrounded by eccentric neighbors who treat each other like family, she finds solace and fulfillment in unexpected places.

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