Sunday, December 28, 2014

The House We Grew Up In

This is the Bird family. They live in a small idyllic village in England.
There are two loving parents, 4 gorgeous children, perhaps some small pets running around this beautiful warm cozy house. They attend a cartoonishly cute school and their mother chases rainbows and flowers. It is so perfect - until it is not. A horrible tragic Easter changes their lives forever or maybe perfection could have never lasted and it was just the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. As secrets are uncovered Lorelei, their mum, buries them further and further away in her dizzying home. What begins innocently as hanging every scrap of paper the children draw on (how artsy she seems!) grows into full blow hoarding, which is quite mesmerizing and unstoppable, in a train wreck sort of way, and frankly, I have never read about such an illness. Colin, the dad, barely says a peep, a fine polite soul just wants everyone to be happy. And the children, well ... we all grow up in homes with secrets and its not until you know they exist that they are a problem. This novel is filled with the most amazing characters. Their relationships and circumstances may seem bizarre at times but when you take a good long look at your own family, everyone has their skeletons in the closet and they do not go away. They patiently wait to be discovered. The family dynamics are complicated and the writing is excellent. I truly could not put this book down. Highly recommend and cannot wait to pursue other books by this newly (for me!) discovered author.

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