Please indulge me by allowing me to post another nice review of The Good House. It’s from Shelf Awareness and they were just so kind:
Review: The Good House
The Good House by Ann Leary (St. Martin’s Press, $24.99 hardcover, 9781250015549, January 15, 2013)
Ann Leary knows well the worlds of the wealthy and of small towns north of Boston (she lived in Marblehead during her high school years). Her second novel, The Good House, is set in Wendover, a coastal town where real estate has replaced lobstering as the biggest business and new McMansions are zoned to be quaint. Leary tells her story through Hildy Good, a successful real estate broker privy to all that goes on behind the wrought iron gates and faux gables. She is delightfully frank: “I know everything that happens in this town,” she says. “I’m an old townie; the eighth-great-granddaughter of Sarah Good, one of the accused witches tried and hanged in Salem…. I live alone; my daughters are grown and my husband is no longer my husband. I talk to animals.”
Hildy has her own secrets: the recession has hurt her business, and firms like Sotheby’s are moving on to her turf. Her daughters are in and out of therapy and financially dependent on her, but not so dependent that they don’t orchestrate an “intervention” and withhold access to her beloved grandchild unless she spends a month at Hazelden to address her alcoholism. After 20 years of marriage and fatherhood, her ex-husband finally accepted his homosexuality, only to be abandoned by his romantic partner. Her childhood friend, the town’s only psychiatrist, is having an affair with a wealthy horsewoman and former patient who has become madly obsessive and threatens his exposure to the licensing board. Is it any wonder that Hildy still drinks–secretly, in her mouse-infested cellar, so that her daughters don’t find out? As her surreptitious, lonely drinking grows out of control, another childhood friend, Frankie–the town’s garbage man, handyman and snow removal tycoon–takes her under his wing with a love and tolerance she has never quite experienced before.
When we think of literature arising from small New England towns, we might imagine the spare simplicity of Thornton Wilder’s Grover’s Corners or Richard Russo’s economically destitute mill town of Empire Falls. In Ann Leary’s able hands, the modern New England town of today can be found just north of Boston. It’s the voice of Hildy, though, that makes Leary’s new novel work so well. Her irreverent observations and sharp chatterbox tongue are balanced by a vulnerability that makes her the perfect ironic but all too human commentator on a world too much like it really is. –Bruce Jacobs
Shelf Talker: Hildy Good, the narrator of Leary’s second novel, is a fresh and vulnerable observer as the rich take over the simple traditional world of her New England coastal town.
I hope it’s not inappropriate for me to say this….
“You go, girl!”
Can you even contain your excitement!! What a great review.
Ann, We are currently experiencing a fresh cold snap (and lots of snow) here in Cowtown, so it’s uber-reading weather. I am counting the days for this great read!!!! Congrats—and thank you!
Location, location, location! Shall I go to Brookline Booksmith or Spirit of 76? Can’t wait! Maybe some Mass bloggers would want to get together like the NY blogs did? Got Boston mag & was disappointed that you were limited to 1 page. I thought they’d do a whole story with more pictures. Next time & there will be a next time!
Marsha, I’m going to Ann’s signing in Marblehead and would love to get together with you and any other Mass. bloggers.
Ann, congrats on another wonderful review. I am so looking forward to reading the book and to meeting you.
I just got off the telephone after ordering your new book from The Hickory Stick Bookshop, Ann. Thank you for providing the telephone number again. Just a thought: Maybe you should stop posting these effusive reviews of “The Good House” until we all receive our copies. I think we’re all a bit giddy and light-headed from the anticipation of holding this book, turning to the first page, and diving into the entrancing world of Hildy Good!!! Just kidding……I think…..Seriously, I can hardly wait….
Betsy, I think you’re right about not posting so many nice reviews. It’s bound to disappoint after so much fanfare. It’s really not that great. Really.
Ann, I certainly hope you know that’s not what I meant. Sometimes a written “witty” response doesn’t translate as well as it might have if it had been spoken. Your book is receiving tremendously positive reviews and I only meant that those of us eager to get the chance to begin reading it are having our patience stretched thin waiting for our copies to arrive. (This probably isn’t coming across right, either.) We all enjoy reading the reviews and–I think I can speak for almost everyone here–are thrilled that you and your talents are being recognized by so many people. “The Good House” will not disappoint anyone. Really.
Please read my previous post about my wanting a Great Dane. I have heard they are “gentle giants.” Labrador Retrievers are supposedly “gentle giants” too, but my last lab was anything but docile. Anything comments on Great Danes or other giant breeds welcome.
I’m sure everyone will look fab.
Gloria
We have had some “giants.” We had two Irish Wolfhounds and now have a Leonberger and a 1/2 St. Bernard. I think Danes are gorgeous dogs and have heard that they are quite trainable. The thing to remember about the giant breeds is that dogs weren’t intended to be this large, our inbreeding has created their size and this has had consequences on their health – mainly their life-expectancy. They don’t live as long as smaller dogs. Also, I’m not sure about Danes, but Wolfhounds tend to be shy, sometimes too shy. This is a genetic tendency. When the hounds were no longer used for hunting and killing wolves in Europe, it became fashionable among the aristocracy to have them as pets. Dogs of their size could be dangerous if aggressive, so breeders began culling the most assertive and dominant pups from litters and raising the most submissive. Most Irish Wolfhounds are “gentle giants” but I have heard of some that are so shy that they are fear-biters, which is very dangerous. They must be raised with great care. That’s all I know
Betsy, I know that’s not what you meant! I was just joking. It does feel like the self-promotion must be getting tiresome, as it’s even boring me, so I was just making fun of myself. xo
Just reading the review is fun – can’t wait for the real thing!
Colleen from MN, the land of recovery (Hazelden)
I am so happy for you! You must be thrilled Anne! Enjoy these moments and take the time to celebrate your hard work, your accomplishments and well-deserved praise and recognition!
What a great review. I can’t wait for my copy to arrive in the mail!
Just started the book today. I am totally entranced!!! I know I will finish it in one reading…..I have actually stopped a few times because of something I just read and honestly had to shake my head in wonder. How does a writer do these things to a reader? I will be a prisoner of this book until the last page has been read!!!