The Children - Ann Leary

Charlotte and Sally Maynard grew up in a rambling Connecticut country house that belonged to their stepfather, Whit Whitman. Perry and Spin, Whit's sons from his unhappy first marriage, were welcomed as weekend guests. All of the children received Whit's love and attention, but they were also influenced, for better and for worse, by his often misguided ideals and wildly narcissistic personality. When Whit dies, he leaves the estate in the care of his wife, Charlotte and Sally's mother, with the understanding that the home will revert to Perry and Spin when she passes away. But Joan, a stalwart sixty-something, isn't going anywhere soon. She's enjoying the house, which she shares with Charlotte, an agoraphobic mommy blogger, who doesn't actually have any children. She and her sister have a good relationship, and they're close, too, with their step brothers. But when Spin, the youngest, brings his beautiful fiancé Laurel Atwood home for the summer, she manages to subtly crack the polite veneer of the family, exposing an array of simmering resentments, old wounds, and troubling family secrets.

Told from the sharp and wryly humorous perspective of the introverted Charlotte, THE CHILDREN examines themes of money, loyalty, trust, and familial love. 

My thoughts:
Things might seem perfect but underneath it all things are falling apart. Like this house. When you come inside you realise how torn down it is, and then you see how many cracks are outside too.

Joan had an affair with Whit and married him. His two kids did not come around a lot. The older was more resentful than Skip who had been too young. And Joan, well she likes things as they are now. She is stuck in that house.

Charlotte whose book this is is also stuck in this house. Really stuck, like has been for a long time. She makes money from her blog and writings so no need to actually go anywhere then. There is even a guy nearby to hook up with. She was comfortable there, but at the same time I started to feel that she really needed to go out and life some. But that is hard for some.

Then there is Sally her sister with issues of her own...

And Skip who brings home his new fiance, who is just so perfect and sweet.

Resentment, buried feelings collide during this summer. And the end was, I honestly can not say anything about the ending. It was real. Life takes, life gives. Life is perfect, life is a bitch. The ending was raw, truthful. Perfect in it's own way.

The book was not that long so I read it pretty fast. I wanted to know what would happen. They were all happy or sort of happy in their own ways. Life was moving forward, nothing major would happen, or would it...

Conclusion:
Secrets and family drama to be promised.

Paperback, 256 pages
Expected publication: July 6th 2017 by Corvus Books (first published April 19th 2016)
Fiction
For review

The Good House - Ann Leary

Hildy Good is hiding a secret from her town, her family - and even herself. 

Hildy Good has reached that dangerous time in a woman's life - middle-aged and divorced, she is an oddity in her small but privileged town. But Hildy isn't one for self-pity and instead meets the world with a wry smile, a dark wit and a glass or two of Pinot Noir. When her two earnest grown-up children stage an 'intervention' and pack Hildy off to an addiction centre, she thinks all this fuss is ridiculous. After all, why shouldn't she enjoy a drink now and then?

But we start to see another side to Hildy Good, and to her life's greatest passion. Soon, a cluster of secrets become dangerously entwined, with devastating consequences...

My thoughts:

I had no idea if Hildy was an alcoholic or not. She was so much in denial and kept saying it was nothing. And that is the thing, I the reader know nothing, but little by little we learn more about Hildy. So is she an alcoholic? You will find out.

The book was not just told about her day after day life. There were lots of little episodes where she told about houses she had sold. But it all came together as you later will see. And that was her life, selling houses, and being a bit lonely. Her husband has left, her children live elsewhere and Hildy, ah yes Hildy. I liked her, but the more I got to know her, less I wanted to like her.

There is also a bit of drama later in the book, I am not going into details. But something happens as she is trying to go on with life.

It was well done, I really was in her head, believing what she believed and it also made me realise how alcohol can be different to everyone. Every alcoholic is not the same.

Conclusion.

A good, and quiet book in a way.

Cover

Simple, it works

Paperback, 304 pages
Published July 3rd 2014 by Corvus (first published January 15th 2013)
Fiction
For review