Review: The Children by Ann Leary

Since reading Leary's previous novel THE GO6OD HOUSE, which came out in early 2013, I have been anxiously awaiting her next release.  In May of this year THE CHILDREN was published and, finally, the wait was over. In THE GOOD HOUSE, the main character had such a bold presence and I was curious to see if this book mirrored that. Let's just say I was not disappointed with Charlotte Maynard at all.

Charlotte is a member of an old prominent New England family. It's not a traditional family but more of a modern family with its complicated family tree.  She is a 29 year-old recluse who seldom leaves the family home that sits on the best part of a beautiful lake, but that's not what makes Charolotte interesting.  The interesting thng is that Charlotte has a secret that even her family doesn't know about. She would love to be able to tell them all about it, but she has painted herself into a corner that she can't get out of without bringing herself down. 

The slightly odd but functioning family dynamic is going along smoothly until Spin, the favorite and youngest member of this disjointed family brings his fiance home for the summer. As the family gets to know this beautiful and successful woman, Charlotte's curiosity turns into something more. She's suspicious but no one will listen to her because of her hermit-like existence, no matter how much she insists that something just isn't right. As the summer progresses, so do the cracks in this family reveal themselves as never before.

My Thoughts:

I will get right to it and say that after reading this book I am an even bigger fan of Ann Leary. This multi-dimensional story is driven by interesting characters that made me not want to stop reading. The locale, the once beautiful and now worn down house on the lake, and the people were so vivid in my mind. Leary's writing style allowed the story to be revealed bit by bit which let me, the reader, learn things at the same time the characters did. It was an engaging read that kept my attention and curiosity piqued throughout.  

Leary has created a complex story with this flawed family and manages to do it with (mostly) likable characters. I found it to be original and current. I love that Charlotte is a blogger because I could relate to a small part of her world and appreciate it. At only 256 pages, it was a quick read but after finishing it I didn't pick up another book for several days because I was still processing the story. And it has stayed with me since. THE CHILDREN was a book I truly enjoyed reading. I even liked it more than THE GOOD HOUSE and I can't wait to see what she comes up with for her next novel. 

I highly recommend this book and hope you make the time to read it. Special thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with my e-copy. It is definitely on my list of top books that I've read this year.


THE CHILDREN 
Author: Ann Leary
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Published:  May 2016
Length: 256 pp
Source: Publisher

Review: The Good House by Ann Leary (Unabridged Audio Edition)

When I first noticed this book going around the blogs people were raving about it.  Then I started hearing how great the audio version was and since I was due for a new audio book, I chose that format. Boy, am I glad I did! Mary Beth Hurt was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S as Hildy Good! But hold on, I don't want to get ahead of myself  First, for those who aren't familiar, here is a bit about the book:

Hildy Good grew up and has lived in a small town on Boston's North Shore for all of her life. I guess you could call her a townie. She knows everyone and everyone knows her. She's had a good and successful life as a Realtor and is currently the only independent Realtor in town. She is divorced with two grown daughters, one married with a child and one not married.  For the most part Hildy lives a happy life. There's only one problem: Hildy is an alcoholic. When her family held an intervention, Hildy gave in to their demands and went into rehab. It's now the beginning of the story and Hildy has been sober for about a year. She says its not a problem and she can handle it, but inside she feels it was all blown out of proportion. 

Hildy is an outspoken but friendly sort but she does like her privacy.  Like many small communities, its hard to keep secrets so when Hildy begins to backslide from her sobriety, she is careful to keep it to herself and justifies it with one excuse after another. Hildy's denial of her drinking problem grows and before long she is back to having blackouts and suffering from hangovers on a regular basis until one night the unthinkable happens and she has to face that she may have been the cause.  If only she could remember . . .

My Thoughts:

I purposely left out a lot in my synopsis because I wanted to let Hildy tell her own story. Let me start by saying that Hildy Good is one of my favorite characters of all time. She is really something. Hildy is the one telling this story so it is her insights and perspective that is given to the reader. At first, I have to admit, I thought she came across a bit haughty and snobbish, but quickly changed my view. It's just her way. She is very opinionated, sometimes prickly but certainly not a bad person. She is deeply flawed however, and in such denial it is rather scary. I saw her gradual slide down that slippery slope and felt that helpless feeling but she is so convincing in her justifications that I wanted to believe her when she repeatedly said she had it under control.. There's no mistaking that Hildy is the star of this story but the supporting characters and sub plot added another element and were authentic and very believable.

But just know, THE GOOD HOUSE is not just a novel about an alcoholic, it is also about an unlikely friendship, an affair, a rekindling of long ago love and bonds. This book has it all and is told in perfect pitch. I chose to listen to the audio version and I am so glad I did. Mary Beth Hurt was the perfect Hildy Good. No one else could've portrayed this character in my opinion. She interpreted all of Hildy's characteristics flawlessly.

I can only imagine that writing a successful novel centered around alcoholism must be a daunting task. The way Ann Leary wrote Hildy's perspective and her continual justification of her drinking can only come from someone who knows alcoholism intimately. I feel she did an outstanding job. Once I got started I didn't want to stop. Hearing Hildy's voice with my own ears was such an authentic experience. I didn't want to leave her when the book was done.

The bottom line is THE GOOD HOUSE is one of my top reads this year and the audio is probably my favorite of all. If you're looking for an audio that you can get sucked into right away with great characters and great story, then you should definitely listen to this latest from Ann Leary. It was a real treat. Just one more comment about this author: Am I the only person on the planet who didn't know Ann Leary is married to Denis Leary, the actor from Rescue Me?  Saw her on an MSNBC program and they mentioned that and I was shocked!

THE GOOD HOUSE (Unabridged Audio Version)
Author:  Ann Leary
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: January 2013
Length: 10 hrs 12 min
Recommend? Absolutely 100% YES!!!

Friday Finds: Denial and Crime Fiction

Friday Finds is a great way to share books you've discovered this week whether it be by cruising the blogs, magazines or a book shop. I discovered my Finds while visiting blogs this week. The books couldn't be any more different from each other but they both stood out to me. Here's what I found:

THE GOOD HOUSE by Ann Leary

I saw this book first on Book Fan's blog where she reviewed the audio version on Tuesday.You can read her review here. One of the other reviews that stood out for me was over at Book Mama's blog. You can read her review here. The reason this book has captured my attention is the main character, Hildy Good, a successful real estate broker battling alcoholism. She really stood out to me because of her realness and the believability of her story. I was so taken by this book's description and by Mary's review of the audio that I used one of my monthly credits at Audible.com and purchased it for myself.

BLOOD MONEY by Doug Richardson

I discovered this author/book while visiting Fiction Books' blog yesterday. I also visited Doug Richardson's website and was surprised to see how many books he's published. I am always looking for new crime fiction reads but many times when I read the synopsis I am turned off by over-complicated and confusing storylines and excessive characters. But in her blog post, Yvonne laid the story out beautifully and also included a bit about the Mr. Richardson's impressive career as a screenwriter. Honestly, I don't know how I've missed this author! I'm very anxious to get my hands on BLOOD MONEY, his new release set to come out in the Spring. This story is centers around a small town sheriffs detective's quest to track down the ex-Marine who shot down and killed his brother. This suspect has left a trail of death from Nevada to Los Angeles and the detective looks for help in the form of an LAPD detective who is not thrilled to have to 'babysit' the small town cop. It sounds thrilling and I am very much looking forward to diving in. One last thing I like about this book is the cover. I think it's a great cover that gives just enough hints to what's inside.

There are more Friday Finds over at Should Be Reading, so stop over there and see what other book lovers have discovered this week.