Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 2013 (print book: St. Martin's Press, 2013)
Pages: 8 discs (print book: 304)
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: Ann Leary's The Good House tells the story of Hildy Good, who lives in a small town on Boston's North Shore. Hildy is a successful real-estate broker, good neighbor, mother, and grandmother. She's also a raging alcoholic. Hildy's family held an intervention for her about a year before this story takes place—"if they invite you over for dinner, and it's not a major holiday," she advises "run for your life"—and now she feels lonely and unjustly persecuted. She has also fooled herself into thinking that moderation is the key to her drinking problem.
As if battling her demons wasn't enough to keep her busy, Hildy soon finds herself embroiled in the underbelly of her New England town, a craggy little place that harbors secrets. There's a scandal, some mysticism, babies, old houses, drinking, and desire—and a love story between two craggy sixty-somethings that's as real and sexy as you get. An exceptional novel that is at turns hilarious and sobering, The Good House asks the question: What will it take to keep Hildy Good from drinking? For good.
Review: My coworker came in one day all excited about this book, and told me not only did I have to read it, she highly (strongly) recommended the audio version. She said the narrator was excellent, and now, having listened to this, I wholeheartedly agree. The novel is well-written, and it's quite an entertaining (and at times, sobering) story, but Mary Beth Hurt (the narrator) takes it to a whole new level.
Even though all of my books come from the library, this one doesn't seem to fit any of the other criteria on my 2016 Reading Challenge. I'm counting it toward that one.
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