The Good House (by Ann Leary)
I love discovering new-to-me authors and that’s exactly what happened when I decided to read The Good House by Ann Leary. This book has been patiently waiting in my Libby app wishlist for so long I can’t remember how it got on my radar. Sometimes the amount of books waiting to be read on my bookshelves and devices can be overwhelming. In this instance, I let the universe decide my next audiobook by picking a random number, and the universe was extremely gracious to me with this book!
The Good House is set in a small community outside of Boston. Hildy Good is a well-respected, successful real estate agent who knows everyone and what’s happening in town. She’s divorced with two adult daughters, and one grandson. Her daughters organized an intervention because they perceived Hildy as drinking too much. We meet Hildy upon her return from rehab.
Hildy maintains a busy schedule with her business, babysitting her grandson weekly, and spending time with her two dogs. For the most part, her evenings are a bit lonely and being completely abstinent from alcohol isn’t that interesting for Hildy. She sells a house to a couple new to the area and becomes friends with the young wife, Rebecca. The two ladies begin spending time together sharing secrets and a little wine.
Commonly, addiction is progressive, and Hildy’s alcohol use isn’t the only thing in this community that escalates out of control. Many members of this community become apart of the story with their secrets and life struggles.
I was hooked on this story from the very beginning! Ann Leary’s writing is engaging and fascinating. She made me fall in love with her cast of characters, despite their flaws. The description of this book includes the phrase, “darkly comic,” which is perfectly accurate. There is a lot of humor in this story, along with some very seriously frightening, painful moments. As much as I didn’t want the story to end, the conclusion was beautiful.
As I previously mentioned, I borrowed the audiobook from my local library with the Libby app. The story is told from the perspective of Hildy Good and narration by actress Mary Beth Hurt was absolutely perfect!
The Good House has been made into a movie staring Sigourney Weaver as Hildy Good and Kevin Kline as Frank Getchell, Hildy’s love interest. I’ve included the trailer below for your convenience. The movie looks fantastic! (I’m off to watch it now! 😁) And the story line appears to follow the book quite closely, so it gives you an idea of the treat you are in for when you read the book.
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