Customer Reviews

Guest House

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have just finished GUEST HOUSE and I loved it. I rarely want to sit down and read a book all over again but that is just what I'm doing with this one. Barbara Richardson's novel has the richness of style of a Michael Chabon, the poetic prose of Janet Fitch, the sparse opulence of Annie Proulx, and the humor of Fannie Flag, yet it is her own original voice. I admit that when I first started reading I thought there were too many Point-of-view characters, and not enough of Melba Burns as a clear-cut protagonist but as I read on and got into the rhythm of it I found myself liking the different points of view. I loved the fast-paced, wham-bam hurling language and the toughness of it all. The characters were brave and angry in a world that offered them little. This is a novel deserving of awards and a great book to discuss in a book club. I can't wait to read more from this new and talented writer.

I know that this book affected me in a "down to my bones" way. Melba is a lady I think about a lot and wonder how she's doing and how she does it. I want to live in her house and dig in her garden and sit on the porch and have a glass of wine with Gene. Barbara is a beautiful writer no doubt, but for me sometimes her story would come across a little too vague, Melba would be just a little too passive, and then bam! the writing would become perfectly descriptive and down and dirty, real life stuff. I would find myself thinking - yeah, that's right, that's how it is and I've never seen that written down before, how did she know!
The story engaged and suprised me all along the way.
Barbara is a gifted and seasoned writer, I would like reading about anything she writes, because she can sure tell a story.

Not long ago I obtained a pre-publication copy of Guest House. I made the wonderful mistake of reading it late one night as I stood in the kitchen, scotch in hand, waiting for the noise of the day's events to be overwhelmed by the desire for sleep. An hour later I was still standing, marking in the margins those places that astonished me.

The characters in Guest House come to life as they careen through the hit-and-run chaos of a wildly dysfunctional family. Richardson, who has an eye for the quirky grace that shows up in the unlikeliest of places, brings such a generous and unflinching gaze to her world that I felt not just invited, but compelled to follow. In the end, her generosity rubs off; I cared deeply about her characters, and not just the innocent ones.

Guest House is a banquet: tragic and funny, wry and sexy, dark and triumphant. Like the main character, Melba, who wants "to sink into the bones of things," I found myself looking at my own world in a different way, newly reminded that love is found in the glorious imperfection of things.

A series of events triggers a metamorphosis of untold dimensions when Melba Burns witnesses the hit-and-run death of a cyclist. With the tragedy unfolding before her, she then sets in motion a whole parade of circumstances, beginning with her refusal to drive any longer. She also quits her job and holes up in her old farmhouse. Her uneasy peace is then disrupted by a new roommate, JoLee Garry, who introduces an odd assortment of "guests" into Melba's home.

Before too much time passes, her life is thoroughly shaken up.

We meet these characters one by one, from JoLee to her son Matt and then to his father Gene. JoLee also begins a romance with a man named Bill, and her own games ensue. Manipulation is only the first of these.

I enjoyed getting to know each of these characters and imagining how tranquil Melba's house would have been without them. It isn't easy inviting strangers into one's own home. In fact some might say she has taken leave of her senses. One could speculate that Melba's own identity has been shaken to the core, which leaves her vulnerable to the intruders. But one guest in particular adds something special and unique to her life--JoLee's son Matt. Caring for and nurturing Matt, when his parents fail at this task, somehow creates a layer of strength and richness to her life.

In the end, we can root for how her presence in this boy's life has also enriched his.

Guest House is one of those tales that resonates and lingers in the reader's memory for a very long time. The story reminds us that we are all connected in one way or another, by circumstances or fate. How we react to the events shaped by destiny tells us more about ourselves than almost anything else. The twist of fate can reveal much about our own strengths and weaknesses.

Five stars.

Guest House is a beautifully written debut novel by Barbara K. Richardson. The title is taken from Rumi: "This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival..." I'll admit that I approached Guest House with a wee bit of trepidation. I thought I would enjoy it from the description, but I was nervous it would be too chick-lit for me. Those worries were soon negated. You know what? Guest House is a really good book. This is the story of a woman redefining her life, a dysfunctional family disintegrating, and what happens when their lives converge. Richardson's characters are realistic, flawed, and struggling in some way. I swear I know a few of these characters. Each character clearly has an individual voice and point of view. I sympathized with Melba and wanted her to get her confidence back. My heart broke for Matt. I wanted to slap JoLee. Gene needed a good talking too. In the end I appreciated the message about love. The best recommendation could be that I stayed up late to finish reading it since I knew I could not sleep until I knew the outcome. Richardson is an author to watch. I expect big things from her in the future. Guest House is Highly Recommended.

Guest House. The title says it all. Every character in the story is a guest in Melba's house - directly or indirectly. The boxy old farmhouse with the twelve-pane door is the central character, silently observing the ebb and flow of life around it. Rarely have I read a book where I can, in some way, relate to all of the characters. We all know, have been or are one of the people of "Guest House". Ms. Richardson weaves a tale with rich characters, engaging story lines and elegant writing punctuated with prose that is a bit like getting hit in the face with a cold fish. In a good way. It makes the book hard to resist. We can all hope she will tempt us with more.

Finally, the cover photo is perfect. It's Matt's tree. It's Melba's House. It's Guest House.

Barbara Richardson's "Guest House" proves to be a brilliant work of fiction. Like other great books, it starts slowly, quietly adding layer upon layer of character and action until the whole thing gets rolling and thunders on to a dramatic and surprising conclusion. This book reminds me of Keri Hulme's extraordinary "Bone People," which won of the world's great literary prizes, the Booker, some twenty-five years ago. But Richardson's prose is more graceful than Hulme's, and her characters seem even more alive. I picked up "Guest House" expecting to read it slowly, a few pages here, a few pages there, over the course of a week or two. That's how I started. Yet soon I was caught up the juggernaut of events and character evolution, and I read and read and read until it was the middle of the night and the book was done. Bravo! Bravo! This story and its characters will stick with me a long, long time.

This book was very well written, with some funny lines in it. It kept my attention the whole way through. If you are looking for a good read on a cold night by the fire this is the book for you.

I enjoyed meeting the unusual but realistic and contemporary characters at the Guest House. Barbara Richardson's lively and challenging plot kept my interest from cover to cover in one weekend. I thought my 86-year-old, native Idahoan, retired-English-teacher mother Naida would also appreciate the story, the people, and the vivid descriptions of familiar Idaho landscapes and vegetation. Naida loved it and commented "How the hell does she know so much?"

Definitely a book to read again. The writing is lyrical, with jolts of pizzazz, just as this story jolts Melba and Matt into new paths and discoveries. A work of the heart. I was happy at the end to leave JoLee and her ex behind, but wanting a sequel, so I could follow Melba and Matt a little farther into their new lives.