House Rules [Hardcover]

Heather Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

In an odyssey through a world of drugs and sexual violence, Lee joins the horse-show circuit, has a lesbian affair with a fellow rider, hooks up with a disreputable team of trainers, and confronts the disturbing realities of her world. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The narrator of Lewis's impressive first novel is 15-year-old Lee, whose story is both a fascinating and repelling look at the dark side of show-horse riding. Lee is kicked out of school for possessing marijuana, a minor offense compared with her other habits: pill-popping, heavy drinking and anonymous sex with men her father's age. Returning home is no option, since her father sexually abuses her, with her mother's connivance. So Lee runs away to Florida, where she finds work riding in horse shows. But she seems compelled to seek out destructive sexual relationships, first with a female rider, Tory, and then with Tory's former lover, Linda, a veterinarian who dopes up both horses and their riders. When Lee starts riding for Linda and Tory's boss, a sadistic voyeur who manages a stable, her descent into a hell of drugs and violent sex accelerates (she becomes addicted to heroin and describes Linda going at her until "she'd torn me up inside"). The immorality and cruelty of this sordid world, as well as the repetitious drug and sex scenes, may numb readers. Moreover, Lewis is so adept at creating the voice and thoughts of a 15-year-old that Lee's lack of understanding and unwillingness to see the truth about her self-destructiveness becomes exasperating. Even so, this powerful portrayal of the steamy underside of a seemingly respectable world is hard to put down, particularly the compelling passages capturing Lee's thoughts while riding. Be warned, howerver: the story horrifies even as it absorbs.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This novel offers a stark, shocking view of a world of sex, drugs, and violence as seen through the eyes of an insecure but streetwise 15-year-old. Lee is kicked out of boarding school for doing drugs. She's unable to go home because of her father's increasingly jealous and violent sexual abuse. So she heads for the horse show circuit and the trainer who sheltered her during her years of riding. Soon, a crush on top rider Tory Markham lures Lee into joining "The Ruskers," who succeed in part through Linda Rusker's adroit drug management of both horses and riders. Tory and Lee are soon addicted to heroin. Only jumping her horses gives Lee a greater rush than drugs or sadistic sex, until an accident interrupts the cycle. This is a strong and graphic first novel, skillfully constructed and relentless in exposing Lee's pain and her world. For popular fiction collections.
- Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L. , Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 321 pages
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese; 1st edition (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385472102
• ISBN-13: 978-0385472104
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,641,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing and painful story of the desire to belong, January 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: House Rules (High Risk Books) (Paperback)

This was an extremely disturbing and absorbing book. Some scenes were so well written that they seemed to scream out to you from the pages. The main character, a fifteen year old girl trying to escape from an abusive father, is both innocent and cynical. She'll do anything to belong SOMEWHERE, even if it means allowing others to abuse her. She knows what her life is, but is addicted not only to the drugs provided by her "friends" but also to belonging to the group and having a purpose beyond being her father's sex toy. For many victims of past abuse, this may be a story too realistic to read with any level of comfort, but it is an important work and one that draws you in until you are totally immersed in it's story. I guarantee it will keep you thinking long after you've turned the final page.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Absorbing, January 24, 2003

By 

"skgwolfrum" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House Rules (Hardcover)

This novel was recommended to me by a friend who swore I would not be sorry if I read it. I was not sorry. I read this novel during a time in my life when I needed a new outlook and I got it. Even if the only thing that one is able to take away from the novel is to feel like your life is not as bad as Lee's then the book is a success. Heather Lewis writes in a way that no other author writes. The book is almost completely devoid of descriptions of color and scenery. Everything is seen through the eyes of a drug addicted fifteen year-old, it is a terrifying experience. I am an avid reader and I don't think I have ever been in the head of a character quite like I was in Lee's head. You know what she is thinking before she thinks it, you know what she will do before she does it.

If you ever wanted to see the dark side of humanity this is it. I have not been so horrified since John Updike's Rabbit Run or Train Spotting. I would read it again, but I am still too traumatized. If you want a taste of the wild side of life without risking arrest, this is the one.

Heather Lewis also wrote one other novel, The Second Suspect. I have heard rumors that the author is no longer with us, so it looks like these are the only works we will have.

Simply amazing.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smut, Violence & non-consensuality, April 19, 2005

By 

J. A. Mcmillan "Ultra" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: House Rules (High Risk Books) (Paperback)

This is possibly the best first book I have ever read from any author. It's gritty, real, and smacks of first hand experience. Yes, it's disturbing, yes it stays with you for a long time, but to be honest, I read books to transport somewhere outside of my own experience, and this did it, so effectively. I am sad she is not able to write more.

Be prepared to be disturbed...