Customer Reviews

The House on Sandstone

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read other novels by KG MacGregor, and was prepared, I thought, to enjoy this one, just released again by Bella Books. I was surprised and pleased and thoroughly entertained by the skill and depth I found here. There's humor and great subplots and minor characters you want to hang out with and get to know. MacGregor has created a very real little community here.

Justine lives in the house on Sandstone, the kind you build when your husband is a successful attorney who just made partner and your family is growing and you are the director of fundraising for the local hospital. It's the kind of house you don't want to live in alone, after the divorce, after the kids decide they'd rather be at their father's, after you've made the kind of public and humiliating mistakes that take much time and therapy to overcome. It's just a big, empty house.

How do you go about restoring your children's faith in you, your faith in yourself, and building a life based on the new, stronger person you've forged? Maybe you start by promising that no matter what happens, you'll never make the same mistakes in the future, never risk losing your children's love by pursuing your own interests before theirs.

Carly travels all over the world, and returns to her home town between assignments to visit her parents and rest before flying off to another remote location for her company. She's done this for twenty years, and it has grown tiresome, but there is nothing for her in her small home town except bad memories.

This novel is full of wonderful surprises. I dare anyone to read the first chapter without laughing. Then I dare you to continue reading.

There has never been a more hilarious first date than the one Carly and Justine have, both wondering if old hurts can be forgiven, old attraction rekindled.

Anyone's who's ever been divorced, who has teenaged kids, who has longed to return to the old hometown but is afraid it will be stifling, anyone who has fantasized about that first crush and wondered, who has both dreaded but also wanted to attend a high school reunion just to show off, anyone who has watched their parents age, made mistakes in front of everyone they know, anyone who reads this novel will identify, laugh, sniffle, and feel really good when they finish it.

The house on Sandstone gradually fills up with people and love and laughter, tearful confrontations and angry ones, and all the little moments, quiet, gradual, inevitable, that change outlook and direction and reveal options that once were out of reach.

Sometimes, you can go home again.

I think many people will be able to relate to this story, in some way or another. Both main characters, Carly and Justine, come from a small town - which can be both suffocating and unforgiving, especially when it comes to gays and lesbians. Justine has lived in this same town since high school, while Carly has been out traveling the world in a successful consulting job. When Carly returns to spend time with her parents, she runs into Justine and recalls their friendship from high school. Carly remembers the deep crush she had on Justine, but these memories are tempered by Justine's painful high school rejection of her. The friendship is renewed, after all those years, and develops into something more intense (and when I say "intense," I mean it - KG can write these scenes like no other, full of humor and emotion). During their reacquaintance, the two women confront a number of characters and attitudes.

I read this book when I was "coming out." Having grown up in a small town myself, I could really relate to the characters in this book - the people who "always knew and were just waiting for you to admit it," the people who "never even imagined and think it's just an abomination," and most importantly, the people whom you know "are" but are too smothered by their lives to take a chance and allow themselves to be happy. KG MacGregor deals with all of these attitudes and opinions in The House on Sandstone in an almost subtle manner - without making you feel like you should be taking notes or learning from the experience (but you will). Many parts of this book made me laugh and many parts made me cry, seeing myself and my own hometown in the text. More than anything, though, The House on Sandstone helped give me a lot of courage, because I could see my family members in some of the characters and it gave me hope that the rollercoaster of "coming out" could have a good ending.

The smalltown depiction in this book demonstrates that "we're better off for all that we let in." This book will certainly touch you, if you've ever been through something similar. If you haven't, it will definitely make you consider a different perspective. The House on Sandstone is one I will re-read and keep in a treasured place.

After travelling overseas to one country after another for her job, Carly Griffin visits her hometown of Leland, Kentucky, for eight weeks. She loves her job and never plans to actually move back home. One evening after dinner, she takes a walk and sees her high school chemistry lab partner, Justine, from a distance. Thinking about their passionate school-girl kisses stirs long-buried feelings in Carly. She longs for that part of her past -- remembering both the tenderness of their friendship with fondness, and the feelings of betrayal she felt when Jessica rejected her because of the attitudes of a small town with melancholy.

After high school, Jessica married and had two children. However, after many years, she was caught by several townfolk kissing and fondling a local doctor's wife in a kitchen during a party. Following the subsequent divorce, Jessica had a nervous breakdown and almost lost her children.Carly's fear of a second rejection and Jessica's fear of losing her children and scandalizing the town take them down a very rocky road.

Will Carly give up her job and dreams of a better life to stay in Leland with Jessica? Will Jessica be able to get past the opinions of others to follow her heart? Will Jessica's children forsake her?

It's a romance, so you expect them to get together in the end. However, it isn't until the last few chapters that the author reveals the actual outcome. Like most books from MacGregor, this one is extremely well written and edited. (She's one of my favorite authors and so I'm biased, but it's still a great book.) The plot never got boring and kept this reader guessing what would happen next. Highly recommended, this is one book I'll keep on my shelf for many years to come.

I really like KG MacGregor's style. I like her way with words, and her thoughtful way with characterizations. She really takes the time to delve into the motivations, events, settings and decisions that form the lives of her creations, and it makes for a rich and rewarding reading experience. I thought perhaps 3-1/2 stars. I save 4 stars for books that I'll read repeatedly, and while this one was excellent, I don't know that it was light enough for me to revisit...I'm fragile emotionally. But the other reviews here are so glowing, and I can't really dispute the strong points they bring up, so I'll bump it up to 4.

This novel is a little different for me than many of her others. The characters are a bit older (early to mid forties) than we typically get, though they have a history that stretches back to high school. As a consequence they also have a fair bit of baggage. But I love the way their lives are introduced as integrated with families, Carly with her parents and cousin, and Justine with her ex, their children, and her ex's wife. KG does a excellent job at making her characters real and human, three-dimensional with concerns and stimuli outside of the central romantic relationship that keeps drawing us along.

It's important to me that despite their baggage and faults, each major character is also given ample redeeming value. It makes it easy to follow along, hoping they can finally find happiness. But overall, this was not a book heavy on the light romantic escapism. It deals with its issues deftly, but there were a lot of heavy concerns dealing with things such as with small town life, living life for yourself versus others, forgiving others for past history, where the line is between making decisions as a parent that affect your happiness versus that of your children, dealing with past emotional breakdowns and disappointments, guilt. And sometimes both of the characters were so nice and self-sacrificing that sometimes I found myself wishing they'd be more assertive, particularly Carly when dealing with her day job.

But I guess ultimately that was all part of the journey. When the chips are down everyone does the best they can, even to the point of standing up for their own happiness over the concerns of others. Reading this book makes you examine similar experiences in your own life, and that can be powerful. I really enjoyed the journey, but it wasn't always comfortable escapism, like I said. Still, this book is definitely above average, and everything really works out well in the end, though that wasn't always a foregone conclusion while reading...again, part of its unique charm. A departure from blissful escapism, but a very worthy read.

Terrific novel filled with wonderful fully fleshed characters. More than a romance and more than a drama of small town life. I've read the novel twice now and loved it even more on the second reading. The story is filled with many laugh out loud moments. The characters are so well drawn you start to think of them as people you might know. This book is a keeper.

I absolutely love KG MacGregor's writing style and her talent for telling a great love story. The House on Sandstone is a wonderful book and a very easy read. This book is about two women who had chemistry between them in high school but, the simple minds of a small midwestern community would not except their kind of love. Fast forward 25 years later and see how the lives of Carly and Justine have changed. Can they finally be happy together or will Justine's insecurities and guilt keep her from true happiness? Can she risk everything that she holds dear to find out what she has been missing since Carly left town after high school? MacGregor weaves a beautiful tale of two very strong women who are trying to overcome the many obstacles that come from loving differently in a small minded Midwestern community. Coming from the Midwest myself, the story is very believable and real. The characters are very charming and you will fall in love with them. I especially loved the characters Emmy(Justine's daughter) and Carly's parents. They were all so supportive and cared a lot about the two women. All of the characters are very well writen. The book has a nice flow to it and you will not want to put it down until you are finished! KG has created another wonderful love story that has a lot of heart and soul! The House on Sandstone will stay in my collection to read again and again! I highly recommend this book and this author, you will not be disappointed in either of them!

This is another wonderful, insightful and thoughtprovoking book by KG MacGregor. I esp. loved the characters and how KG makes them totally real. Very well done! Small town living is rediscovered.

Macgregor is an excellent author who not only brings the characters to life but also etches her intended backdrop deeply in the reader's mind.

Drama and small-town life are the backdrop for this love of two women that spanned more than 25 years and survived through marriage and other problems.