Family, that slippery word, a star to every wandering bark, and everyone sailing under a different sky. After his mother's death, Richard, a newly remarried hospital consultant, decides to build bridges with his estranged sister, inviting Angela and her family for a week in a rented house on the Welsh border. Four adults and four children, a single family and all of them strangers. Seven days of shared meals, log fires, card games and wet walks. But in the quiet and stillness of the valley, ghosts begin to rise up. The parents Richard thought he had. The parents Angela thought she had. Past and present lovers. Friends, enemies, victims, saviours. And watching over all of them from high on the dark hill, Karen, Angela's stillborn daughter. "The Red House" is about the extraordinariness of the ordinary, weaving the words and thoughts of the eight characters together with those fainter, stranger voices - of books and letters and music, of the dead who once inhabited these rooms, of the ageing house itself and the landscape in which it sits. Once again Mark Haddon, bestselling author of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" and "A Spot of Bother" has written a novel that is funny, poignant and deeply insightful about human lives.
The Red House: A Novel
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Every bit as charmingly idiosyncratic as his brilliant The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" -- Henry Sutton Daily Mirror "A hugely enjoyable, sympathetic novel...a tremendous pleasure...we have been absorbed, entertained and moved" -- Kate Kellaway Observer "Mark Haddon is terrifyingly talented... The Red House is thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable entertainment" -- Angus Clarke The Times "Shockingly well-observed, gut-wrenchingly familiar and even heartbreaking at times" Stylist "A masterly evocation of two dysfunctional, yet outwardly respectable families" -- Jane Clinton Sunday Express
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Mark Haddon is an author, illustrator and screenwriter who has written fifteen books for children and won two BAFTAs. His bestselling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time was published simultaneously by Jonathan Cape and David Fickling in 2003. It won seventeen literary prizes, including the Whitbread Award. His poetry collection, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea was published by Picador in 2005, and his last novel, A Spot of Bother, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2006. Mark Haddon lives in Oxford.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 84 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
In "The Red House," by Mark Haddon, forty-seven year old Angela is disconsolate after burying her mother, who had been ailing for quite a while. "Her [mother's] death should have been a relief," but strangely, it hurt more than she expected. Partly to get away from it all, Angela decides to accept an unexpected invitation from Richard, her estranged brother. Along with her husband, Dominic, and their three children, seventeen-year-old Alex, sixteen-year-old Daisy, and eight-year-old Benjy, Angela will spend a week near "the fine sandy beaches of Herefordshire" with Richard, his second wife, Louisa, and Louisa's surly sixteen-year-old, Melissa.
This makes for an uncomfortable mix, to say the least. These eight individuals all have secrets, longings, and resentments. Haddon gives each person a voice, revealing his or her regrets, fears, and desires. Benjy is a nervous child with a vivid imagination; Daisy has become ostentatiously religious; Alex is athletic--all hormones and machismo; Melissa is sharp-edged and sarcastic; and forty-four year old Louisa is vulnerable and sensitive. Richard, although prosperous, has professional and personal issues of his own, and Dominic is very much aware that he has been a poor breadwinner and his marriage is faltering. Angela is in the worst shape of all. She still mourns the loss of her stillborn baby eighteen years earlier, eats for comfort, and worries that she will eventually become demented like her mother.
This does not sound too cheery, does it? In fact, "The Red House" is a dour exploration of family dysfunction in which Haddon interweaves figurative language and symbolism with his characters' inner thoughts and dialogue. Some of the writing is pretentious, if not downright bizarre. For example, the author refers to Richard's hair: "That was where the evil was located, this luxuriant black crest, like the tusks of a bull walrus...." Huh? There are too many riffs that make little sense and will leave readers scratching their heads in bewilderment.
On the other hand, those who are suckers for family angst (as I am) will want to stick around to see if togetherness in the English countryside will lead to startling revelations and ultimately, healing. Or perhaps there can there be "no distraction from the dirty messed-up workings of the heart." Will the vacation lead to anguish and discord or solace and harmony? Haddon knows that family get-togethers can be a take-no-prisoners battleground. He effectively demonstrates how defenseless we feel when our loved ones attack us where it hurts the most. However, the author might have leavened his story with much-needed humor and avoided the artifice that makes this book seem longer than it actually is.
This makes for an uncomfortable mix, to say the least. These eight individuals all have secrets, longings, and resentments. Haddon gives each person a voice, revealing his or her regrets, fears, and desires. Benjy is a nervous child with a vivid imagination; Daisy has become ostentatiously religious; Alex is athletic--all hormones and machismo; Melissa is sharp-edged and sarcastic; and forty-four year old Louisa is vulnerable and sensitive. Richard, although prosperous, has professional and personal issues of his own, and Dominic is very much aware that he has been a poor breadwinner and his marriage is faltering. Angela is in the worst shape of all. She still mourns the loss of her stillborn baby eighteen years earlier, eats for comfort, and worries that she will eventually become demented like her mother.
This does not sound too cheery, does it? In fact, "The Red House" is a dour exploration of family dysfunction in which Haddon interweaves figurative language and symbolism with his characters' inner thoughts and dialogue. Some of the writing is pretentious, if not downright bizarre. For example, the author refers to Richard's hair: "That was where the evil was located, this luxuriant black crest, like the tusks of a bull walrus...." Huh? There are too many riffs that make little sense and will leave readers scratching their heads in bewilderment.
On the other hand, those who are suckers for family angst (as I am) will want to stick around to see if togetherness in the English countryside will lead to startling revelations and ultimately, healing. Or perhaps there can there be "no distraction from the dirty messed-up workings of the heart." Will the vacation lead to anguish and discord or solace and harmony? Haddon knows that family get-togethers can be a take-no-prisoners battleground. He effectively demonstrates how defenseless we feel when our loved ones attack us where it hurts the most. However, the author might have leavened his story with much-needed humor and avoided the artifice that makes this book seem longer than it actually is.
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Family - `that slippery word, a star to every wandering bark, and everyone sailing under a different sky'
May 13, 2012
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
The Red House is a closely observed domestic drama that gives the impression of being a random slice-of-life, but in which every character is coming to terms with something or experiencing a revelation. The action is subtle and often interior, and what really counts is not what happens so much as the sharp observations of how people behave and feel, and the gap between the two.
Some readers may be put off by the style in which Haddon relates this complexly dysfunctional family drama. The novel opens impressionistically, introducing eight people speeding towards the same spot by train and car. Images rush past windows, glimpsed and gone. The destination is a self-catering holiday cottage near Hay-on-Wye, where there will be "Scrabble, a tatty box in some drawer, a pack of fifty-one playing cards, a pamphlet from a goat farm". And, of course, rain. The week's holiday has been arranged by wealthy, middle-aged Richard, attempting to reconcile with his long-estranged sister Angela in the wake of their mother's death. As adult children of emotionally damaged parents, their shared past has left them with different impressions and sympathies, as well as a raft of baggage which has impacted on their own families. Richard is married to second wife Louisa, a pretty fortysomething from a few rungs down the social ladder; Angela's spouse is Dominic. Jaded, beset by financial worries, their marriage has declined into a state of loveless habit. They bring along 17-year-old Alex, aching with testosterone, 16-year-old Daisy, who has recently found God, and eight-year-old Benjy, a fearful child struggling with the first pangs of existential angst. Richard and Louisa are accompanied by Louisa's teenage daughter Melissa, minx and bully, a little madam diligently hardening her carapace in preparation for life.
This tale of the interactions of eight people who hardly know each other achieves a remarkable mélange of streams of consciousness, snatches of books, music, TV, private thoughts, lists, letters, all intertwined with sharply observed vignettes of everyday banality, soaring flights of description and odd bursts of heavy-handed portentousness. Death has been in the background of Haddon's work from the start, but it makes its presence felt a little more with each book. The Red House is his darkest work yet, but it's not cynical. There are no grand epiphanies. Life just goes on in its usual ramshackle way, generously offering up new mornings. By the time they're packing up to leave at the end of the week, has anything really changed? Superficially very little. We are left dangling, but in a strangely satisfying way. Haddon is a brilliantly gifted writer - he simply demands that the reader remain fully alert throughout reading this book to appreciate all the intricacies of his at times bizarre manner of telling a story. The work is amply rewarded. Grady Harp, May 12
Some readers may be put off by the style in which Haddon relates this complexly dysfunctional family drama. The novel opens impressionistically, introducing eight people speeding towards the same spot by train and car. Images rush past windows, glimpsed and gone. The destination is a self-catering holiday cottage near Hay-on-Wye, where there will be "Scrabble, a tatty box in some drawer, a pack of fifty-one playing cards, a pamphlet from a goat farm". And, of course, rain. The week's holiday has been arranged by wealthy, middle-aged Richard, attempting to reconcile with his long-estranged sister Angela in the wake of their mother's death. As adult children of emotionally damaged parents, their shared past has left them with different impressions and sympathies, as well as a raft of baggage which has impacted on their own families. Richard is married to second wife Louisa, a pretty fortysomething from a few rungs down the social ladder; Angela's spouse is Dominic. Jaded, beset by financial worries, their marriage has declined into a state of loveless habit. They bring along 17-year-old Alex, aching with testosterone, 16-year-old Daisy, who has recently found God, and eight-year-old Benjy, a fearful child struggling with the first pangs of existential angst. Richard and Louisa are accompanied by Louisa's teenage daughter Melissa, minx and bully, a little madam diligently hardening her carapace in preparation for life.
This tale of the interactions of eight people who hardly know each other achieves a remarkable mélange of streams of consciousness, snatches of books, music, TV, private thoughts, lists, letters, all intertwined with sharply observed vignettes of everyday banality, soaring flights of description and odd bursts of heavy-handed portentousness. Death has been in the background of Haddon's work from the start, but it makes its presence felt a little more with each book. The Red House is his darkest work yet, but it's not cynical. There are no grand epiphanies. Life just goes on in its usual ramshackle way, generously offering up new mornings. By the time they're packing up to leave at the end of the week, has anything really changed? Superficially very little. We are left dangling, but in a strangely satisfying way. Haddon is a brilliantly gifted writer - he simply demands that the reader remain fully alert throughout reading this book to appreciate all the intricacies of his at times bizarre manner of telling a story. The work is amply rewarded. Grady Harp, May 12
49 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I loved 'The Curious Incident of the Dog', so I looked forward to reading 'The Red House'. Disappointment quickly ensued when I read this disjointed and irritating novel. It's the story of a dysfunctional family in England. Richard, a successful physician and recently re-married to Louisa, invites his estranged sister Angela and her family on a vacation to the English countryside. In addition to the adults there are four children, three belonging to Angela and her husband Dominic and one belonging to Louisa from a previous marriage. The adults are bitter, the children are moody and sullen. Is there anything new here? No.
The book jacket touts this as a 'dazzlingly inventive novel'. It's called inventive because what story there is is told in a series of epidsodic paragraphs. Each paragraph tells us what a character might be thinking, or the lyrics of a song they are listening to, or lines in a book they are reading. The result is a disjointed mess. Most often it is difficult to determine who is speaking, thinking or reading. This quickly degenerates into an irritating exercise for the reader and this reader quickly lost interest in the story Haddon is trying to tell.
The book jacket touts this as a 'dazzlingly inventive novel'. It's called inventive because what story there is is told in a series of epidsodic paragraphs. Each paragraph tells us what a character might be thinking, or the lyrics of a song they are listening to, or lines in a book they are reading. The result is a disjointed mess. Most often it is difficult to determine who is speaking, thinking or reading. This quickly degenerates into an irritating exercise for the reader and this reader quickly lost interest in the story Haddon is trying to tell.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible
So boring and predictable. The only suspense comes from trying to sort out all the characters, none of whom are remotely real or likable. Read more
Published 7 hours ago by Staypuff
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book about dysfunctional family
These characters are really interesting and the author cares for them even with all their faults. Sometimes you laugh at them and sometimes you cry for them. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Cuzin Steve
2.0 out of 5 stars
Our book club read this together
We liked the format of the novel. It was interesting to see each day of the combined family vacation unfold. Read more
Published 28 days ago by karen klacsmann
3.0 out of 5 stars
not so great
a little too slow but I will try to finish and hope it has a good ending and ties it all together
Published 1 month ago by Eileen Bardsley
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not good
I really enjoyed the author's first two novels, but just could not get into this one at all. "The Red House" is a disjointed mess, hard to follow with very little dialogue. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Melissa Niksic
2.0 out of 5 stars
Confusing as to time, characters and place
Might be a good read into the mind of an autistic person, otherwise I lacked the patience to figure it out.
Published 1 month ago by Leona Mitcheltree
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hated it
I could not get into this book. I could not keep the characters straight and there seemed to be no plot at all. I could not finish it.
Published 1 month ago by Helen H Halpin
2.0 out of 5 stars
review of "The Red House"
I was very disappointed in this novel, after having enjoyed Haddon's first two novels. It was too descriptive, with very little dialogue, and it jumped around from one person to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Marilyn Moffatt
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring!
Our entire book club found this book to be slow and uninteresting. Most of us put it down at some point with no intention of finishing it, as it seemed to contain no really... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nancy McGuire
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Red book is for those who like to be confused by the writer
Charters were too many and too confusing. It was not possible to keep each charter clear. Not he kind of book for a sleepy mind.
Published 2 months ago by William Middleton
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