The House We Grew Up In – Dysfunctional Much?
I picked up The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell based on a recommendation on Twitter. The story starts promisingly enough with the eldest daughter of the Bird family arriving at the family house after her mom dies. Weaving back and forth over a period of 20 – 30 years, the story traces the Bird family as it disintegrates following the suicide of the youngest child on Easter Sunday.
I love books that takes a hard, gritty look at issues beneath the polished veneer. Most of these books also end with hope or redemption. However, Jewell puts together every conceivable dysfunction possible in a family and then ends the book on an all too predictable note. I do not ever recall feeling angry at a protagonist as I did with this book. At over 400 pages, the book could have cut 100 pages and would have been tauter for that.
Not my kind of book. Pick it up if you are in the mood for something that will make your life seem beautiful by comparison.
Book. Review Review Book Review Give it a pass Lisa Jewell The House We Grew Up In
Lakshmi Iyer 
I know what you say. Felt the exact same thing with ‘A Thousand Acres’. Pretty cheap tearjerker!
I felt cheated somewhat after spending 4 hrs reading. 😔
Ugh. This would have annoyed me. Thanks for the heads up.
I kept waiting for redemption or something close to hopeful ending. It ended so predictably that I literally banged my head against my phone!