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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
This book was just so so for me. Didn't love, but didn't hate it. I felt like I wanted MORE
emotional
medium-paced
I had no expectations going into this book and didn't really know much about it except that I wanted to read the book before seeing the screen adaptation and I'm so glad I picked it up. Loved main character Hildy Good, who is a realtor in her small MA town and also an alcoholic. We really get an insider view on her own denial and how she moves around in her life as an alcoholic. She is funny and so very flawed but I really loved her. And wow, the audiobook narration by Mary Beth Hurt was AMAZING. 1000% recommend on audio.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
dark
sad
medium-paced
Real Estate agents can tell a lot about the people that live in the houses as they sell.Hildy has lived in a small New England coastal town all her life and while she keeps track of everyone and everything that’s going on the reader maybe challenged it first there are a lot of characters, some are minor, and some play major roles. Hildy is NOT In recovery even though she that’s a pretty good job of convincing everyone that she has. Except Rebecca, confides her affair with Peter to healthy over there evening glasses of wine. And Frankie the handyman/garbage man she has known all her life. The book is a slow build about the doings in a small New England town. It gets very very confusing at the end and you might have to read it a couple of times clear about what is happening since the narrator is not all that reliable because she is not in recovery
I couldn’t get enough of Hildy! She tells the tales of a small town in New England where all of the residents have their own complicated dramas that are all somehow intertwined with one another. Hildy is the local real estate broker and I loved that point of view woven into her stories. There are some juicy love affairs and family history that goes back for generations but she also touches on some heavier subjects like alcoholism and suicide. I enjoyed all of the characters, especially the crazy ones. This book is just terrific!
I'll admit that I initially downloaded The Good House from Audible because I liked the cover and was semi-desperate for something new/possibly good to listen to, but found out that it is really a worthwhile read. Hildy Good, a 60-year-old realtor and lifelong resident of Wendover, Massachusetts, is a recovering (or not) alcoholic (or not) who narrates her story, along with the changing climate of Wendover and its inhabitants, old and new.
Hildy has recently returned from rehab, explaining to the reader that she is not really an alcoholic, it was simply due to the intervention (or "inquisition") by her mildly annoying and interfering daughters. She befriends wealthy newcomer Rebecca McAllister and they share some interesting secrets that really complicate Hildy's life. Through Hildy's eyes, we meet local psychiatrist Peter Newbold, local garbageman Frankie Getchell, and local electrician Patch Dwight, his wife Cassie, and their special needs child, Jake. Hildy excels at making acerbic, insightful, and very funny observations about her neighbors, but may not be quite as skilled at self-evaluation.
The excellent narration by Mary Beth Hurt (she is Hildy!) makes this one of those books that may be even better in audio than paper. Smart, witty, entertaining, and it made me think, all add up to a really good read.
Hildy has recently returned from rehab, explaining to the reader that she is not really an alcoholic, it was simply due to the intervention (or "inquisition") by her mildly annoying and interfering daughters. She befriends wealthy newcomer Rebecca McAllister and they share some interesting secrets that really complicate Hildy's life. Through Hildy's eyes, we meet local psychiatrist Peter Newbold, local garbageman Frankie Getchell, and local electrician Patch Dwight, his wife Cassie, and their special needs child, Jake. Hildy excels at making acerbic, insightful, and very funny observations about her neighbors, but may not be quite as skilled at self-evaluation.
The excellent narration by Mary Beth Hurt (she is Hildy!) makes this one of those books that may be even better in audio than paper. Smart, witty, entertaining, and it made me think, all add up to a really good read.
I highly recommend the audio version of this book. This was the perfect narrator for this story. She made me love Hildy.
n "The Good House," we meet Hildy, a more-or-less but mostly less recovering alcoholic, successful real estate agent who knows how to "read" people but didn't catch on to the fact that her ex-husband was gay.
Hildy has recently returned from rehab after an "intervention" staged by her daughters. However, it's obvious Hildy hasn't taken it all that seriously. Instead, she becomes a closet drinker, someone who drinks alone and hides her wine in the trunk of an old MG that no longer runs.
She lives in a small town on the North Shore of Boston, an expensive place where locals have been steadily pushed out by wealthy Bostonians looking for a place on or near the water. Hildy traces her roots back to the Puritans when one of her relatives was accused of witchcraft. She is the last independent broker in the area and struggles to stay relevant in the face of large corporate entities such as Sotheby's and Coldwell Banker.
She tries to avoid too many business affairs since they all involve drinking. "Everyone" knows, of course, that she has a drinking problem: everyone that is, except Hildy herself, who, like so many alcoholics before her "knows" that she just needs to keep it under control.
When a new family moves to town, the wife, Rebecca, is in need of a friend. She chooses Hildy. Soon things take a very dark turn..... This book grabbed me from the beginning. It's well written and, while not great literature, tells a good story. For me that's a good thing to do on a cold winter day!
Hildy has recently returned from rehab after an "intervention" staged by her daughters. However, it's obvious Hildy hasn't taken it all that seriously. Instead, she becomes a closet drinker, someone who drinks alone and hides her wine in the trunk of an old MG that no longer runs.
She lives in a small town on the North Shore of Boston, an expensive place where locals have been steadily pushed out by wealthy Bostonians looking for a place on or near the water. Hildy traces her roots back to the Puritans when one of her relatives was accused of witchcraft. She is the last independent broker in the area and struggles to stay relevant in the face of large corporate entities such as Sotheby's and Coldwell Banker.
She tries to avoid too many business affairs since they all involve drinking. "Everyone" knows, of course, that she has a drinking problem: everyone that is, except Hildy herself, who, like so many alcoholics before her "knows" that she just needs to keep it under control.
When a new family moves to town, the wife, Rebecca, is in need of a friend. She chooses Hildy. Soon things take a very dark turn..... This book grabbed me from the beginning. It's well written and, while not great literature, tells a good story. For me that's a good thing to do on a cold winter day!
I really enjoyed Hildy's perspective and seeing her grow throughout the book. I thought she really evolved in her thoughts about her relationship with alcohol. I didn't always like her and I thought her treatment of Frank was abysmal, but she was interesting to get to know.
I was most bothered by the romantic metaphors of Native Americans in her writing.
Hildy is a strong, funny determined character and moments in the story were suspenseful. It did make me really understand what it means to be in denial about alcoholism.
I enjoyed the descriptions of this small New England town.
Hildy is a strong, funny determined character and moments in the story were suspenseful. It did make me really understand what it means to be in denial about alcoholism.
I enjoyed the descriptions of this small New England town.