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This book contains a series of connected short stories all centred around a house in Massachusetts. In the first story we meet the builder of the house who goes off to sea with his sons who are killed when they all drown. A blackbird, the son's pet returns to the house and blackbirds continue to be symbolic throughout the book of the history of the house and the tragedy that befell its first owners. The house is also home to a ravaging amount of fruit trees and as it becomes weathered and less lived in over the years, the book follows the inhabitants and the various things they do to the house which turn up later in the book under the gaze of a different person.
Hoffman definitely had a gift with prose and this is probably the best book I have read by her. Partially because without over-exposing its many character, themes and symbols of the house are kept alive throughout the book. The way all the stories which could also be read separately, are connected is ingenius and the house becomes a magical place with a vivid history. The reader can picture the different things which happen to the house over the years and it is this, in my opinion that makes the book such a gift to its readers. I read it extremely quickly.
Widely speaking the book shows how every place has a history and how the 'spirit' of previous inhabitants can remain and can shape a livelihood. The house remains msotly neglected throughout the book and all the characters are confronted with a sense of loneliness, sadness and acceptance of their lot.
I would highly recommend this book.
I read a book by this author a couple of years ago while house-sitting called Blue Diary. I'd been told her work was a bit like that of Jodi Picoult. While they both examine contemporary issues and both write fiction, the similarities seem to end there.
This book tells the story of two women, one who reads people's fortunes through tea leaves and one who seeks her aid one day. Lila (the fortune teller) has a past she has hidden from her husband and most others that know her that comes spilling out after she meets Rae, a young girl who's useless boyfriend has left her pregnant and almost penniless. Although Lila seeks to repel Rae no doubt because of her own memories surfacing, Rae keeps coming back.
There were a number of interesting components to this book, one being the art of fortune telling. When Lila begins to see things in the leaves she doesn't want to see her profession becomes a problem. Like the backyard of her and her husband's house, nothing will grow there. She is infertile and will never have the child she hopes for; until spurred by memory she seeks out the baby adopted out by her parents without her consent. This leads her on a journey to where her husband grew up.
The book was interesting in that it brought up a lot of issues that women have faced. Firstly that of being blamed for pregnancy and unwantingly having a baby adopted out to avoid shame on the family. It also looked at Lila's suicide attempt and how instead of reaching out her parents sent her away. Although she has stemmed the flow of emotion from the loss she has suffered early in life, when Rae comes along, all the emotion comes spilling out forcing her to remember her past.
Rae on the other hand is stuck in a relationship with a man who expects her to do what he says and then disappears at random intervals. He abandons the relationship for good when he discovers her pregnancy leaving her with no income or emotional support that she so desperately needs causing her to turn to Lila.
The book is written exceptionally well, the metaphors surface throughout the pages and the struggles gone through by these two women as well as the continuing support from Richard (Lila's husband) despite expecting the worst from him keeps it readable and as the lives are exposed, you can feel the grievance still suffered. I would highly recommend it.
