A Stranger's House

by Bret Lott

Book Overview

For a long time, Claire and Tom Templeton have wished in vain for a child. What they have instead is a house, a charming old Cape that is their consolation. In the gray chill of a Massachusetts... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671038222
• ISBN13: 9780671038229
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Washington Square Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Requires Fortitude

This review is for the Viking Penguin Inc. edition published in 1988, 256 pages. After years of trying to have children, the doctor told Claire Templeton, a lab technician who sticks things into the brains of live rabbits, and her husband Tom, that they cannot. In the narrative present, Claire and Tom, having more or less accepted their barren fate, contemplate the purchase of an old house in need of repair. With the permission of the realtor, Claire and Tom attempt to appraise the property alone, but encounter Grady, the grandson of the owner and his retarded friend, Martin. That's the plot basis for 173 pages, which provides opportunity for digressions on the humane treatment of rabbits for scientific enlightenment (although accidents happen), and the divining technique of a retarded savant for finding rotted clapboards. The writing is beautiful, although bogged with sensory detail overload, my pet peeve, and there are rich analogies, although I'm too thickheaded to grasp them. For example, on page 92 the protagonist Claire, on tip toes, bends a branch and plucks a leaf, which she rolls into a tight tube and carries for ten pages until, "The leaf, an even duller green than I'd thought it would be, lay crumpled in my hand." Get it? I didn't. So why four stars? Around page 174, I began to suspect I hadn't been paying attention. It's a memorable tale, and a good one, but it requires fortitude.

A Riveting Drama

I enjoyed this book. Somewhat dark, it explores the stages of a marriage, and gave me a real understanding of the pain of infertility.It is also an interesting look at becoming a homeowner (after a long hunt) and how what starts as a interest in the house's history and a casual association with the previous owner's black sheep grandson and his retarded friend grows to a caring involvement in two sad lives. As Claire works toward an acceptance of her inability to become a mother, a much longed for dream, she works through the changes that infertility and new home ownership bring to her marriage; and comes to learn that life will indeed go on, and that while she more than likely will never give birth, she will be presented with other outlets for her nurturing and caring. Not perhaps what she wanted, with rewards of their own. Lott exhibits the wonderful storytelling ability here that he later showed in Jewel. As with Jewel, a happy, jolly tale, but a satisfying, thought provoking read.