Accidents in the Home

by Tessa Hadley

Book Overview

A powerful literary debut chronicling a year in the life of one thoroughly modern family

Clare Verey, a twenty-nine-year-old mother of three, bakes her own bread and grinds her own spices. She has a comfortable home in the suburbs and a devoted husband. Why is it, then, that when her best friend's lover appears in her life he has the power to invert her world? Why is the desire for more never satisfied?

So begins Accidents...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312421028
• ISBN13: 9780312421021
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

a well done piece

There's a gentle comfort in Hadley's writing, even though the character's are straggling through fairly tumultous situations.I wanted to wrap myself around the book, or get inside it & drink a cup of tea & eat something warm. Her tone is even- not monotonous. While the character's struggle, it's easy to feel that somehow things will work themselves out without too much of an uproar. This largely stems from what must have been a concious & quite effective choice to leave the uproarious scenes out. The reader is then allowed to imagine the confrontations themselves- or not.The novel doesn't get a 5 star rating from me, because I agree, like some of the other reviewers here, that there are too many character's in such a slim work, & that it is quite hard to keep them straight. Hadley does provide a family tree outline at the beginning of the book & it does come in handy.I was quite moved by the last line of the book & found it to resonate nicely as a whole.Recommended!

An Interesting and Well-Written Novel

Accidents in the Home is an interesting and well-written novel--an examination of human relationships and the various "accidents" made in these relationships. Clare Verey a 29 year old married woman is the focal point of the novel, with chapters alternating between her story and those of the various members of her extended family--half brother, stepmother, father, etc. Each character has his or her faults and foibles exposed to us. May of the characters seem to naturally gravitate to the wrong type of person, the wrong type of relationship. When I read back the words I have just written, I realize that I have painted a rather bleak picture of a definitely unbleak novel. Accidents in the Home is quite an enjoyable read, well-told and engaging. The characters are likeable, their flaws, forgivable. Enjoy.

first-rate

Tessa Hadley is up there with Alice Munro in terms of craftsmanship and talent but her characters skew a little younger, more Lorrie Moore territory. Hard to believe this is a first novel; can't wait for the second.