Hannah's House

By Allen Joyce Allen and Joyce Allen

Book Overview

Her divorce final, Iris Layton wants to break with the past. But another past comes into her life when she finds remnants of an old farmhouse on her new subdivision lot and hears local legends about... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0970224958
• ISBN13: 9780970224958
• Release Date: June 2016
• Publisher: Joyce Clark Allen
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Hannah's House

Hannah's House is a story of parallel lives, a tale in which the life experiences of Hannah Davis in the past resonate in the life of Iris Layton. "I see now, as I did not when I was younger, how lives may be joined to each other by place and by hope as well as by blood," Hannah had written in her recounting of her life, which occupies a large portion of the book, and this is the theme that comes through in the telling of these two life stories. This is not a ghost story. It is a story of two women, separated by more than a century, whose face life's trials and tribulations with a courage born of internal strength arising from a solitude of spirit. They are joined by place in that Iris's new house is built on the land where Hannah's house had stood. Iris uncovers the site of Hannah's house, clearing away foliage and debris covering the stone foundation, all that is left after Hannah's house was destroyed by fire on Halloween night 1892. Iris knows Hannah's name from a carving in one of the foundation stones, and she hears bits and pieces about Hannah's life from an elderly neighbor who had heard stories about Hannah when he was growing up. Iris feels a very strong connection to Hannah through touching the foundation stones and in the bits and pieces, such as a daguerreotype and a piece of broken pottery she discovers. In telling the life stories of Hannah and Iris, women whose external lives were very different, the author explores themes of marriage and romantic relationships, the special strengths of women, and the challenges only women face in their lives. This book will appeal to readers who feel drawn to old houses and the memories that are embedded in them.

The Invisibility of Time

HANNAH'S HOUSE is a heavy book, both in terms of length (I'm guessing it's about 110,000 words) and heft in the hand. Because it's my habit to read last thing at night before bed, I was reluctant to begin the book, knowing it would take me a month or so to finish it...wrong. My normal 10-15 pages an evening quickly became 30-50 pages. This indicates how absorbed I was by the lives of Iris and Hannah--two protagonists separated in time by over a century but connected by place (the remains of Hannah's late-nineteenth century log dwelling are discovered by Iris behind her own twenty-first century tract house). The two homes meet a similar fate but with radically different outcomes for the women. It is the buildup to the outcome that made this a page-turner for me. Iris, divorced and vaguely involved with a man, is troubled by her grown daughter's distance and reluctance to provide Iris with a phone number or mailing address. Hannah and her mother, on the other hand, live and work together. The mother-daughter relationships explored in this book were intriguing and believable for me (I have a grown daughter). I could feel how Iris was perplexed and hurt by her daughter's choices, and at the same time understood and approved of the daughter's desire to have an independent life. Likewise, Hannah and her mother had a closeness I longed for with my own mother. Allen writes with the strength and clarity of someone born to the pen, and with wry humor when she's in Iris' point of view...a running commentary on life in the new millennium for a single professional woman. Allen's broad knowledge on topics as diverse as forestry, academia, and accelerants made this a particularly enjoyable read for me--I love learning as I'm entertained by a good story. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

The Lessons From Old Houses

If you are as fascinated with old houses as I am then you will love Hannah's House by Joyce Allen. Two stories of two women, past and present twine together like a vine,, like sisterhood, like history and present do, if only we'd slow down long enough to see it. The main character Iris, eventually does slow down, and while she never actually knows the full story of Hannah, the witchy herbalist who lived in the old house (now in ruins) behind her, the reader comes to appreciate how much we, as women, are connected by our stories. A great read that will haunt you.

Connections

This is a beautifully written, intriguing narrative about two women--Hannah, dead for nearly a century, and Iris, living uneasily in the present. It is a story about the vulnerability of women but above all, about two women who find such courage within themselves that they come through the fire, literally and figuratively. This novel is a pleasure to read and to think about. Valerie Yow, Chapel Hill, NC

Hannah's House

Hannah's House is a great read. Hannah and Iris are separated by a century, but many women - and men - will relate to the experiences of both as they struggle to find themselves as individuals and to be true to what they find.