House and Home

by Kathleen McCleary

At every turn of the page I was reminded of one of my favorite places - Portland, Oregon.  That was both a good and a bad thing.  Good because it brought back sights and experiences but a bad thing because it made my longing to get in the car and drive there so much stronger.  Just read this and see if you don't long to go to Oregon with me:

When she moved to Oregon, it wa like moving from black and white Kansas to a Technicolor Emerald City.  Yes, the sky was gray and the rains came, but the ground was green, green all year long, and the laurels and Douglas firs and cedars were green even in winter. . . And she fel, finally, that with all that rich color, her life came into focus, too, that she somehow grew more vivid and became the person she was meant to be, the one who was just a ghost in Michigan.

House and Home is the story of Ellen Flannigan, who seems to have it all - 2 precious daughters, a cozy neighborhood coffee shop, a terrific best friend who lives next door and a sexy, if irresponsible, husband.  And she adores her house.  But as her 18-year, roller-coaster marriage heads toward divorce, she's about to lose it all - her house, her husband and her sanity.

If only she could hang in that moment forever, suspended like a cocoon dangling from a silk thread.  She'd never have to move forward then, into the moment when she'd actually walk out the door of this house for the last time

I liked House and Home, though there were times that I wanted to shake Ellen.  Part of that might be because I don't usually get overly attached to things.  I could walk away from my house today, though the back yard would tugged on my heart strings.  Maybe I'll fall in love with my house after the remodeling is finished, but I don't think so.  I can imagine a house that would break my heart to leave, but I don't think I'll see it in this lifetime.

This would be a good movie.  Some of Ellen's shannigans would be hilarious to watch played out on the big screen.  Even as I'm thinking about saying the movie would be a chic-flick, I wouldn't say the book is chick-lit.  I'm not sure why because I certainly don't see men reading House and Home.  Let me step out of my confusion long enough to say this is a good, fun, entertaining and light read.