Happy Thursday! Yesterday was my favorite day of the entire month….Book B*tches night! My friend, Erica, hosted and treated us to a Cotswolds Easter feast. Of course none of us thought to take a picture of the beautiful spread. The photo below was taken at the end of the evening when half of our crew had left.
Book B*tches
Before I get ahead of myself, let me summarize our selection. From Amazon:
Meet the picture-perfect Bird family: pragmatic Meg, dreamy Beth, and towheaded twins Rory and Rhys, one an adventurous troublemaker, the other his slighter, more sensitive counterpart. Their father is a sweet, gangly man, but it’s their beautiful, free-spirited mother Lorelei who spins at the center. In those early years, Lorelei tries to freeze time by filling their simple brick house with precious mementos. Easter egg foils are her favorite. Craft supplies, too. She hangs all of the children’s art, to her husband’s chagrin.
Then one Easter weekend, a tragedy so devastating occurs that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear the family apart. Years pass and the children have become adults, while Lorelei has become the county’s worst hoarder. She has alienated her husband and children and has been living as a recluse. But then something happens that beckons the Bird family back to the house they grew up in – to finally understand the events of that long-ago Easter weekend and to unearth the many secrets hidden within the nooks and crannies of home.
THIS DOES NOT EVEN BEGIN TO SCRATCH THE SURFACE!!!! I loved this book. The character development is unmatched. In my humble opnion, The House We Grew Up In is Lisa Jewell’s best work thus far. That being said, I’m a little concerned because most of my fellow B*tches did not share this sentiment. Several of them found the novel depressing. The subject matter is definitely not uplifting, but I could not stop reading and was so sad when I finished. I wanted more. I strongly encourage you to choose this for your book club. You can discuss this story and these family members for days on end. Snag a copy here: https://amzn.to/3Jmxch8
The House We Grew Up In
Seriously, just read it. Even if you’re not in a book club. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Am I alone in my love for this book? Anyone else rank it as a top five for the year?
