THE DREAM HOUSE by RACHEL HORE

THE DREAM HOUSE

BY RACHEL HORE

THE BLURB:-

Everyone has a dream of their perfect house...

For Kate Hutchinson, the move to Suffolk from the tiny, noisy London terrace she shares with her husband Simon and their two young children was almost enough to make her dream come true.

Space, peace and a measured, rural pace of life have a far greater pull for Kate than the constantly overflowing in-tray on her desk at work. Moving in with her mother-in-law must surely be only a temporary measure before the estate agent's details of the perfect house fall through the letterbox.

But when, out walking one evening, Kate stumbles upon the beautiful house of her dreams, it is tantalizingly out if her reach. Its owner is the frail elderly Agnes, whose story- as it unravels- echoes so much of Kate's own. And Kate comes to realize how uncertain and unsettling even a life built on dreams can be: wherever you are, at whatever time you are living, and whoever you are with...

THE REALITY:-

New York, New York, so good they named it twice, sang the song. The Dream House, The Dream House, so good I read it twice. That's exactly what I did, starting it again the minute I had finished it, as I liked it that much and wanted to absorb more of it!

Yet again, though, I find we have the problem of the person writing the blurb on the back of the book not having read the novel- I don't see how Agnes's story echoes Kate's own, not in the least.

The house and garden in the novel reminded me of the Plantation Garden in Norwich, which I visited last May. There is also a disused Plantation House. The author lives in Norwich, so I contacted her via her website, asking if that was indeed her inspiration. It wasn't, but I got a real sense of desolation whilst walking around the Plantation Garden and I found a sense of bleakness tripping out of the pages when Seddington House (The Dream House) was described. The author conjured up some very atmospheric feelings, not in the least a strong sense of deja-vu.  I think we can all relate to that "I've been here before..." feeling.

Rachel Hore's novels seem to have a theme of the heroine exiting a bad romance and walking into a better situation and this book is no different. The gradual breakdown of Kate's marriage (sorry, spoiler alert!) is nicely documented as Simon, hypocrite that he is, struggles to adapt to the life he has chosen. I'm glad Kate left him behind, despite there being children involved, as it seemed that they outgrew one another.

It was endearing reading about Agnes's life, the roaring twenties, the loss of her great love affair, the intricacies of her nearest and dearest and how they were all complexly involved and why one side of the family was sidelined from her father's, and her, will. Her devotion to her home was unwavering and I loved reading about her collections and the house itself. The mystery of her missing “son” certainly made for a page turner, but it would have been nice to find out how Harry's half of the locket came to be found in a shop in Norwich. On the other hand, maybe it's nice for the author not to spell everything out, and to let the reader make up his or her own mind.

There was a good mix of believable characters and lifelike situations for the reader to chew on and a decent balance of tragedy and happiness. Also, thanks for the family tree- it certainly made my life easier as this family is complex!

As I was brought up in Norfolk, it's good to have places I can relate to mentioned. It helped with shaping the novel in my mind. On that note, I must make a point to read less and write more- I know reading other novelists' work is good from a learning point of view but I need to slack less and get on with my own writing, although sometimes I lack motivation- an agent and a publisher would be nice and, I think, deserved.

The Plantation Garden, Norwich.

I thought this might have been the inspiration for The Dream House but I was wrong!  The gardens are well worth a visit.  I did find that they had a real sense of loneliness, though.