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“Houses remember”
A gorgeously-narrated audio book, providing a sumptuous peek into the lives of two pairs of women, one in current day, and the other in 1974. In each case, the story told by one of the women is intricate, richly textured, and compelling – in particular as it relates to their complex, seesawing relationship with an intimate female other.
First, we have Mary Godwick, nineteen years old in 1974, an insecure and somewhat desperately loving partner to the older Pierce Sheldon, a musician who is both polyamorous and self-centered. Mary’s relationship with her same-aged stepsister Lana is perhaps even more fraught – being both extremely close (almost co-dependent) and uncomfortably suffocating – in ways she has not completely come to terms with.
And then there is Emily, (Em), a thirty-five year old cozy mystery writer, whose nemesis and absolute best friend (in equal parts) is the wildly successful self-help guru Chess Chandler.
When Em and Chess vacation in a gorgeous and evocative Italian villa, known as Villa Aestas, deep in the Umbrian countryside, their lives suddenly intersect with a similar visit undertaken by Mary and Lara, some fifty years ago. A previous visit which resulted in murder.
Both Mary and Em will soon be revealed to experience transformational change – which will involve the decades old infamous murder, a long and checkered road to female empowerment, and more than one twist and turn in a plot lavish in its telling.
An absorbing story, perfectly rendered in audio, with the narrator’s silky delivery complementing stunning Italianate visuals of warm yellow walls, cypress trees and one of the most evocatively compelling settings this reader has encountered in a while. Without giving the plot away (no spoilers here), the author weaves her thematic ribbon gleefully, (suggesting, as the timelines and stories intersect — one can only hold a successful woman back for just so long) as we slowly come to learn there may be more to each heroine (much more) here than originally expected.
A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an audio ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.
