| House and Home | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 24 reviews)
Sales Rank: 152215
Category: Book
Author: Kathleen Mccleary
Publisher: Voice
Studio: Voice
Manufacturer: Voice
Label: Voice
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 1401340733
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781401340735
ASIN: 1401340733
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The story of a woman who loves her house so much that she'll do just about anything to keep it. Ellen Flanagan has two precious girls to raise, a cozy neighborhood coffee shop to run, terrific friends, and a sexy husband. She adores her house, a yellow Cape Cod filled with quirky antiques, beloved nooks and dents, and a million memories. But now, at forty-four, she's about to lose it all. After eighteen roller-coaster years of marriage, Ellen's husband, Sam--who's charismatic, spontaneous, and utterly irresponsible--has disappointed her in more ways than she can live with, and they're getting divorced. Her daughters are miserable about losing their daddy. Worst of all, the house that Ellen loves with all her heart must now be sold. Ellen's life is further complicated by a lovely and unexpected relationship with the husband of the shrewish, social-climbing woman who has purchased the house. Add to that the confusion over how she really feels about her almost-ex-husband, and you have the makings of a delicious novel about what matters most in the end . . . Set in the gorgeous surroundings of Portland, Oregon, Kathleen McCleary's funny, poignant, curl-up-and-read debut strikes a deep emotional chord and explores the very notion of what makes a house a home.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Typical woman's fiction November 19, 2008
HOUSE AND HOME is Women's Fiction, and I've had enough. Middle-aged woman bumps up against mid-life crisis. Intelligent woman with children and friends, is an entrepreneur with her own shop, and a marriage that isn't what she signed up for. Bummer. Oh how will it end? What ever will she do? Have an affair? Divorce? Save her marriage? Find serenity? If you like this sort of thing, this is good enough. Personally, I've had my fill. The only thing that kept me reading was the location--Oregon. I used to live there and it reminded me of how much I liked its unique climate and geography, and the people. Good writing there. Two stars.
 I really wanted to like this book but.... October 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
....I found Ellen, the protagonist, to be shallow, self-centered and whiny. She dumps her amazing, sexy, smart husband because of a HOUSE??? All she can focus on is keeping the house and numerous plot devices occur multiple times; house fire, illicit kiss, etc. I will admit I was first attracted to the lovely book cover but don't judge a book by the cover. Most other reviewers liked it, so don't go by me, maybe I'm just an unsympathetic grouch, but I couldn't empathize with Ellie at all.
 From S. Krishna's Books October 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
House and Home by Kathleen McCleary is a warm and inviting read. It's one of those books you want when it's snowing outside and you have nothing to do but curl up in front of the fireplace and read a book - at least, that's how it makes you feel on the inside. The book is comfortable, easy to read, and very enjoyable.
Ellen's antics to try and keep her house are amusing, but her desperation at the idea of losing her house is more difficult to deal with. Ellen feels as though her world is collapsing, but it is the loss of her home, rather than the breakup of her marriage, that she finds devastating. It is clear that she is using her home as an avenue through which to express all her grief, but she continues to desperately cling onto her home even after this realization. This is the one part of the book I had some trouble with. While a house is incredibly important to me, the people in it, rather than the things that make it up, are what makes it a home. I could definitely imagine myself joking around with friends about doing something drastic to make sure no one else but me could be in my home, but I couldn't imagine actually taking the steps to burn down my own house just so someone else wouldn't live there!
That being said, House and Home is still a very enjoyable book. The characters are endearing and it really does feel like home. The descriptions of Ellen's decorating is warm and inviting, and I'd love to visit her coffee shop, Coffee@Home! McCleary has depicted a wonderful story that has a lot of heart. Anyone who has had to move away from a beloved home in the past will find something to enjoy in House and Home.
3 and a half stars rounded up to 4
 A Nice and Relaxing Read September 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thought this book was excellent. I felt many of the same thoughts and frustrations of the main character. I felt it moved slow at parts, but it always made up for it. Definitely a good read!
Home and Heart... August 31, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ellen Flanagan's perfect life begins to unravel, piece by piece; her husband, beloved as he is, has been irresponsible for most of their marriage. He is a risk-taker, an inventor, and to finance these inventions, they have taken out a second mortgage on the house they've had for more than a decade. When his invention fails, they begin living off of their savings to supplement their income. With the savings depleted, they are forced into an untenable position: selling their beloved Cape Cod house.
Distraught and depressed, Ellen ends the marriage. She sees her husband Sam, with his devil-may-care attitude as the one who has broken their dream. She still has her business, though, and burrows into it---a cozy coffee and antiques enterprise called Coffee@home.
Irritated by the upcoming move to a house she cannot even begin to like, much less love, Ellen finds herself attracted to a customer at the coffee shop---a buttoned-up man who seemingly represents everything her husband is not. And then she discovers that the man is the husband of the woman who has bought the house. The woman she has met on a few occasions and taken an instant dislike to---probably because she sees her as the intruder on the dream life she is losing.
Then, as a surrealistic chain of events begin to unfurl, Ellen discovers that a house is not what makes a home, and the important things that comprise a home can be fragile indeed.
House and Home is an intriguing exploration of how fragile human connections can be broken by the most unlikely of events.
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