In This Dark House: A Memoir

by Louise Kehoe

In 1939 the influential architect Berthold Lubetkin abruptly left his thriving career in London and dropped out of sight, moving with his wife to a desolate farm in rural Gloucestershire. Life in the house the Lubetkins named “World’s End” was far from idyllic for their three children. Louise Kehoe and her siblings lived in an atmosphere of oppressive isolation, while their tyrannical father—at times charming and witty but usually a terrorist in a self-styled Stalinist hell—badgered and belittled them during his fits of self-loathing. Even his true identity remained an enigma. That secret was never divulged during her father’s lifetime, but Louise’s quest to unearth its tragic origins—her relentless piecing together of the clues she found after his death—is a remarkable story, written with extraordinary grace, style, and imagination, of an identity and a heritage lost and found.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1995

Reviews

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so wretchedly depressing, if that is a phrase. I only gave it three stars because I felt the first part went on way too long. The author goes on and on about her childhood, which was grim beyond anything. I wanted to throw the book down and say "ok! we get it!" many times. But I suppose that was also the point? The second half of the book was well put together right up through the ending. A difficult book to stomach, but worth reading.

[Jody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very depressing book. The author spends a great deal of time talking about growing up in a very emotionaly abusive family environment. From the book cover I thought the author was going to discover secrets about her father's past that would explain why he was so abusive but the secret she discovers at the very end doesn't explain it at all. In fact, I was left feeling like her father should have turned out completely differently than how he did based on his history.

[Jacqi Bartlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked parts of this book better than others. Reading the part that told of her life in 'this dark house' I was sometimes annoyed with how much like a complaining child the author sounded. Other parts had me outraged that parents would treat children this way.
I most enjoyed the final section where she unravelled the mystery of her father's past life.

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a rather disturbing memoir. Whilst it is easy to read, for me, the narrative was not constructed well and there was both too much repetitive detail yet a paucity of detail that might have given the book better legs.

It is, on the surface, not so dissimilar from other recollections of brutal fathers - more interesting than most, but hard for a reader to feel much for an intellectually superior man "of principle" who calls and treats his children as idiots. The mother is loving but in thrall to her "charismatic" husband.

There is, of course, a secret to be uncovered. He was living under an assumed name but would not address this during his lifetime. He had no family and tolerated no questions. The mother did have family which, after the initial pen portraits played no part in the story and questions were never asked about them. I found this bizarre. Ultimately we trace his roots but by then I had lost interest.

Context: Louise Kehoe was born in England in 1949, the youngest of four children. Her father, Berthold Lubetkin, was a well known architect who had been born in Czarist Russia and her mother, Margaret Church, was born in England and met Berthold as an architecture student.

[Hughes Rosalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relentlessly sad. Who was more ill, her father or her mother? Reminded me of Educated, the same pervasive evil in the home. A huge buildup to an ending which seemed anticlimactic . I felt I knew THAT secret all along, and was looking for something much bigger, which I initially was given, and then it was taken away.
Really I felt Louise and her siblings life was more traumatic than her sick, sick DAD’s.
Well written, good read though, up to the ending.

[Anne Vandenbrink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise describes her life with her two siblings in England. A sad story of a childhood under a rule of authoritative, demanding father, who happened to be brilliant architect, and communist, Berthold Lubetkin. He went to great lengths to keep his Jewish heritage and ancestry a secret which Louise uncovers at the end of the book.

[Alya Pozdnyakova · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably would not have enjoyed this book if it wasn’t written by Berthold Lubetkin’s daughter. It’s repetitive and doesn’t really feel like a story, more like someone just ranting about their parents for 250 pages.

However, this book is indeed written by Berthold Lubetkin’s daughter, and it’s a unique insight into his life. Priceless.

[Liz Wild]

I'd hear about a book maybe on Radio 4 before I gave it up for music and LBC, if I really wanted to read it and it was cheap online I'd buy it.They are all sitting waiting on my bookshelves so I had to open this account to keep a record of them. I've stopped buying books now apart from the Archers Encyclopedia.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, haunting account of a family's journey. Thank you for sharing your story- well done!

[Abbie Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, dark & interesting.

[Violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very sad story. There was one point at the start of the book that I was ready to quite. It made me to sad to read how he acted towards his children.

[Claire Gagnon]

DNFed 20%.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago and it had left an impression on me then. I think I will re-read it in light of current affairs. I thought it was beautifully written.

[Grace Lundeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It didn’t get to me until the very end, but I sat in silence for a few minutes over the last paragraph.

[Tara Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. Reading about the abuse the father inflicted on his family ripped my heart. I'm always amazed when abused children have the ability to forgive.

[Christie (The Ludic Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes another life fascinating enough to commit it to paper? I know that memoirs are all the rage these days and I have read a few and this once did not disappoint. In This Dark House was the winner of a National Jewish Book Award and uniformly praised by critics who called it “well constructed and beautifully written, has an emotional honesty which generates its own kind of lasting truth” (Susie Harris, The Times Literary Supplement) and a “heartbreaking story…astonishing enough on its own, but her riveting luminous prose style transforms it into a triumphantly beautiful and moving work of art.” (Booklist)

Louise Kehoe was born in England in 1949, the youngest of four children. Her father, Berthold Lubetkin, was a well known architect who had been born in Czarist Russia and her mother, Margaret Church, was born in England and met Berthold as an architecture student.

Kehoe recounts her childhood living at World’s End, a remote house in Upper Killington, England. A practicing Communist, Louise’s father is intellectual and emotionally remote. One might say he’s actually abusive- he withholds and doles out praise like a dictator. Kehoe’s mother does her best to moderate, but her loyalty is to her husband and her children, although she clearly loves them, come a distant second.

What Kehoe doesn’t know until her father’s death (at nearly 90) is that he is harbouring a horrible secret and the beauty of this book is that Kehoe, despite the barren emotional landscape of her youth, cares enough to search it out. Uncovered, the secret opens a door wide into her father’s life and makes him much more sympathetic. And, of course, Kehoe is able to forgive him which she does eloquently and with love.

A beautiful book.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kehoe's memoir of growing up in rural England is a sad and dark one. Throughout her childhood Kehoe was subjected to the whims and abuse of her eccentric and tyrannical father. A gifted arcitecht, Kehoe's father ruled his children and his wife like a dictator. Isolated and miserable, Kehoe has no explanation for her father's behavior. As an adult, she decides to investigate her family's past, to try and better understand her father. Spurred on by an episode of anti-Semitic violence in her youth, Kehoe's search for her past leads her to unexpected places and surprises. It's difficult to say more without giving away the conclusion, except that this memoir explains Kehoe's search for her past, and how she comes to terms with what she finds and what she knows of her father. Well-written, sad, and sometimes shocking, Kehoe's rendering of an elaborate family myth and its unravelling is well-crafted.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit I struggled a bit with this book when I first read it. I was either still in high school then or just out. It does include a fair amount of big words. Even so, this book was so memorable to me that I re-read it, which I rarely do with books. It was astronomically easier the second time around and well worth it. The book is about Louise's experience growing up in an isolated neighborhood in England around the time of World War 2, and her quest as an adult to uncover her father's true identity. Her father is an overbearing, tyrannical figure, which makes life difficult for Louise and her older siblings. A lot of background information is given on her parents' lives and world events going on at the time. The ending, when Louise finally discovers her father's real identity and her own heritage, is touching. I enjoyed this book a lot.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't understand all the negative reviews. Yes this book tells the story of a sad upbringing, but ultimately a triumphant ending of inner peace. I still do not forgive either parent. The father a tyrant, and no matter his past, treating innocents as he did is unforgivable. The mother's misplaced loyalty and complacency is also not forgivable. You protect your children. End of story. But a fast, engaging, interesting read. And for the reviewer who claims she enjoys enriching her vocabulary but feels it was too verbose? Pick up a thesaurus once in a blue moon. This was very straight forward writing and not overly complex and my vocabulary is not impressive.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a girl's struggle to live with a strict, domineering, often times cruel, unloving father who is shrouded in mystery. Who is this man? As she gets older and leaves her parent's home she still struggles with the need to have the love and acceptance from her father that he never seems to give her. After his death, she painstakingly finds out the truth of who and what her father really was and perhaps why he treated her the way he did.

Excellent story!

[Emily Pittsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I'm only a few chapters in, but this book is ANNOYING me!! It's like the author used a thesaurus on EVERY sentence to use "fancy" words. I don't mind learning new vocab, but multiples in EACH sentence...I hope this book is worth it!

Finished this book today. Did not like it at all. I don't recommend. It's kind of like a memoir, but nothing good about it, not interesting.

[Lukas Novotny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a description of a childhood under a rule of authoritative father, who happen to be brilliant modernist architect, Berthold Lubetkin. The author, Louise Kehoe, goes to great lengths to depict the events, but after a while the book starts to feel bit monotone and slow. Like others noted here, the reader is kept pretty much at the hand's length.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title quite clearly describes the story. It's the depiction of the author's life - growing up with a bully for a father and a mother who was loving but unable to deal with her husband where the children were concerned. Interesting read.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressing, and odd.

[Susannah Garboden · Rating 1 out of 5]

That I think it's naive to talk about an abusive father and a saintly mother. Give her some respect and be angry that she passively let all this happen.

[Richard Kravitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty intense. Some bizarre happenings at "World's End". Not too disturbing, not perverse like "Running with Scissors".

[Jodi Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting, but not my favorite book. I'd really like to give it 2 1/2 stars.