The Dream House

by Rachel Hore

Everyone has a dream of their perfect house - in the heart of the countryside, or perhaps a stately residence in the middle of a wonderful city? 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 dreams come true. Space, peace, 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 Kate, out walking one evening, stumbles upon the house of her dreams, a beautiful place, full of memories, it is tantalizingly out of 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.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Historical, Chick Lit, Roman

466 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Rachel Hore worked in London publishing for many years before moving with her family to Norwich, Norfolk and turning to writing fiction.

Rachel is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Dream House (2006), The Memory Garden (2007), The Glass Painter's Daughter (2009), which was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Novel of the Year 2010, A Place of Secrets (2010), which was a Richard and Judy Bookclub pick, and A Gathering Storm (2011), which was shortlisted for the RNA Historical Novel of the year, 2012. The Silent Tide was published in 2013, A Week in Paris in 2014 and The House on Bellevue Gardens in 2015.

Her new novel, Last Letter Home, will be published on 22nd March 2018.

Reviews

[Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very lovely story.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer Rachel Hore's debut novel, The Dream House had a very Kate Morton-ish feel to it (although Morton is the superior writer IMO), as the lives of 2 women from different time periods weave in and out in a tapestry of love, loss and renewal.

30-somethings Kate and Simon Hutchinson live busy lives in London; working, raising their 2 kids, and keeping their marriage together. Kate is growing increasingly frustrated with the high demands of her job and the limits it places on her time spent with Simon and the children. She longs to leave the impersonal confines of their cramped city apartment life and find her "dream house" in the country. Simon is fully on board with the plan, and the family moves into Simon's widowed mother's cottage in Suffolk while the couple look for a home to call their own. Simon continues to commute to London, which leaves Kate more and more in charge of handling the day-to-day demands of family life. Kate soon encounters the 90-something year old Agnes, who lives in a house Kate has been dreaming of for months....

As Kate and Agnes begin their friendship, Kate learns about Agnes' past and the bond between the two women grows, despite the age gap. Agnes' death reveals more surprises for Kate, along with Simon's confession of an affair and his ultimate decision not to live the country life after all. Kate's struggle to come to grips with the disintegration of her marriage and the mystery surrounding Agnes' life make for a fairly engaging read for people who enjoy this kind of tale.

But to be honest, The Dream House wasn't without it's problems, which prevented me from rating it higher then 3 stars. The story rambled a good deal of the time, going on and on about mundane things that really didn't add to the story. At least 100 pages could easily have been edited from the book without missing a thing. In addition, I had a real hard time reconciling Kate's feelings for Agnes' story against her own unfolding crumbling marriage. After all, Agnes was the "other woman" who had had an affair with a married man back in the 1920's, and Kate seems to find that romantic and enthralling, although she despises Meredith, the "other woman" who took her own husband Simon away from her. Sorry, but I just don't buy that a woman in the throes of marital infidelity would think that another woman's affair was romantic and tragic. Finally, the convenient coincidences that played out throughout the book were a bit too unbelievable i.e. Kate finding the locket in a London antique store, Agnes living so close to Simon's mother's cottage, Agnes and Kate being related, Dan being Agnes' great-grandson. One or two I might swallow, but a whole barrage strains credulity.

In spite of it's flaws (which probably stem from this being a debut novel), I enjoyed The Dream House and look forward to reading Hore's other novels.

Thanks to my Brit GR friend Carol for introducing me to this writer. She's not well known in the US and I had a devil of a time getting a copy off Paperbackswap.com :)

[Sanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kada sam pročitala sinopsis, nisam očekivala ovoliko stvari. Mislila sam da će najveći problemi biti odvikavanje od gradskog života i prilagođavanje seoskom, kao i muke da se održi brak i porodica, s obzirom da Sajmon dosta vremena provodi putujući i da je delovalo da selidba nije baš najbolja ideja. Pretpostavila sam da će ovo biti knjiga sa drugačijim srećnijim završetkom, da se će svesti na to da se porodica može održati i da će sve biti u redu ako se svi dovoljno potrude da održe tu vezu. Međutim, na kraju se svelo da mora još veći problemi da se pojave da bi na kraju bilo lepše, iako ne onako kako je prvobitno planirano.

Na momente me je nervirala knjiga i sama Kejt, ali mi je drago što je našla dovoljno razuma i da donese neke teške, ali prave odluke. Realnost nam takva da mnoge žene ne bi postupile kao one i ostale nesrećne.

Mane su mi što je bilo malo očekivano ko je zapravo Agnesin direktni naslednik, tj. praunuk. Nekako mi je bilo poprilično predvidljivo. Takođe, pomalo konfuzno ko je tu kome ko, a smetalo mi je i to muvanje između rođaka po trećim, četvrtim ili koji god kolenima.

Ali generalno mi se knjiga svidela.

[Jo Ring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit slow going to start with but good in the end.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me assure everyone who loved her other two - The Glass Painter's Daughter and The Memory Garden - that this one (her first) is every bit as good. In the same writing mould as Susanna Kearsley and Kate Morton, with a dual time narrative, I thought this one started a little shakily with too much concentration on the modern story - but stick with it. The story of Agnes and her family, told through old diaries and Kate's detective work, was fascinating - and the modern story, about families, relationships, and finding love, was equally well done. OK, so the coincidences and chance finds might stretch belief a little, but this isn't a Booker prize contender, it's a light and entertaining summer read and I found it unputdownable. Eagerly awaiting her next one now - The Keeper of the Stars is out in August. And I never knew before that she was married to DJ Taylor, as it told me on the inside cover...

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realise that this was a republished book when I ordered it. I have read all of the other novels by the author and enjoyed them all. I thought that whilst this book was an enjoyable read it did have aspects of an early novel with the author not yet a fully developed writer. i liked the descriptive passages but felt that the idea of a dream was over played. I also felt that the relationships and developing romance between Kate and Dan were too predictable. The characters lacked the depth of the writer's later novels

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although some stages of the book I found interesting and captivating, overall I didn’t feel a connection with practically any of the characters apart from maybe Agnes and her history.

[Christina Rochester · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dream House follows Kate and Simon Hutchinson as they make the move from London to Suffolk. Living at Simon's mother's house with two young children and with Simon still working up in London a huge strain is soon placed upon their marriage. One day Kate finds her dream house, the only one she could really picture herself and Simon moving into together. The only problem is that the house already belongs to Agnes, an old woman who has secrets of her own which she has kept buried for decades. As Kate and Agnes grow closer these secrets threaten to come out, as do some of Simon's own. This is a story of discovery and family.

I feel really bad for only giving this one two stars as I usually adore Ms Hore's work. But I have to be honest and say that this one really didn't do it for me.

I was itching in frustration because it was totally obvious how blind Kate was being in regards to Simon, and that made it very hard for me to sympathise with her. I'm not saying that anything that Simon was doing was right by any means, not at all, but I couldn't muster up an ounce of sympathy for Kate.

The whole backstory of Agnes' tied up too well and seemed too perfect, in fact the ending was a little far-fetched and that really annoyed me somewhat. For once it would actually be enjoyable to read a book where not everyone has a perfect ever after.

[Hande · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmm, I read the first 20 odd pages - I don't like the main character! She's a bit too middle class for my liking. My husband told me off for wasting time reading stuff I didn't like, but just went through some reviews on here, so maybe i'll give it another 30 pages...

Right well, it took me just about 6 months to get back into this book. Picked it up around May 2012 in vain hope of finishing to take back to Lynda (my mother-in-law) in the UK. But, only finished it on the day we got BACK from the UK! Anyhoo, passed it onto Lynda when she visited in July.

About the book: Far too obvious with the characters and the plot. Middle class woman, struggling in London with life/work balance, move out to the country, marriage ends, find your "dream house", find new love interest, live happily ever after. The moment Dan got on the page, I knew he was going to be the "man", Dan the Man!

Anyway, read it, and I'm now thinking I am not going to buy books with interesting looking covers any more. Granted I'm not very choosy in my reading, but this was not time well spent.

[Carol Kerry-Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, a good long read to lose yourself in. I loved the way that Kate slowly found out about the world of her old cousin Agnes and the hunt for Agnes's child, there was plenty of time to become well acquainted with the characters, and though the book was a long one, it never felt as though it was over long. I thought Hore showed how well the characters related to each other and how grief and can affect people's relationships with each other.

[Connie53 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit was een totale verrassing. In het begin vond ik dat de schrijfster wel met minder woorden had toegekund. Maar het het verhaal, hoe voorspelbaar ook (je zag het gewoon allemaal van ver aankomen), had me toch echt te pakken. Aan het einde heb ik zelfs met tranen zitten lezen. Het zou voor mij eerst een 7 krijgen, maar door dat einde wordt het toch een acht.

[Liliflaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sve je lepo kad se sve dobro zavrsi! Tako je i u ovoj knjizi - puno problema, puno lutanja, nekih neverovatnih stvari, ali kad neko veruje u svoje snove i bude uporan u svojim nastojanjima da ih dosegne, to se na kraju i desi - snovi se ostvare!

[Agata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Anželika J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and lovely story. But that's it.

[Darian Tucker]

An excellent mix of the past and the present. This was a wonderful book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit rambling in parts with lots of coincidences. Some of the emotional aspects ie reaction to relationship breakdown were not given any depth. All in all an okay easy read

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A saga type novel, set in the present but involving some diaries that take us into flashbacks of the early part of the 20th century.

Kate is finding her London job tiring, and worried that she spends too little time with her children. So when her husband Simon persuades her that they should sell their house, and buy somewhere bigger in the country, she is happy to do so. They stay at first with Simon's mother Joyce, and things seem to be going well... until Simon starts behaving strangely, and it's clear that there are problems afoot.

Meanwhile Kate has a strange dream after buying a locket in a second-hand shop. Then she meets Agnes, a delightful old lady, and begins to explore the past through her eyes. A family tree at the start of the book means that some of the unexpected revelations in the book were not in fact surprises; others, later on, were fairly predictable.

It took me a few days to get into the book, but I found the characters - particularly Kate - very believable and by the end found it hard to put down. There was a little too much use of coincidence, but it somehow seemed believable.

Overall, very enjoyable. Recommended to anyone who enjoys women's saga type fiction.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro dal sapore alla Kate Morton, ma molto meno ben realizzato, a mio avviso. Quando ho richiesto questo libro su Bookmooch, l'ho fatto solo per noia, perché avevo molti punti e nessun libro interessante in cui investirli. E' infatti rimasto molto tempo (tre anni!) a macerare in libreria, e ogni volta che ci pensavo era con insofferenza, perché ero sicura che sarebbe stato un libro di una noia mortale. Quando l'ho iniziato, però, ho letto di sfuggita qualche recensione su Goodreads, e ho notato che quest'autrice viene paragonata molto spesso a Kate Morton (che io adoro) e quindi le mie speranze si sono risollevate.

http://robertabookshelf.blogspot.it/2...

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was immediately attracted to this book with its themes of family relationships under stress, a family history search and a country house with a mysterious past, revealed in hidden diaries. From the start I was engaged by Kate's story - struggling in London with her work/family balance and falling in with her husband's plan to move to Suffolk. But life did not work out as she hoped. Yes, there were a number of coincidences, particularly the final one which beggared belief. But by that time I was totally engrossed and could not put the book down.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a book recommended by Amazon because I like Kate Morton's books. Well Amazon I will not be following your recommendations again any time soon! While I can see a similarity in plots for me Kate Morton is a much superior writer. I found this predictable, lacklustre,dreary to the point of becoming painful. I had to skip through much of it as it just went on and on and on. Recommended only as a possible cure for insomnia.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beware the move to the country, would sum this book up.
There seemed a lot of people and events happening that didn't progress the story eg her friend in London who had the baby with the flaky artist, the school going to close (the head seemed not to be in control of the school, which you would have expected someone in that position to be in).
And wasn't it convenient that Dan wasn't just a handyman / gardener but an artist in the up. So eminently suitable ...

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Ms. Hore's books usually. The characters were great, but the story was very predictable and boring, so I can only give it two stars. The details of home life, children's schedules, school events, living in the country, took way too much space, pushing the interesting parts about the old house to the back of the story. Also, the cheating husband was stereotypical.

[Ulrike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I liked the Memory Garden a lot so I bought this book for my holidays.
Unfortunately it wasn't as good as the other one. The story predictable, too many catastrophes and all ended well, all problems or conflicts solved..
The nice thing was the "dream house".. one I would like to have myself!!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good! Spent many an evening snuggled up on the sofa reading this.

[Kim Cl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family History - Research - Children
#3wordresume
@instagram

[Avril Caryer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite well written but plot is, frankly, silly. It's all too middle class as well.

[Rhoda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate and Simon are bringing their young children up in London and are extremely stressed trying to keep all the balls in the air and make the decision to move to the Suffolk countryside with Simon’s mother and leave the bustling city life behind, while they find a house of their own.

Out on a walk one evening, Kate stumbles across a house that she realizes she has already had dreams about. She befriends Agnes, the elderly lady that lives in the house and discovers that they have more in common than she ever anticipated.

This book started off really well for me. I was invested in the move to the countryside and village life and enjoyed Agnes’ story of her life and the lovely old Seddington House. However it all started to unravel for me about halfway through.

Firstly, there were a number of very unlikely coincidences that just made it all very far-fetched. A few I could live with, but too many, and particularly the last one in the book was almost ridiculous to me.

Secondly, I was really put off and annoyed by the romance in this book which was both unnecessary and untimely in my opinion. I really hate when an author feels the need to insert a token romance (I’m the first to admit I’m not a romantic though 🙋🏻‍♀️). This is not the 19th century and a woman does not need a man (or a woman......but a man in the case of this book) in order to have a happy life!! Rant over 😬 but the romance felt very out of place in this book and really irritated me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 and only because I did enjoy the first half a lot!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The house that Kate dreamed of was real and she became friends with its elderly owner. She and Agnes found that they were distantly related. What could have been a lovely memory-filled book became something more, with the realities of Kate's life. Her children, parents, mother-in-law, friends, and her husband push and pull Kate's emotions, build her up, tear her down, and she has to find the strength to deal with it all. Kate's husband Simon is a wanker, plain and simple; his betrayal and greed made me think that the best solution for Kate was his death. Fortunately for their children's sake, Simon lives and somewhat redeems himself. The better men are Max and especially Dan. Overall an enjoyable read with a bit of mystery and tension.

[Marloes D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Als Kate Hutchinson en haar gezin besluiten op het platteland te gaan wonen, trekken ze eerst bij haar schoonmoeder in. Het is moeilijk om je droomhuis te vinden! Dan laat Kate de hond uit en komt ze per toeval bij Seddington House. Het huis komt haar bekend voor en als ze iemand hoort schreeuwen gaat ze naar binnen en vindt ze de oude mevrouw Agnes Melton onderaan de trap. Er staat een oude foto van Agnes's moeder op wie Kate lijkt. Ook is er de leuke klusjesman Dan. In de loop van het verhaal kom je er achter hoe het allemaal precies zit.

Er zit veel ongeloofwaardig toeval in en andere delen zijn juist te voorspelbaar. Verder zit er weinig diepgang in en komt de romance niet goed uit de verf.

[Rachel Glass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely book with a great dual time story (much more in the present than in the past) where I really appreciated the past events mostly being told as a story rather than quoted from the diaries they came from. Kate and Agnes were feisty, relatable, sympathetic characters. Though I could see where Kate's romantic storyline was going from the start, there were still plenty of surprises and plot twists in the rest of the story. I definitely got dragged in, getting very cross with Simon on more than one occasion! I've read a few of Rachel Hore's books now (very like Kate Morton) and this was my favourite so far.