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Housebreaking
When Benjamin's wife kicks him out of their house, he returns to his childhood home in Connecticut to live with his widowed father. Lost and lonely, Benjamin is trying to put his life back together when he recognizes someone down the his high school crush, the untouchable Audrey Martin. But as it turns out, Audrey isn't so untouchable anymore, and she and Benjamin begin to discover answers to many of their own deepest longings. Meanwhile, as the neighborhood is wracked by a mysterious series of robberies, Audrey seems to be hiding a tragic secret, and her husband becomes involved in a dangerous professional game he can never win.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 2015
20 people are currently reading
2165 people want to read
About the author
Dan Pope
9 books50 followersDan is the author of the novels IN THE CHERRY TREE (Picador, 2003) and HOUSEBREAKING (Simon & Schuster, May 2015). His short stories have appeared in such journals as Iowa Review, Harvard Review, and McSweeneys. He is a 2002 graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
May 12, 2015
I really enjoyed this book as it sucked me right into its pages. It had the feel of the movie, “Traffic” where you experience the same time frame from various characters who are somehow all connected during a particular space and time. The book is broken down in parts from their points-of-view. I found each characters viewpoint to be engaging and at times I had trouble putting the book down. The book is not very long and is just in time for the perfect summer read.
January 23, 2015
Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
One night in 2007, Benjamin Mandelbaum's wife throws him out of the house and declares their marriage over. The sad thing is, this time he's actually innocent of the infidelity she's accusing him of, but she doesn't care.
With nowhere else to go, he decides to take their dog and move back into his childhood home in Connecticut, to live with his widowed father, Leonard. He's unsure of what his next steps will be, how his children will handle the divorce, and whether he really wants to start sleeping in his old bedroom again, especially as his father embarks upon a relationship (of sorts) with an old friend.
And then one day Benjamin finds out his old high school crush, Audrey Martin, has moved back into the neighborhood along with her lawyer husband and their troubled teenage daughter. Audrey isn't sure if she even remembers Benjamin from high school, but he remembers her all too well, and it's not long before a lonely Audrey allows him the chance to act upon his teenage desires. Yet even as he gets totally caught up in Audrey, he still longs for the comfort and security of his marriage, and misses his estranged wife.
Audrey has her share of issues as well—an emotional secret she's not comfortable sharing with Benjamin; worries about Emily, whose behavior is becoming increasingly erratic; and her strained relationship with her husband, Andrew, a powerful attorney who finds himself caught up in a power struggle in his office, the likes of which he'd never imagined, and one he might not win, which is quite a change for someone who hates to lose.
All of their lives come to a crucial moment one night, a moment which will change each of them. Housebreaking is quite well written and though perhaps slightly melodramatic in places, really compelling. It's a book about marital discord, about unhappiness and grief, which reminded me a little bit of The Ice Storm. It's also a story about trying to control what happens in your life, despite the fact that you have no control over these things whatsoever.
I've never read anything by Dan Pope before, but I was really impressed with his storytelling ability. Although you've seen many of the situations in this book before, somehow in his hands, it seems like a fresh story, and I flew through the book rather quickly. I don't know what it says about me that I find stories of dysfunctional relationships entertaining, but I do know this probably would make a good movie as well.
If suburban melodrama (and I mean that in a positive way) interests you, Dan Pope's Housebreaking is a fine example worth reading.
See all of my reviews (and other stuff) at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
One night in 2007, Benjamin Mandelbaum's wife throws him out of the house and declares their marriage over. The sad thing is, this time he's actually innocent of the infidelity she's accusing him of, but she doesn't care.
With nowhere else to go, he decides to take their dog and move back into his childhood home in Connecticut, to live with his widowed father, Leonard. He's unsure of what his next steps will be, how his children will handle the divorce, and whether he really wants to start sleeping in his old bedroom again, especially as his father embarks upon a relationship (of sorts) with an old friend.
And then one day Benjamin finds out his old high school crush, Audrey Martin, has moved back into the neighborhood along with her lawyer husband and their troubled teenage daughter. Audrey isn't sure if she even remembers Benjamin from high school, but he remembers her all too well, and it's not long before a lonely Audrey allows him the chance to act upon his teenage desires. Yet even as he gets totally caught up in Audrey, he still longs for the comfort and security of his marriage, and misses his estranged wife.
Audrey has her share of issues as well—an emotional secret she's not comfortable sharing with Benjamin; worries about Emily, whose behavior is becoming increasingly erratic; and her strained relationship with her husband, Andrew, a powerful attorney who finds himself caught up in a power struggle in his office, the likes of which he'd never imagined, and one he might not win, which is quite a change for someone who hates to lose.
All of their lives come to a crucial moment one night, a moment which will change each of them. Housebreaking is quite well written and though perhaps slightly melodramatic in places, really compelling. It's a book about marital discord, about unhappiness and grief, which reminded me a little bit of The Ice Storm. It's also a story about trying to control what happens in your life, despite the fact that you have no control over these things whatsoever.
I've never read anything by Dan Pope before, but I was really impressed with his storytelling ability. Although you've seen many of the situations in this book before, somehow in his hands, it seems like a fresh story, and I flew through the book rather quickly. I don't know what it says about me that I find stories of dysfunctional relationships entertaining, but I do know this probably would make a good movie as well.
If suburban melodrama (and I mean that in a positive way) interests you, Dan Pope's Housebreaking is a fine example worth reading.
See all of my reviews (and other stuff) at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
February 22, 2015
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an advance copy of Housebreaking. I had the luxury of being able to read Housebreaking in a short concentrated period of time (a quiet Friday evening and a lazy Saturday morning), so I was able to really get into the atmosphere of this book. And atmosphere is really one of its strong points. Essentially told as three separate narratives that cover the same period of time, Housebreaking focuses on two families in a suburb of Hartford Connecticut going through very difficult situations -- marriage breakdown, death, and illness. Pope creates powerful and believable characters, woven together through a clever, mostly sad but sometimes funny narrative. The lingering message is that it's hard to move beyond tragedy and even harder to get beyond one's personal failings -- but somehow it's worth the struggle. Well worth the read and I will be looking for Pope's other books. Now I have to shake the lingering sad atmosphere of the book and get on with my weekend...
February 22, 2021
3.7 stars. I don't know how to feel about this. The writing style and the plot keept me engaged and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough even if it wasn't a thrilling read. However I didn't enjoy the characters and their actions, I keept shaking my head and rolling my eyes at them and I think that if I would have liked them more I would have giving this book more stars. It's not always needed to like the characters but I feel like I wanted to like at least something about them
February 10, 2015
Thank you Netgalley!
Oh how I loved it. Told through different characters in sections, all recounting a period of time where big changes happen (duh, or else it would be a story) is a book about the angst of life. We have a marriage in the perils of divorce, a marriage that needs to be broken apart and the kids who are suffering in their own way.
Ben has been told to leave the family home (where he goes back to his childhood home with his widower dad) when his wife suspects him of cheating (again). He wasn't guilty that time but it didn't stop him from stumbling into a full blown affair with an old high school acquaintance. This said woman, Audrey is married and dealing with the loss of her son who died the year before and also the raising of her troubled daughter who is heavily into drugs and promiscuity - perhaps also from losing her brother.
Then there's Ben's dad who lost his wife a couple years back and who is rattling around his house when he's set up by a neighbor who's mother he thinks would make a great companion. They go out and she tells him to get some viagra- telling him over the phone to try to do 5 push ups to pass a test his doctor will give him to make sure his heart can handle it. Len gets off the phone, tries the push ups and has a stroke.
We hear about Ben's life as a car salesman working for his successful dad, Len's life as a soon to be elderly man who loved his wife passionately, Andrew (married to Audrey) who's life as a lawyer - and possible gay man- gets him caught up in something that will affect his livelihood, not to mention marriage and Emily who will practically stop at nothing to get her mother's attention without coming out and saying it.
I love dysfunctional situations. Dan Pope wrote a great readable story.
Oh how I loved it. Told through different characters in sections, all recounting a period of time where big changes happen (duh, or else it would be a story) is a book about the angst of life. We have a marriage in the perils of divorce, a marriage that needs to be broken apart and the kids who are suffering in their own way.
Ben has been told to leave the family home (where he goes back to his childhood home with his widower dad) when his wife suspects him of cheating (again). He wasn't guilty that time but it didn't stop him from stumbling into a full blown affair with an old high school acquaintance. This said woman, Audrey is married and dealing with the loss of her son who died the year before and also the raising of her troubled daughter who is heavily into drugs and promiscuity - perhaps also from losing her brother.
Then there's Ben's dad who lost his wife a couple years back and who is rattling around his house when he's set up by a neighbor who's mother he thinks would make a great companion. They go out and she tells him to get some viagra- telling him over the phone to try to do 5 push ups to pass a test his doctor will give him to make sure his heart can handle it. Len gets off the phone, tries the push ups and has a stroke.
We hear about Ben's life as a car salesman working for his successful dad, Len's life as a soon to be elderly man who loved his wife passionately, Andrew (married to Audrey) who's life as a lawyer - and possible gay man- gets him caught up in something that will affect his livelihood, not to mention marriage and Emily who will practically stop at nothing to get her mother's attention without coming out and saying it.
I love dysfunctional situations. Dan Pope wrote a great readable story.
January 24, 2015
I got a warm and fuzzy feeling when I read a synopsis of this book. Call it ESP, but I knew it would be one of those books I would like. I didn't merely like it, though: I loved it! Wow!
Audrey, Andrew and daughter Emily move into an old renovated farm house, all still troubled and grieving in their own way over the death of their son & brother.
At the same time, in a different neighborhood, Judy finally kicks her husband, Benjamin, out of their house, suspecting him of having cheated on her again. Benjamin moves into his ailing father Leonard's home while he figures out what to do. Leonard's home just happens to be located down the street from Andrew and Audrey's farm house...and Benjamil just happens to remember Audrey from high school. He had a huge crush on her, but she didn't even remember him.
All of the characters' lives converge in comic and tragic ways, all of their stories merging and leading to critical life-changing events that occur at the same time and date: 11:58 pm on Monday, November 26, 2007.
I don't want to give anything else away. The story and characters constantly surprised me as their stories took twists and turns. I loved this book so much: the characters, the writing, absolutely everything. Unfortunately, I read an arc so the rest of the world will have to wait for it to be released on May 12, 2015. Bummer!
Audrey, Andrew and daughter Emily move into an old renovated farm house, all still troubled and grieving in their own way over the death of their son & brother.
At the same time, in a different neighborhood, Judy finally kicks her husband, Benjamin, out of their house, suspecting him of having cheated on her again. Benjamin moves into his ailing father Leonard's home while he figures out what to do. Leonard's home just happens to be located down the street from Andrew and Audrey's farm house...and Benjamil just happens to remember Audrey from high school. He had a huge crush on her, but she didn't even remember him.
All of the characters' lives converge in comic and tragic ways, all of their stories merging and leading to critical life-changing events that occur at the same time and date: 11:58 pm on Monday, November 26, 2007.
I don't want to give anything else away. The story and characters constantly surprised me as their stories took twists and turns. I loved this book so much: the characters, the writing, absolutely everything. Unfortunately, I read an arc so the rest of the world will have to wait for it to be released on May 12, 2015. Bummer!
June 22, 2015
This tightly crafted novel of adultery in dysfunctional suburbia is somewhat reminiscent of Tom Perrotta’s Little Children or the movie Far from Heaven, but with less memorable characters and storyline overall. The strategy of revisiting the same events of the late summer and fall of 2007 from different characters’ perspectives makes it feel slightly repetitive and claustrophobic.
I liked the dual meaning of the title – it’s a play on words a bit like Broken Homes and Gardens – though Pope might have taken it a bit further by turning one of the two central dogs into a puppy who keeps having accidents in the house (judging by the appealing cover image, I assumed this would be the case).
My favorite touches were the comical dialogue between a handful of old folks and a description of the cookie-cutter buildings in the Connecticut suburbs: “all the little houses, lined up like cereal boxes on a shelf. They all looked the same, probably were the same design, inside and out, built by the same hand sometime in the black-and-white 1950s.”
Related reading: Want Not by Jonathan Miles also revolves around Thanksgiving 2007.
I liked the dual meaning of the title – it’s a play on words a bit like Broken Homes and Gardens – though Pope might have taken it a bit further by turning one of the two central dogs into a puppy who keeps having accidents in the house (judging by the appealing cover image, I assumed this would be the case).
My favorite touches were the comical dialogue between a handful of old folks and a description of the cookie-cutter buildings in the Connecticut suburbs: “all the little houses, lined up like cereal boxes on a shelf. They all looked the same, probably were the same design, inside and out, built by the same hand sometime in the black-and-white 1950s.”
Related reading: Want Not by Jonathan Miles also revolves around Thanksgiving 2007.
January 9, 2022
This was a really well-executed story from the perspective of 5 characters in two families that interact. In one family we follow an elderly father and middle-aged son and their respective love lives and in the other family, we follow a father, mother, and daughter. It felt perfectly paced and I was interested throughout the book.
September 23, 2015
This is a very well done and extremely disturbing book. The title is perfect for the story because it captures housebreaking on multiple levels. This story is raw and could be disturbing to some readers. For the prudish reader the raw sex topics and discussion in this book will be very off putting. While I couldn't put this book down, it made me feel stressed and kind of ill. A broad range of topics are adeptly explored including elderly parents, their loneliness and elder care, elderly love and romance, marital strife and broken marriages, infidelity, loss of a child and the subsequent grief and affect on the family, teenage relationships and sexual exploration, teen drug usage and sourcing of illicit drugs, phone sex, teen suicide.
Two families are examined and their lives intersect. Andrew Murray, a successful lawyer, and his wife Audrey Martin-Murray relocate and buy the Eleanor Hufnagle farm home in Wintonbury, CT. They restore it and move in with their daughter Emily. Their son, Daniel, has recently died.
Benjamin Mandelbaum and his wife Judy have a marriage on the rocks. Judy accuses Benjamin of infidelity and kicks him out of their home. Benjamin moves in with his elderly father, Leonard. Leonard's wife, Myra, has recently passed away. Leonard owns the Cadillac car dealership and Benjamin works for his dad. The Mandelbaum's are Jewish. Pope brings the reader through a hilarious opening exchange as we get to know the Mandelbaums. Leonard meets Terri Funkhauser, a younger widow, of his friend Dick.
Benjamin realizes the new neighbor down the hill from Leonard, is Audrey Martin, a girl whom he had a crush on his high school. Benjamin finds companionship with Audrey. Meanwhile Andrew becomes entangled in a terrible event at work with Johnny Sampson. No one is paying attention to Emily and she becomes involved with Billy Stacks and B-Ray which leads to terrible decisions and outcomes. Many events simultaneously occur at 11:58 PM, Monday, November 26, 2007.
This book made me laugh, it made feel sick because it is intense, and I cannot stop thinking about it. I believe this is an accurate reflection on many homes and marriages in America. A great, great book for book group discussions.
Two families are examined and their lives intersect. Andrew Murray, a successful lawyer, and his wife Audrey Martin-Murray relocate and buy the Eleanor Hufnagle farm home in Wintonbury, CT. They restore it and move in with their daughter Emily. Their son, Daniel, has recently died.
Benjamin Mandelbaum and his wife Judy have a marriage on the rocks. Judy accuses Benjamin of infidelity and kicks him out of their home. Benjamin moves in with his elderly father, Leonard. Leonard's wife, Myra, has recently passed away. Leonard owns the Cadillac car dealership and Benjamin works for his dad. The Mandelbaum's are Jewish. Pope brings the reader through a hilarious opening exchange as we get to know the Mandelbaums. Leonard meets Terri Funkhauser, a younger widow, of his friend Dick.
Benjamin realizes the new neighbor down the hill from Leonard, is Audrey Martin, a girl whom he had a crush on his high school. Benjamin finds companionship with Audrey. Meanwhile Andrew becomes entangled in a terrible event at work with Johnny Sampson. No one is paying attention to Emily and she becomes involved with Billy Stacks and B-Ray which leads to terrible decisions and outcomes. Many events simultaneously occur at 11:58 PM, Monday, November 26, 2007.
This book made me laugh, it made feel sick because it is intense, and I cannot stop thinking about it. I believe this is an accurate reflection on many homes and marriages in America. A great, great book for book group discussions.
May 3, 2015
I devoured this book. Dan Pope has given readers a tragi-comic novel of the suburbs, where all is clearly not as well as the manicured exteriors appear.
Ben Mandelbaum, a 40 something man with two kids in college, has just been kicked out of the house by his wife. He moves back into his childhood home with his newly-widowed father. Shortly after moving in, he learns that his high school crush has just moved into the house down the street from his father. And thus begins the intersecting stories of lives in a small town in CT -- sadness, lust, regret, hope, angst, and more.
Pope lushly describes his characters (I still feel like I can smell the cheap perfume worn by one) and each has a distinct voice. One quibble is that the reader is left hanging a bit wondering what happens with Andrew, one of the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Ben Mandelbaum, a 40 something man with two kids in college, has just been kicked out of the house by his wife. He moves back into his childhood home with his newly-widowed father. Shortly after moving in, he learns that his high school crush has just moved into the house down the street from his father. And thus begins the intersecting stories of lives in a small town in CT -- sadness, lust, regret, hope, angst, and more.
Pope lushly describes his characters (I still feel like I can smell the cheap perfume worn by one) and each has a distinct voice. One quibble is that the reader is left hanging a bit wondering what happens with Andrew, one of the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2016
This is NOT what I expected. I was hooked after the first page. The author draws you into life of Benjamin and his dissolving marriage. Benjamin has justified reasons for wanting to leave his ever nagging wife. How dare she tell him to leave?
What you think might happen, well...I'm not telling. Be prepared for a bumpy, twisted, exciting, unpredictable, throw you for an unexpected loop ride. What a thrill ride it was!
The characters are believable, and the plot superb. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
Outstanding is an understatement.
(There are a couple graphic sexual scenarios, but the book is just so darn good.)
What you think might happen, well...I'm not telling. Be prepared for a bumpy, twisted, exciting, unpredictable, throw you for an unexpected loop ride. What a thrill ride it was!
The characters are believable, and the plot superb. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
Outstanding is an understatement.
(There are a couple graphic sexual scenarios, but the book is just so darn good.)
April 26, 2015
A special thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
E N T E R T A I N I N G !
Dan Pope, delivers a witty, psychological, and contemporary portrayal- HOUSEBREAKING, of modern American suburban relationships – two families and four lives, a journey of dysfunction, fidelity, desire, and loss.
A husband, Benjamin Mandelbaum is a cheater, and has done so, one time too many. Judy, his wife had given him one more chance and he blew it. However, this time it is more the incriminating evidence which convicted him before the jury was out.
Ben, mid-forties, distraught returns to his childhood home, (with his dog) to a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, where his widower eighty- year- old father, Leonard resides. He is not thrilled with moving in with his dad and now feeling like a loser having to move into his old room; and even worse his dad has started dating. He misses his wife and his family.
Things begin to heat up and look a little more exciting, when surprisingly, a girl from his past turns out to be his neighbor and how interesting it is. Audrey, now a housewife and mother of a troubled teen daughter, married to a lawyer, who does not pay her too much attention. However, Ben is there to pick up the slack, as he happened to be attracted her way back when, and appears as it is still going strong (lots of excitement here, with hormones flying). Audrey is carrying a secret, and she appears to be receiving some release with Ben, while her husband evidently has a roving eye, as well and trying out the "other side", with a business associate.
The entire family is rebelling, as their teenage daughter, Emily is acting out after losing her brother, as well. She is hanging out with the wrong crowd, and now she is teaming up with the neighborhood thief by breaking into homes, including Bens.
As the pressure builds something has to give with the lives hiding behind the façade of a happy suburban neighborhood. When life gets in the way, Pope uses flawed characters, family drama, humor, obstacles, and tragedy to bring this group to their senses for an insightful and engaging account into complexities of marriage, family, love and loss. Wisteria Lane and Desperate Housewives, move over- you may have some competition.
JDC Must Read Books
E N T E R T A I N I N G !
Dan Pope, delivers a witty, psychological, and contemporary portrayal- HOUSEBREAKING, of modern American suburban relationships – two families and four lives, a journey of dysfunction, fidelity, desire, and loss.
A husband, Benjamin Mandelbaum is a cheater, and has done so, one time too many. Judy, his wife had given him one more chance and he blew it. However, this time it is more the incriminating evidence which convicted him before the jury was out.
Ben, mid-forties, distraught returns to his childhood home, (with his dog) to a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, where his widower eighty- year- old father, Leonard resides. He is not thrilled with moving in with his dad and now feeling like a loser having to move into his old room; and even worse his dad has started dating. He misses his wife and his family.
Things begin to heat up and look a little more exciting, when surprisingly, a girl from his past turns out to be his neighbor and how interesting it is. Audrey, now a housewife and mother of a troubled teen daughter, married to a lawyer, who does not pay her too much attention. However, Ben is there to pick up the slack, as he happened to be attracted her way back when, and appears as it is still going strong (lots of excitement here, with hormones flying). Audrey is carrying a secret, and she appears to be receiving some release with Ben, while her husband evidently has a roving eye, as well and trying out the "other side", with a business associate.
The entire family is rebelling, as their teenage daughter, Emily is acting out after losing her brother, as well. She is hanging out with the wrong crowd, and now she is teaming up with the neighborhood thief by breaking into homes, including Bens.
As the pressure builds something has to give with the lives hiding behind the façade of a happy suburban neighborhood. When life gets in the way, Pope uses flawed characters, family drama, humor, obstacles, and tragedy to bring this group to their senses for an insightful and engaging account into complexities of marriage, family, love and loss. Wisteria Lane and Desperate Housewives, move over- you may have some competition.
JDC Must Read Books
February 5, 2017
It's odd when a domestic fiction book turns in to a page turner, a phrase usually reserved to describe a thriller, but Housebreaking sucked me into its suburbia story about two families and what goes on behind closed doors in upper class Wintonbury, Connecticut.
Housebreaking is about two families: the Mendelbaums and the Murrays. Middle-aged Benjamin Mendelbaum is separated from his wife and distant from his two teen children, and has recently moved back home with his father for the time being; Audrey Martin-Murray, a looker Benjamin salivated over in high school, has recently moved back with her husband and teen daughter a few houses away after the death of her favorite child, Daniel.
In the ensuing months much happens with these two families—affairs, betrayals, addictions—as their lives intersect in tragic ways and, surprisingly, healing ways. I love stories that take different viewpoints about one incident and many points-of-views, so we know what was happening with different characters at that time. I love how my preconceived notion about these characters and their motivations was many times flipped on its head. As in life, people can sometimes surprise us.
There are many beautiful passages in Housebreaking, and this is my favorite told by Emily, the troubled daughter of Audrey and Andrew who misses her brother too much to care about losing herself: It was like starting blank. She let the past refill her, choosing what to admit and what to banish. It would become her story to tell. Later, she would look back and say that when she was seventeen, she tried to commit suicide but ended up killing only the parts of herself she no longer wanted.
I look forward to reading more of Dan Pope's books in the future. He reminds me of my favorite fiction writers who focus on family dynamics and what really goes on behind closed doors: Anne Tyler, Alice Hoffman, Bruce Jay Freedman, Elizabeth Berg, Dorothy Allison, Thomas Berger, Pat Conroy, Judith Guest, and Anne Rivers Siddons.
Housebreaking is about two families: the Mendelbaums and the Murrays. Middle-aged Benjamin Mendelbaum is separated from his wife and distant from his two teen children, and has recently moved back home with his father for the time being; Audrey Martin-Murray, a looker Benjamin salivated over in high school, has recently moved back with her husband and teen daughter a few houses away after the death of her favorite child, Daniel.
In the ensuing months much happens with these two families—affairs, betrayals, addictions—as their lives intersect in tragic ways and, surprisingly, healing ways. I love stories that take different viewpoints about one incident and many points-of-views, so we know what was happening with different characters at that time. I love how my preconceived notion about these characters and their motivations was many times flipped on its head. As in life, people can sometimes surprise us.
There are many beautiful passages in Housebreaking, and this is my favorite told by Emily, the troubled daughter of Audrey and Andrew who misses her brother too much to care about losing herself: It was like starting blank. She let the past refill her, choosing what to admit and what to banish. It would become her story to tell. Later, she would look back and say that when she was seventeen, she tried to commit suicide but ended up killing only the parts of herself she no longer wanted.
I look forward to reading more of Dan Pope's books in the future. He reminds me of my favorite fiction writers who focus on family dynamics and what really goes on behind closed doors: Anne Tyler, Alice Hoffman, Bruce Jay Freedman, Elizabeth Berg, Dorothy Allison, Thomas Berger, Pat Conroy, Judith Guest, and Anne Rivers Siddons.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2019
A look behind the facade of a so-called 'perfect' suburban neighborhood, which is at times, wry and funny, but disturbingly gripping.
HOUSEBREAKING has long been on my TBR and I finally got the chance to dive in this summer. And I loved it. Audrey and Andrew are tired of their life--they move into an old farmhouse and decide to renovate it. Their daughter, 17 year old Emily is a mess and looking for love in all the wrong places. In fact, this entire family is disintegrating.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Mendelbaum's wife has kicked him to the curb and so he moves in with his 84 year old father. But the father is charming and adorable and soon has a lady friend of his own...but it's not exactly what you think. Meanwhile, Benjamin learns his high school crush has moved into the old farmhouse...
What might appear predictable, HOUSEBREAKING is not. Told from three distinct POVs--Audrey's, Ben's, and Andrew's, with touches of Leonard and Emily, HOUSEBREAKING is powerful and provacative, taking readers deep into suburban secrets, revealing darker truths. At times, this story is a bit disturbing, but how I loved the multiple layers, about how we all have good intentions, but those can often go awry. I marveled at the writing, the nuances, the details, how Pope was able to weave effortlessly and astutely throughout different POVs.
Overall, I found HOUSEBREAKING a gorgeously written, gripping literary drama that is both authentic, clever, and yet melancholy.Those who like the work of Tom Perrotta (LITTLE CHILDREN) will appreciate this read, with a touch of THE IMMORTALISTS (Chloe Benjamin) meets Elizabeth Berg (ARTHUR TRULUV).
For all my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book.
HOUSEBREAKING has long been on my TBR and I finally got the chance to dive in this summer. And I loved it. Audrey and Andrew are tired of their life--they move into an old farmhouse and decide to renovate it. Their daughter, 17 year old Emily is a mess and looking for love in all the wrong places. In fact, this entire family is disintegrating.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Mendelbaum's wife has kicked him to the curb and so he moves in with his 84 year old father. But the father is charming and adorable and soon has a lady friend of his own...but it's not exactly what you think. Meanwhile, Benjamin learns his high school crush has moved into the old farmhouse...
What might appear predictable, HOUSEBREAKING is not. Told from three distinct POVs--Audrey's, Ben's, and Andrew's, with touches of Leonard and Emily, HOUSEBREAKING is powerful and provacative, taking readers deep into suburban secrets, revealing darker truths. At times, this story is a bit disturbing, but how I loved the multiple layers, about how we all have good intentions, but those can often go awry. I marveled at the writing, the nuances, the details, how Pope was able to weave effortlessly and astutely throughout different POVs.
Overall, I found HOUSEBREAKING a gorgeously written, gripping literary drama that is both authentic, clever, and yet melancholy.Those who like the work of Tom Perrotta (LITTLE CHILDREN) will appreciate this read, with a touch of THE IMMORTALISTS (Chloe Benjamin) meets Elizabeth Berg (ARTHUR TRULUV).
For all my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book.
December 18, 2017
I liked the first quarter of the book, especially the author's style of writing. However, things got disturbing fast, and only ramped up from there. By the time I got to the section of "Andrew Murray", I realized where the book was going, and dumped it. I admit I did flip to the last few pages to read the conclusion, partly due to curiosity, and partly due to rationalizing the fact that I read 3/4ths of the story already to only get to the point of tossing it aside. The ending wasn't satisfying in my opinion, as so much was dedicated to the disturbing details of these characters, but nothing was dedicated to their recoveries and healing.....the last few pages made it seem as though, "it just happened". The level of profanity and vulgarity was unnecessary. Interesting story on the forefront, but ultimately found it depressing, disturbing, and offensive.
March 15, 2016
Had this book on my list for quite a while and almost took it off. I'm very glad I didn't. It was smartly written and the story cleverly told. Read almost like a mystery, but was a compelling story of restlessness, grief, and longing, and two families coming apart. Really enjoyed it and couldn't wait to see how Pope wrapped it all up.
June 17, 2018
The description didn't do a ton for me in terms of drawing me in, but I absolutely couldn't put this book down. I love that you get to hear the story from several characters' perspectives. It's very emotional, a bit disturbing, and all around enthralling. My best advice is to keep track of the timeline!
decided-not-to-read
February 15, 2017I didn't care for the behavior of the characters, so abandoned this. just a random shelf pick.
March 17, 2019
reminded me a bit of The Ice Storm.
April 3, 2023
Benjamin's wife has kicked him out of the house so he's returned to his father's home. A new family moved in down the street and Benjamin is amazed to find it's Audrey Martin, his crush from high school. And so it begins.
What a great book! So well written and I felt totally engaged with the characters. Highly recommended.
What a great book! So well written and I felt totally engaged with the characters. Highly recommended.
June 14, 2015
Very well done, ominous view of how quickly so many things can go very wrong on the domestic front. Taking place in the Hartford, CT area, the main character, Ben, has been kicked out of his house by his fed up wife. She knows him very well, she knows he's been unfaithful more than once, and she knows when he's lying. Every time. He seems to feel like the victim. His soon to be ex does not come across well as they sporadically and bitterly interact, but that's understandable.
He's staying in his childhood room, in his childhood home, since his father has conveniently had a stroke. That allows Ben to be not so much the prodigal son, but provides a set up for what he thinks is a wonderful coincidence. Just down the road, an old farmhouse has been rehabbed. His high school crush has moved back to town with her workaholic, distant, deceptive,and arrogant lawyer husband. Their one living child is living on the edge, missing her late brother, and winds up stealing meds from every household cabinet she finds.
Primarily taking place from November to December 2007 (just before the economic collapse?) this small world of sneaks engages in all kinds of dangerous behavior. The novel reads with a good amount of tension, and avoids (for the most part) predictable outcomes. We know that the lawyer husband is in real career trouble, the real estate market will crash, that Ben, whose family business is in Cadillacs, the burst bubbles will carry long term impact for all the characters.
A winceable chapter that needs snipping at the end is the last one before the epilogue. Do NOT give me 'eight years later so and so will find...' Stick with the tight framework of where we have to leave the characters. The epilogue is not really that. It's just a good ending.
He's staying in his childhood room, in his childhood home, since his father has conveniently had a stroke. That allows Ben to be not so much the prodigal son, but provides a set up for what he thinks is a wonderful coincidence. Just down the road, an old farmhouse has been rehabbed. His high school crush has moved back to town with her workaholic, distant, deceptive,and arrogant lawyer husband. Their one living child is living on the edge, missing her late brother, and winds up stealing meds from every household cabinet she finds.
Primarily taking place from November to December 2007 (just before the economic collapse?) this small world of sneaks engages in all kinds of dangerous behavior. The novel reads with a good amount of tension, and avoids (for the most part) predictable outcomes. We know that the lawyer husband is in real career trouble, the real estate market will crash, that Ben, whose family business is in Cadillacs, the burst bubbles will carry long term impact for all the characters.
A winceable chapter that needs snipping at the end is the last one before the epilogue. Do NOT give me 'eight years later so and so will find...' Stick with the tight framework of where we have to leave the characters. The epilogue is not really that. It's just a good ending.
November 6, 2015
Yes, I enjoyed it! And nary a monster nor an alien to be found.
Beginning with Benjamin Mandelbaum suffering a severe repercussion in his marriage which, although truly deserved, resulted from an act not actually committed. Who among us has not been outraged at the injustice of this kind of thing?...All the while knowing it to be well-deserved? Karma, even! And so I was hooked.
His life then takes an out-of-the-ordinary turn as he and his non-judgmental dog digress to living once again at his boyhood home in Connecticut. Once there, Benjamin's teenage memories carve a direct path to his libido as he reacquaints himself with a high school crush whose once cavalier youth has since been as heavily burdened as has his.
Not in little due to the vastly differing individual viewpoints from each participant granting the reader a very entertaining perception of events, there comes a climactic point one evening for all concerned that did not disappoint this reader. Thank you to Goodreads for this opportunity. Good story!
Beginning with Benjamin Mandelbaum suffering a severe repercussion in his marriage which, although truly deserved, resulted from an act not actually committed. Who among us has not been outraged at the injustice of this kind of thing?...All the while knowing it to be well-deserved? Karma, even! And so I was hooked.
His life then takes an out-of-the-ordinary turn as he and his non-judgmental dog digress to living once again at his boyhood home in Connecticut. Once there, Benjamin's teenage memories carve a direct path to his libido as he reacquaints himself with a high school crush whose once cavalier youth has since been as heavily burdened as has his.
Not in little due to the vastly differing individual viewpoints from each participant granting the reader a very entertaining perception of events, there comes a climactic point one evening for all concerned that did not disappoint this reader. Thank you to Goodreads for this opportunity. Good story!
January 17, 2015
When the Murray family moved into a historic farmhouse in a suburban Connecticut community, theiir lives intersected with the Mandelbaum family.. Benjamin Mandelbaum's wife, Judy, had thrown him out and filed for a divorce. When he moved into the home of elderly father,,Leonard, he discovered that Audrey Murray, the girl he had a crush on high school, was living with her family in the historic house. Audrey was still getting over the accidental death of a child and also felt neglected by her high powered attorney-husband, Andrew. So it was inevitable that Audrey and Benjamin would began an affair. Both Benjamin and Audrey had teens who were difficult but Audrey's daughter, Emily was very trubled and destructive.
This book examines middle aged suburbanites and the changes they go through as they age and discover that their current lives are not what they expected. The author developes each character skillfully and gives us an insight into their prior lives.
This book examines middle aged suburbanites and the changes they go through as they age and discover that their current lives are not what they expected. The author developes each character skillfully and gives us an insight into their prior lives.
May 19, 2019
C’est ce genre de livre où tu te retrouves témoin de la vie ordinaire des personnages. Rien d’extraordinaire ne se passe, mais le style de l’auteur, l’ambiance qui y règne te tiennent en haleine autant voire plus encore qu’un bon thriller.
En tant que lecteur tu te sens un peu comme voyeur de la vie de ces deux familles et c’est psychologiquement plaisant d’avoir une telle compréhension d’autres êtres humains. C’est un livre qui t’apprend sur la vie, la vieillesse, les relations humaines, l’adolescence. C’est vraiment complet et c’est vraiment cool à lire. Je commence à me rendre compte que j’aime beaucoup ce genre de livre où rien d’incroyable ne se passe mais avoir accès à l’introspection des personnages par le style de l’auteur te fait apprendre tellement de choses sur les gens en général. C’est comme rencontrer quelqu’un qui te raconte sa vie, sauf que tu rencontre un livre.
En tant que lecteur tu te sens un peu comme voyeur de la vie de ces deux familles et c’est psychologiquement plaisant d’avoir une telle compréhension d’autres êtres humains. C’est un livre qui t’apprend sur la vie, la vieillesse, les relations humaines, l’adolescence. C’est vraiment complet et c’est vraiment cool à lire. Je commence à me rendre compte que j’aime beaucoup ce genre de livre où rien d’incroyable ne se passe mais avoir accès à l’introspection des personnages par le style de l’auteur te fait apprendre tellement de choses sur les gens en général. C’est comme rencontrer quelqu’un qui te raconte sa vie, sauf que tu rencontre un livre.
January 16, 2015
This a a story of perception into family life. Emily and her mother and father move to a farmhouse in her mom's hometown. Benjamin is kicked out of his house by his wife and he moves back to live with his father. Emily is dealing with the death of her brother which leads her to unsavory friends and issues at school. Her mother deals with life by hooking up with high school acquaintance, Benjamin while her dad gets buried in his law firm. It isn't long before her life explodes and these two families have to rebuild yet again. Dan Pope has written a great story that makes you want to yell at the parents to pay attention. The story has so many possibilities you aren't sure what the outcome will be.
June 16, 2015
People behaving badly in the suburbs – what’s not to love? Benjamin's wife kicks him out, so he moves in with his widowed father, only to discover that his high school girl crush just moved into the old farm house at the bottom of the street. She doesn’t remember Benjamin, but she’s only too happy to hook up with him because she resents her husband who spends far too much time away from home nursing a crush of his own. And then there’s their daughter Emily who seems hell-bent on punishing herself, only everyone is too self-absorbed to notice. Even the minor characters are interesting and well-drawn, from the nosy next-door-neighbor Franky, to the crass but somehow loveable Terry Funkhouser. Lots of nasty stuff going on here, and it makes for a fabulous read.
November 24, 2015
An absolutely brilliant exploration of the dark -- and self-absorbed and self-destructive -- places the members of a family go after suffering a tragedy. Told from multiple points of view. You sympathize with each character whose head you're in, and get angry with the others who seem oblivious to them, until you get inside each of the other characters' heads and then develop a deep understanding of why they are behaving as they are. An amazing well-told, well-written story.
July 2, 2015
Masterful novel of families, heartbreak, and life
Dan Pope gives us a new novel of the 21st century that shows us who we are, how we live, and what makes real people tick.
With characters as deep as any in American fiction, Housebreaking works along the lines of Ford's Bascom novels, Perrotta's Little Children and Franzen's Freedom, and goes beyond to new levels of sex, feeling and consequence. This book deserves to stand among the best of our time.
Dan Pope gives us a new novel of the 21st century that shows us who we are, how we live, and what makes real people tick.
With characters as deep as any in American fiction, Housebreaking works along the lines of Ford's Bascom novels, Perrotta's Little Children and Franzen's Freedom, and goes beyond to new levels of sex, feeling and consequence. This book deserves to stand among the best of our time.
May 11, 2015
Dan Pope has written an engaging book about the lies we tell and the secrets we keep. Examining the same time period from the perspective of three different characters provided a richness of depth and insight to this novel of suburbia. A though provoking and absorbing read.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
January 3, 2016
This novel starts off quiet but from the middle to the end it packs a punch. I found the structure original, the characters interesting, and the way their lives intersect compelling. Strongly recommend.
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