Keeping the House: A Novel by Ellen Baker
I did not expect to like this book.
First, I have the paperback, so the cover was one of an apron and, in my opinion, did not really represent the book well. I picked it up expecting a fluff book on what being a wife in the 50′s was all about. And sure, it touched on some of those issues…but then it really started to dig deep.
Dolly moves to a town in Wisconsin with her new husband and falls in love with a ramshackle mansion up on the hill. Through the gossip of the Ladies Aid and, eventually, the story from a family member who owns the house, she uncovers the mystery of what has happened there.
The book covers three time periods. Two of them during the first and second world war. Marriages are laid open and bare in front of the reader and the pretty little picture I had in my head of apron, martinis and casseroles was dashed to pieces.
The addition of the quotes throughout the book was a fantastic tough. It felt so out of touch with everything that was happening – in much the same way the women during these eras probably felt as well. We’ve really come quite far in the last 50 years.. but have still a ways to go. That said – thank goodness my life isn’t that of Dolly’s.
I liked this family saga book better than I did Roses. It delved deeper into the lives of each family member and really had me frantically turning pages to get to the end.
