The Hundred-Year House: A Novel
by Rebecca Makkai
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very Good-
- ISBN 10
- 0143127446
- ISBN 13
- 9780143127444
- Seller
-
Poulsbo, Washington, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Meet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who detests her parents' wealth but nevertheless finds herself living in their carriage house; Gracie, her mother, who claims she can tell your lot in life by looking at your teeth; and Bruce, her step-father, stockpiling supplies for the Y2K apocalypse and perpetually late for his tee time. Then there's Violet Devohr, Zee's great-grandmother, who they say took her own life somewhere in the vast house, and whose massive oil portrait still hangs in the dining room.
Violet's portrait was known to terrify the artists who resided at the house from the 1920s to the 1950s, when it served as the Laurelfield Arts Colony—and this is exactly the period Zee's husband, Doug, is interested in. An out-of-work academic whose only hope of a future position is securing a book deal, Doug is stalled on his biography of the poet Edwin Parfitt, once in residence at the colony. All he needs to get the book back on track—besides some motivation and self-esteem—is access to the colony records, rotting away in the attic for decades. But when Doug begins to poke around where he shouldn't, he finds Gracie guards the files with a strange ferocity, raising questions about what she might be hiding. The secrets of the hundred-year house would turn everything Doug and Zee think they know about her family on its head—that is, if they were to ever uncover them.
In this brilliantly conceived, ambitious, and deeply rewarding novel, Rebecca Makkai unfolds a generational saga in reverse, leading the reader back in time on a literary scavenger hunt as we seek to uncover the truth about these strange people and this mysterious house. With intelligence and humor, a daring narrative approach, and a lovingly satirical voice, Rebecca Makkai has crafted an unforgettable novel about family, fate and the incredible surprises life can offer.
For readers of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle
Synopsis
A dazzlingly original new novel for readers of Where’d You Go, Bernadette , from the acclaimed author of The Borrower Rebecca Makkai is one of the most admired young fiction writers in America. Her short fiction was selected for The Best American Short Stories for four years running, and Richard Russo has called her as sneakily ambitious as she is unpretentious . . . a writer to watch.” Now, Makkai returns with an ingenious novel set at a historic estate that once housed an arts colony. Doug, the husband of the estate’s heir, desperately needs the colony files to get his stalled academic career back on track. But what he discovers when he finally gets his hands on them is more than he bargained for. Doug may never learn the house’s secrets, but the reader will, as Makkai leads us on a thrilling journey into the past of this eccentric family. With an intelligence and wit reminiscent of Maria Semple, and a daring narrative approach that brings to mind Kate Atkinson and David Mitchell, Rebecca Makkai has crafted an unforgettable novel about identity, fate, and the incredible surprises life can offer.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Lemolo Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2363
- Title
- The Hundred-Year House: A Novel
- Author
- Rebecca Makkai
- Format/Binding
- Book G, minor shelf ware, no damage or markings
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good-
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0143127446
- ISBN 13
- 9780143127444
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- Date Published
- 2015-05
- Pages
- 368
- Keywords
- house, history, generational saga, historical fiction,
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction Books;