A House Among The Trees
By Julia Glass
Pantheon Books, Hardcover, 9781101870365, June 13, 2017, 368pp.
The Short of It:
Strong story potential that fell flat for me.
The Rest of It:
From Indiebound:
When the revered children’s book author Mort Lear dies accidentally at his Connecticut home, he leaves his property and all its contents to his trusted assistant, Tomasina Daulair, who is moved by his generosity but dismayed by the complicated and defiant directives in his will.
This book is said to be a tribute to Maurice Sendak, the beloved illustrator and author of children’s books and the inspiration behind the main character for A House Among the Trees. When I read that blurb, I just had to read it.
Morty Lear falls from his roof to his death and leaves his estate to Tommy, his long-time live-in assistant. Much of the story centers around the visit of a well-known actor who has been cast to play Morty in a film and how Tommy has to deal with that and all the other things required of her.
Normally, this type of story intrigues me but this time I felt no connection whatsoever to the characters. I can’t even say why. I could not connect or relate to any of them and there seemed to be a lot of back and forth where things didn’t flow well. Perhaps that is more of an editing issue. Not sure, but in the end this one didn’t work for me at all and I really wanted to love it.
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
It’s so disappointing to have an anticipated book fall so flat. That happened to me recently with My Absolute Darling
My Absolute Darling is on my list too so it will be interesting to see how I like it. I think you and I have similar reading tastes.
I’ll be waiting for your review, I’m not sure I’ll be going back and reading anymore of it. I agree, we seem to like or not like a lot of the same types of books:)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts – I think I’ll skip this one.
I hate to not recommend a book but I have to be honest. For ME, I always say ME because I’m sure someone else loved it, it just didn’t work. I know she is a very popular author so I really wanted to love it.
I am sad that it didn’t work for you especially when you really wanted it to…
I know. I spent so much time reading it and really giving it a chance but it just didn’t work out.
The book’s idea really intrigues me as well and would normally be something I would definitely like, but life is too short for books I’m going to feel bad about. The older I get, the more I’m apt to DNF something if it doesn’t just grab me early…or start something that I’m even a little bit unsure about. Thanks for the honest review 🙂
Yeah, I’ve read one other book by this author and had the same response. It takes a really long time for the players to be introduced in a way that you “get” them and then there was no engagement. Not my style I guess.
It’s sad when a book we think we’ll love falls short. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it more.
It’s gotten some good reviews so maybe she just doesn’t work for me.
Your “short of it” pretty much sums up every Glass book I’ve read.
I tried to read one other Glass book and it was a DNF so my track record isn’t so great with this author.
Yeah I have heard some of Julia Glass’s other books fell flat as well, but I have tried her books yet. I think I will skip her though the premise does sound good. Too bad.
She is really quite popular so I guess it’s just a matter of style.
I hate when you really want to love a book and there just isn’t a connection to the characters
Such potential! Too bad it fell flat; that is so disappointing.