The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Engrossing, multigenerational tale of a manor house that served as the home for the wealthy Devohr family’s black-sheep daughter, an artist colony, the once-again home of the Devohr’s heirs, and then finally an artist colony once again. The revelations are buried as deep as family secrets, and the novel takes its time to unwind them all. Personally, I found the opening section (with Zee and Doug) much more interesting and liked the comedy and the emotional tension. I wish the novel had remained there to play out its many reveals. But the history of the house and the family that built it is interesting in its own way too. Sometimes the artists from the bygone colony felt a little stereotypically “artististic,” but that’s a mild complaint for a book is enjoyable as this one.