Dream House: A Novel

by: Valerie Laken

Published by: HarperCollins

Reviewed by Peg Brantley

Kate Kinzler longs for a house to call her own. The student lifestyle she and her husband, Stuart, have been living isn’t satisfying any more. She wants to build her life, and that includes finding a home.

When her parents gift her with the opportunity to buy some real estate, the search begins, ending with a fixer-upper in Ann Arbor. One in which, almost twenty years prior, violence resulted in a murder—a fact that was never disclosed to the Kinzlers. With every improvement Kate makes to the house on Macon Street, her troubled marriage seems to crumble a little bit more, until one morning, she finds herself living alone.

Two men, each with ties to the house, form a relationship with Kate, and between the three of them, the renovations begin to take shape. When she learns the truth of what happened in her home, and the connections the two men have with it, the tenuous threads she’d been holding on to threaten to break.

Laken offers a sensitive and compelling look at relationships and class, family and race, in a society where owning a home is not always the same as creating one. She offers a story that is thoughtful and honest without contrivance. Her character construction is flawless.

Armchair Interview says: Highly recommended as a powerful 5-star debut novel.

Author’s Web site: http://www.ValerieLaken.com