The Red House

The Red House (2012) by Mark Haddon. A fascinating and penetrating look at a large, dysfunctional family made up of a brother and sister and their spouses and children. The whole clan gets together for a joint vacation in a house ("the red house") in Scotland, and gradually, as they interact, secrets and long-forgotten hurts come to the fore. I found this book a bit hard to follow the first time through. There is a large number of characters, and each is introduced just once -- if you don't catch it the first time, you are lost. But I found that after finishing the book, I was able to start at the beginning again and be completely at home. Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and A Spot of Bother, is a masterful writer and his books draw the reader in and keep them involved. This is a really good book. Grade: B+