Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Publisher Unknown (1969)
Description
Reveals how luck-- good and bad-- plays a vital role in our lives, and how the search for truth can prove a dangerous undertaking.
User reviews
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
Told in four distinct sections, this novel is a powerful and affecting story centering around the way in which the characters connect and disconnect with each other, the ways in which we fail each other, and how self-absorbtion overtakes and smothers. The narrative is both set in the present and
First in the story is Sean, the boyfriend of Abigail, who owns the eponymous house. He is completely blocked on his doctoral dissertation and taking on questionable writing projects with a partner whom he doesn't respect in order to pay his share of the rent upon which arrangement Abigail insists despite the fact that he left his wife for her. As Sean and Abigail's relationship disintegrates, Sean becomes more and more fascinated by his current writing project on suicide. Wanting to discuss the project, he turns, very occasionally to Dara, Abigail's friend from university who lives in the basement flat of the house on Fortune Street.
The second section focuses on Cameron, Dara's father, who left his wife and children many years ago and who has hidden distasteful things about himself from his children. He is (or was) an amateur photographer whose kinship of feeling with Charles Dodgson is disturbing and is detailed during this section through important and defining snapshots of Dara's childhood and pre-pubescence.
The third section opens with Dara meeting Edward, her elusive boyfriend whose presence or absence mirrors Dara's feelings. Happy when she can spend time with him but miserable when he has disappeared into his other life (he still lives with his partner, the mother of his child), Dara is more similar than not to the women she counsels at the crisis center where she works, pinning her hopes on an unreliable man. In addition to the woes in her love life, Dara's working life is fully fleshed out in this section as is her adult relationship with her father, helping to create a more complete picture of Dara.
The fourth section centers on Abigail's college memories and her entrance into Dara's life, filling in the last bit of the puzzle that is this story. And while the reader has long known where the story has no choice but to go having read the climax in the first section, this final narrative wraps everything up so that it, as a whole, feels authentic and somehow understandable.
I am still thinking about the power of this one, many days after having finished it. It's an interesting novel in terms of format and aside from the jolt of trying to figure out who Cameron was after the focus on Sean, I think the four sections were successful. There's much fodder for discussion here and the writing was simply luminous. I loved the constant literary connections, often made overtly, in this book, pairing each main character with a major British literary figure. There is a somewhat desperate and desolate feel to the narratives so don't look here for a happily ever after although Livesey has managed to inject a certain small measure of cautious hope by the end. But for a searching and insightful look at human nature, our flaws and weaknesses, and the way we fail each other in and out of the many different types of love, this is masterful.
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the past and the minute details serve to explain and illuminate the tragedy whose thread runs through each of the stories told between the covers. First in the story is Sean, the boyfriend of Abigail, who owns the eponymous house. He is completely blocked on his doctoral dissertation and taking on questionable writing projects with a partner whom he doesn't respect in order to pay his share of the rent upon which arrangement Abigail insists despite the fact that he left his wife for her. As Sean and Abigail's relationship disintegrates, Sean becomes more and more fascinated by his current writing project on suicide. Wanting to discuss the project, he turns, very occasionally to Dara, Abigail's friend from university who lives in the basement flat of the house on Fortune Street.
The second section focuses on Cameron, Dara's father, who left his wife and children many years ago and who has hidden distasteful things about himself from his children. He is (or was) an amateur photographer whose kinship of feeling with Charles Dodgson is disturbing and is detailed during this section through important and defining snapshots of Dara's childhood and pre-pubescence.
The third section opens with Dara meeting Edward, her elusive boyfriend whose presence or absence mirrors Dara's feelings. Happy when she can spend time with him but miserable when he has disappeared into his other life (he still lives with his partner, the mother of his child), Dara is more similar than not to the women she counsels at the crisis center where she works, pinning her hopes on an unreliable man. In addition to the woes in her love life, Dara's working life is fully fleshed out in this section as is her adult relationship with her father, helping to create a more complete picture of Dara.
The fourth section centers on Abigail's college memories and her entrance into Dara's life, filling in the last bit of the puzzle that is this story. And while the reader has long known where the story has no choice but to go having read the climax in the first section, this final narrative wraps everything up so that it, as a whole, feels authentic and somehow understandable.
I am still thinking about the power of this one, many days after having finished it. It's an interesting novel in terms of format and aside from the jolt of trying to figure out who Cameron was after the focus on Sean, I think the four sections were successful. There's much fodder for discussion here and the writing was simply luminous. I loved the constant literary connections, often made overtly, in this book, pairing each main character with a major British literary figure. There is a somewhat desperate and desolate feel to the narratives so don't look here for a happily ever after although Livesey has managed to inject a certain small measure of cautious hope by the end. But for a searching and insightful look at human nature, our flaws and weaknesses, and the way we fail each other in and out of the many different types of love, this is masterful.
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LibraryThing member kingsportlibrary
Terrific story of three children left motherless and how they coped. Great plot and good characterization.
LibraryThing member bachaney
"The House on Fortune Street" is a wonderfully complex novel set in contemporary London. The novel focuses on two friends, Dara and Abigail, and uses the voice of four distinct characters--each of the women, Sean, Abigail's boyfriend, and Cameron, Dara's father--to tell different segments of these
The novel starts in the present and works backwards, a technique which hooks you instantly, because you want to know how these characters reached the known resolution. Although the novel really focuses on the two women, each of Livesey's four narrators is a fully developed character and you sympathize with the plights of each.
"The House on Fortune Street" is emotional, complex and thoroughly engaging. I had my doubts about this book based on the somewhat lukewarm review it received in the New York Times, but it was definitely worth the read. I really loved this novel, and found myself identifying with the characters, even the less sympathetic ones. I am recommending this book to all of my friends--and if you like deep, literary reads, I am recommending it to you too!
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women's lives. The novel starts in the present and works backwards, a technique which hooks you instantly, because you want to know how these characters reached the known resolution. Although the novel really focuses on the two women, each of Livesey's four narrators is a fully developed character and you sympathize with the plights of each.
"The House on Fortune Street" is emotional, complex and thoroughly engaging. I had my doubts about this book based on the somewhat lukewarm review it received in the New York Times, but it was definitely worth the read. I really loved this novel, and found myself identifying with the characters, even the less sympathetic ones. I am recommending this book to all of my friends--and if you like deep, literary reads, I am recommending it to you too!
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LibraryThing member stonelaura
Using four different perspectives told in four sections we learn of the interconnectedness, as well as the great distances, between four closely involved characters.
The first section is told from the point of view of Seth as he struggles to finish his thesis on Keats. After receiving an anonymous
In the second section we jump back in time to Dara’s childhood with the section told by Cameron, her father. Cameron’s internal conflict focuses on his very Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) –like attraction to young girls. Although he is careful never to commit any crime his incessant photographing of Dara’s best friend finally lands him in trouble. The bitter divorce that follows haunts Dara for the rest of her life as she fights feelings of rejection. As a counselor she continually investigates the relationship of childhood events to adult development.
Next we hear from Dara herself as she falls hard for various unsuitable men until Edward, a concert violinist with whom she feels a deep connection, literally falls at her feet while jogging. Over the years Dara waits patiently as Edward prolongs his promise to leave his supposedly moribund relationship, just as soon as his daughter turns one, which morphs into a string of procrastinating untils.
In the final section we hear from Abigail. From the previous sections we know that she is a driven, somewhat aggressive achiever who will stop at almost nothing to attain her goals. She has had a difficult childhood but is taken in by Dara’s family during their college years. But, as she makes gains in her career she begins to lose control over her relationships with both Seth and Dara and she begins to question some of her long held beliefs.
Author Livesey thoroughly develops her characters and address complex issues with a serious and reflective tone. The stories all feels somewhat open-ended, leaving room for speculation and discussion.
The first section is told from the point of view of Seth as he struggles to finish his thesis on Keats. After receiving an anonymous
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letter informing him of his girlfriend Abigail’s infidelity he also begins to question his decision to divorce his seeming soul mate, Judy, in favor of Abigail’s persistence. As he and his best friend Valentine work together on a book on assisted suicide Seth also begins to examine his views on love. It only creates more confusion when it seems that Valentine might be the Mr. Cupid referred to in the letter. Amid all this their downstairs border, Dara, Abigail’s best friend from college, is suffering her own feelings of alienation.In the second section we jump back in time to Dara’s childhood with the section told by Cameron, her father. Cameron’s internal conflict focuses on his very Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) –like attraction to young girls. Although he is careful never to commit any crime his incessant photographing of Dara’s best friend finally lands him in trouble. The bitter divorce that follows haunts Dara for the rest of her life as she fights feelings of rejection. As a counselor she continually investigates the relationship of childhood events to adult development.
Next we hear from Dara herself as she falls hard for various unsuitable men until Edward, a concert violinist with whom she feels a deep connection, literally falls at her feet while jogging. Over the years Dara waits patiently as Edward prolongs his promise to leave his supposedly moribund relationship, just as soon as his daughter turns one, which morphs into a string of procrastinating untils.
In the final section we hear from Abigail. From the previous sections we know that she is a driven, somewhat aggressive achiever who will stop at almost nothing to attain her goals. She has had a difficult childhood but is taken in by Dara’s family during their college years. But, as she makes gains in her career she begins to lose control over her relationships with both Seth and Dara and she begins to question some of her long held beliefs.
Author Livesey thoroughly develops her characters and address complex issues with a serious and reflective tone. The stories all feels somewhat open-ended, leaving room for speculation and discussion.
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LibraryThing member stephaniechase
An surprising study of four connected people and the secrets that both bind and separate. This book was on the Entertainment Weekly list of the top fiction of the year; intrigued, I picked it up, for while I had purchased it for the Library, it hadn't really registered on my radar. As I started the
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novel, I wondered why it had made such an impression; the story begins with Sean, an academic who can't work on his dissertation, has become somewhat unhappy with the woman he left his wife for, etc. I was reminded of Byatt's "Possession," a far superior take on academic romance. I kept reading, though, and found myself hooked -- the narrator leaves out much of what you, the reader, want to know, very much like real life. Sean's section abruptly ends, and almost immediately into the next section, which focuses on another character, I was hooked. Without my realizing it, Livesey was illuminating other sides of the tale, presenting me with what I had missed and what the characters would likely never know. I gobbled up the rest of the book. Thank goodness I read those year-end lists! Show Less
LibraryThing member karieh
Although it certainly doesn’t occur in every story or every book – it seems to be very common that the end of a work of fiction ties back in some way to the beginning. In “The House on Fortune Street”, although I am sure it is probably my fault, the only link between the end and beginning
The four main characters of the novel – Sean, Dara, Abigail and Cameron are each given their own section of the book. In each, we look through their eyes at many of the events that tie them all together. I did feel as if I gained some insight as to why they did what they did, but there was still a barrier that left the question of why they were who they were unanswered.
(I did find it interesting though, that the one character whose head I most did not want to be in was the one character whose section is written in the first person. His thoughts, the images we see while inhabiting his mind, continue to bother me, days after finishing the book.)
And yet, that tantalizing bit that remains out of reach is hinted at in many ways throughout the book. Maybe, now that I think about it, that’s one of the main themes of the story.
“She was looking at him across the table, her eyes deep and steady, and he knew that if he stretched out his hand she would lead him to her bedroom. He sat there, meeting her gaze, imagining the skin he could see leading to the skin he couldn’t, imagining the pleasure of sex without history. At last, not sure if he was being courageous or cowardly, he looked away.”
Each character is tied to a book or a writer, a plot device that I kept forgetting about unless it was being thrust in front of my face. The subtlety was lost on me.
“Dickens has been two years older that she was when he had published his first sketch, and described his eyes so dimmed with joy and pride, that they could not bear the street, and were not fit to be seen there. Her own eyesight was as keen as ever – she could distinguish the start ruin of the cathedral and beyond it the headland – but she understood about hiding joy.”
I still feel ambivalent about this book, and I’ve been considering my review for a few days. I enjoyed reading the book, there were parts that I felt were very well done and I felt as if I learned something about the characters.
And yet – and yet. I guess I never really felt as if the book lived up to its potential. I felt as if there was some big question that had been posed about these four people that was never answered. Four lives, tied together. Each character impacting and forever changing each others lives…
“But no, what she was sensing was absence, not a presence. Everything she could see, everything she could measure, was the same, and yet everything was profoundly altered.”
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of this book is that both contain a letter. One is a mundane letter from a back, the other a letter whose contents have been eagerly anticipated throughout the book. And yet – I was left flat. I enjoyed the book, on the whole, but I don’t feel as if either the big reveal nor the journey the reader takes to get there lived up to expectations.The four main characters of the novel – Sean, Dara, Abigail and Cameron are each given their own section of the book. In each, we look through their eyes at many of the events that tie them all together. I did feel as if I gained some insight as to why they did what they did, but there was still a barrier that left the question of why they were who they were unanswered.
(I did find it interesting though, that the one character whose head I most did not want to be in was the one character whose section is written in the first person. His thoughts, the images we see while inhabiting his mind, continue to bother me, days after finishing the book.)
And yet, that tantalizing bit that remains out of reach is hinted at in many ways throughout the book. Maybe, now that I think about it, that’s one of the main themes of the story.
“She was looking at him across the table, her eyes deep and steady, and he knew that if he stretched out his hand she would lead him to her bedroom. He sat there, meeting her gaze, imagining the skin he could see leading to the skin he couldn’t, imagining the pleasure of sex without history. At last, not sure if he was being courageous or cowardly, he looked away.”
Each character is tied to a book or a writer, a plot device that I kept forgetting about unless it was being thrust in front of my face. The subtlety was lost on me.
“Dickens has been two years older that she was when he had published his first sketch, and described his eyes so dimmed with joy and pride, that they could not bear the street, and were not fit to be seen there. Her own eyesight was as keen as ever – she could distinguish the start ruin of the cathedral and beyond it the headland – but she understood about hiding joy.”
I still feel ambivalent about this book, and I’ve been considering my review for a few days. I enjoyed reading the book, there were parts that I felt were very well done and I felt as if I learned something about the characters.
And yet – and yet. I guess I never really felt as if the book lived up to its potential. I felt as if there was some big question that had been posed about these four people that was never answered. Four lives, tied together. Each character impacting and forever changing each others lives…
“But no, what she was sensing was absence, not a presence. Everything she could see, everything she could measure, was the same, and yet everything was profoundly altered.”
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LibraryThing member DevourerOfBooks
Abigail and Dara became friends in University. Now they are both living in a house on Fortune Street in London that Abigail purchased with an inheritance from her aunt. Abigail is an actress and theater manager living with her boyfriend Sean, who left his wife for her. Dara is a therapist living in
Both girls have some serious issues, particularly around men, eventually resulting in tragedy. The story of the girls’ lives and the tragedy that ensued is told first through the perspective of Abigail’s boyfriend Sean, then of Dara’s father Cameron, and finally of Abigail. This was a fascinating method of telling Abigail and Dara’s stories. Sean and Cameron were really telling their own stories, through which we learn about Abigail and Dara through their interactions with whomever is narrating. This really confused me initially, since the back of the book says that it is about Abigail and Dara and Sean was telling me about his life. Eventually, though, I got into this style of telling the girls’ stories. Hearing the stories of important men in their lives gave me a greater understanding of where Abigail and Dara were coming from.
Although it took me some time to get into “The House on Fortune Street,” mostly because I wasn’t quite sure what Livesey was doing with Sean’s narration, I really enjoyed it. The psychological issues faced by the characters seemed authentic and made the book very interesting.
This would probably be best described as women’s fiction, but it is definitely smart and not the least bit saccharine. I liked it.
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the downstairs flat, hoping that her boyfriend Edward will be able to move in with her sooner rather than later.Both girls have some serious issues, particularly around men, eventually resulting in tragedy. The story of the girls’ lives and the tragedy that ensued is told first through the perspective of Abigail’s boyfriend Sean, then of Dara’s father Cameron, and finally of Abigail. This was a fascinating method of telling Abigail and Dara’s stories. Sean and Cameron were really telling their own stories, through which we learn about Abigail and Dara through their interactions with whomever is narrating. This really confused me initially, since the back of the book says that it is about Abigail and Dara and Sean was telling me about his life. Eventually, though, I got into this style of telling the girls’ stories. Hearing the stories of important men in their lives gave me a greater understanding of where Abigail and Dara were coming from.
Although it took me some time to get into “The House on Fortune Street,” mostly because I wasn’t quite sure what Livesey was doing with Sean’s narration, I really enjoyed it. The psychological issues faced by the characters seemed authentic and made the book very interesting.
This would probably be best described as women’s fiction, but it is definitely smart and not the least bit saccharine. I liked it.
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LibraryThing member writestuff
The House on Fortune Street is a leisurely novel about how our past reflects upon our future, and how our relationships with others are inextricably linked to how we integrate events from our childhood.
The book is broken into four separate parts – each narrated by a different character. Abigail
Early in the novel, a pivotal event occurs … and from this point onward the reader searches for understanding of each character’s motivation, desire, and fears. Livesey has given each character “a literary godparent” – an author who the character relates to and provides further understanding of that character’s personality. For Sean, Keats provides that role; for Abigail is is Charles Dickens; Dara relates to Charlotte Bronte, and the novel Jane Eyre; and Cameron connects with Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll).
Margot Livesey’s prose is gentle and probing. In The House on Fortune Street she brings her story together with patience, carefully flushing out each character and putting together the pieces of their lives as though constructing a psychological jigsaw puzzle. Thematically she explores the idea of luck or chance vs. choice, and examines the role which early childhood plays in the development of our personalities. Specifically, she gives the reader a glimpse into the complexity of women’s friendships – the intimacy, as well as the secrecy which these types of relationships engender.
I found myself deeply involved in the lives of Livesey’s characters – I grew to care about them, to wonder about their choices, and to sympathize with their struggles. The format of the novel – a series of interlocking narratives – gave depth to the story which might not have happened if told only through the eyes of one character.
The House on Fortune Street is a heartbreaking tale which deals with some uncomfortable subject matter. It is not filled with action, but requires patience and a slow reading to fully appreciate. There are no sudden “aha” moments, but rather a gradual realization and understanding of the underlying message of the novel. At times I wanted to flip ahead to get to the nitty-gritty of the story, but I am glad I restrained myself from doing so as I think I would have been disappointed that there are no easy answers in this book.
Readers who enjoy well-written literary fiction will like Livesey’s style. Written with sensitivity and compassion, The House on Fortune Street is recommended.
The book is broken into four separate parts – each narrated by a different character. Abigail
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is an actress and playwright who immerses herself in loveless sex, protecting herself from the intimacy she knows may hurt her. Sean has left his wife and struggles to complete his dissertation on Keats. He moves into the Fortune Street house with Abigail and finds himself regretting his decisions. Dara is Abigail’s best friend from college. Highly sensitive, she works as a counselor and longs to find true love and start a family, but her questions about why her father abandoned his family when she was a young girl overshadow her happiness. Cameron, Dara’s father, is living with a secret and struggling to come to terms with yearnings he is unable to explain.Early in the novel, a pivotal event occurs … and from this point onward the reader searches for understanding of each character’s motivation, desire, and fears. Livesey has given each character “a literary godparent” – an author who the character relates to and provides further understanding of that character’s personality. For Sean, Keats provides that role; for Abigail is is Charles Dickens; Dara relates to Charlotte Bronte, and the novel Jane Eyre; and Cameron connects with Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll).
Margot Livesey’s prose is gentle and probing. In The House on Fortune Street she brings her story together with patience, carefully flushing out each character and putting together the pieces of their lives as though constructing a psychological jigsaw puzzle. Thematically she explores the idea of luck or chance vs. choice, and examines the role which early childhood plays in the development of our personalities. Specifically, she gives the reader a glimpse into the complexity of women’s friendships – the intimacy, as well as the secrecy which these types of relationships engender.
I found myself deeply involved in the lives of Livesey’s characters – I grew to care about them, to wonder about their choices, and to sympathize with their struggles. The format of the novel – a series of interlocking narratives – gave depth to the story which might not have happened if told only through the eyes of one character.
The House on Fortune Street is a heartbreaking tale which deals with some uncomfortable subject matter. It is not filled with action, but requires patience and a slow reading to fully appreciate. There are no sudden “aha” moments, but rather a gradual realization and understanding of the underlying message of the novel. At times I wanted to flip ahead to get to the nitty-gritty of the story, but I am glad I restrained myself from doing so as I think I would have been disappointed that there are no easy answers in this book.
Readers who enjoy well-written literary fiction will like Livesey’s style. Written with sensitivity and compassion, The House on Fortune Street is recommended.
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LibraryThing member angelswing
I really enjoyed this book. It does not exactly have a happy ending, but I love the way Livesey intertwines the characters lives together in the unique way she does. I also particularly liked that each section is narrated by a different character who is strongly influenced by a classic book and/or
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its author. This is must read, and I highly recommend it. I plan to read more of Livesey's books for her imagery is exquisite and I felt like I was there with the people in the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member JoyLebow
Intriguing look at relationships, friendships, and how much we hide.
LibraryThing member ChazzW
My first Livesey. What a marvelous gift for creating such depth of character. Centered around a house in London at the address of the title, Livesey brings to life the lives of the inhabitants and the families and experiences that made them who they are from an ever changing perspectives.
In A Soft
In I Mark This Day With A White Stone, we hear the remarkable confession of Cameron, the father of Dara, Abigail’s oldest and best friend. We learn of Cameron’s Charles Dodgson like obsession which led to the abrupt dissolution of his marriage. The unexplained loss of her father was to haunt Dara for the rest of her life. Seeking understating Dara is never able to hear from her father what Livesey has him tell us (the reader) so eloquently.
The Feast of Epiphany (Dara) and finally Abigail (The Marshes) rounds out the complete story. The nuances from each perspective and retelling engender a huge commitment from the reader to the characters. Imperceptibly, we shift our understanding as Livesey gives us more history from different viewpoints.
Shading the lives of all these fictional characters is the way in which they all approach their lives with the touchstones of fiction always at hand. What a delicious additional layer that Livesey gives us here. Abigail views her life options through a Charles Dickens prism - even going so far as to purchase a house on the Dickensian Fortune Street because of the name. Dara envisions hers as a Jane Eyre existence, complete with her own dark Rochester coming to the rescue. Her father identifies with the author of Alice in Wonderland, The real life Charles Dodgson. Sean, of course, tends to reference John Keats at any occasion where it might apply - all the while lamenting the fact of his nearly non-existent output at his age as compared to Keats,
So Livesey not only gives us a memorable group of characters who struggle with the ways in which their lives were shaped by events out of their control - families and fortune - but the ways in which they - and we - struggle to make sense out of where we find ourselves by entering into the lives of others from this other world of made up lives. Livesey’s Atonement.
In A Soft
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Nest, successful (and ambitious) Abigail, a theater troupe owner, who we start from Sean’s perspective, who has moved into Abigail’s house on Fortune street, having dissolved his marriage in order to start anew with a new woman. Sean is a failed writer still stuck on his PHD thesis, which he finally abandons. He finds himself more and more reliant on Abigail as she employs him at odd jobs at her theater and has even begun charging him rent. Into this mix comes an anonymous letter hinting that Abigail is carrying on an affair with someone else.In I Mark This Day With A White Stone, we hear the remarkable confession of Cameron, the father of Dara, Abigail’s oldest and best friend. We learn of Cameron’s Charles Dodgson like obsession which led to the abrupt dissolution of his marriage. The unexplained loss of her father was to haunt Dara for the rest of her life. Seeking understating Dara is never able to hear from her father what Livesey has him tell us (the reader) so eloquently.
The Feast of Epiphany (Dara) and finally Abigail (The Marshes) rounds out the complete story. The nuances from each perspective and retelling engender a huge commitment from the reader to the characters. Imperceptibly, we shift our understanding as Livesey gives us more history from different viewpoints.
Shading the lives of all these fictional characters is the way in which they all approach their lives with the touchstones of fiction always at hand. What a delicious additional layer that Livesey gives us here. Abigail views her life options through a Charles Dickens prism - even going so far as to purchase a house on the Dickensian Fortune Street because of the name. Dara envisions hers as a Jane Eyre existence, complete with her own dark Rochester coming to the rescue. Her father identifies with the author of Alice in Wonderland, The real life Charles Dodgson. Sean, of course, tends to reference John Keats at any occasion where it might apply - all the while lamenting the fact of his nearly non-existent output at his age as compared to Keats,
So Livesey not only gives us a memorable group of characters who struggle with the ways in which their lives were shaped by events out of their control - families and fortune - but the ways in which they - and we - struggle to make sense out of where we find ourselves by entering into the lives of others from this other world of made up lives. Livesey’s Atonement.
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LibraryThing member ImBookingIt
The House on Fortune Street is divided into sections, each telling the story of a different character. These chapters overlap in the events they cover, but add enough new ground to not to seem repetitive.The book got off to a very slow start for me. I didn't get the point of Sean's story at all. He
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seemed like a loser, largely due to his own choices, unwilling to change the direction of his life (although he goes along with others changing it for him). I didn't like him, sympathize with him, find him interesting, or understand why we were reading about him.It picked up quite a bit after that. Cameron's story was more engrossing. He was a generally likable guy, struggling with a problem that in and of itself could make him very unlikable. Besides letting the reader get to know Cameron (who appeared as a very minor character in Sean's story), it set up Dara's chapter.Dara and Abigail were both interesting characters, and their chapters are when the book really came to life for me. The two women are contrasts in personality and background. They become close friends in college, then drift apart again. I really appreciated seeing into their thoughts that kept them apart.In the end, this was a very satisfying read. It's worth hanging on past the first section. Show Less
LibraryThing member jaaron
Took a while to love, but, before I realized, I was engrossed. Story of two girls who meet in school and emotionally support and nourish each other through young adulthood. One is an actress/ theater producer, the other, a social worker. Both have loves, mostly unsuccessful. Serious sadness from
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home lives. Social worker's parents divorced, father left, for what she (Dara) has never understood. Story -- and characters -- deepen as book goes on. Stories told by four protagonists, in first person. Show Less
LibraryThing member CandyH
This story was hard to follow and disjointed. It is told in 4 sections which makes it hard to keep up with. It is the story of love, hate,selfishness and all the other challenges that go into a relationship and making it work. I would not recommend this book.
LibraryThing member Cariola
Livesey uses an interesting structure: the book is divided into four parts, each from the point of view of a different character, all of whose lives are intertwined. First, Sean tells of his life with his girlfriend, Abigail, their friend and neighbor Dara, his failed efforts at graduate school,
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his divorce, and his suspicions that Abigail may be cheating on him. Cameron, Dara's father, relates a tragic story from his youth, his years of hiding a dark secret, and his relationship with his daughter, Dara. The third and fourth sections focus on Dara and Abigail, two very different young women who have been friends since college. Overall, this was a fairly interesting character study--a good but not great book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Limelite
This dark and haunting novel is lyrical and sad and beautifully constructed. The subject is pederasty, a topic inherently too taboo to explore in an even-handed way or without provoking overriding disgust. But Livesey has created a story about the destructive pain caused by inappropriate desire
The core characters are Cameron and Dara, the father who thinks of himself as a present day Charles Dodgeson whose particular affinity for pre-pubescent girls is also documented in his photography. Dara is his daughter, a social worker, who as an adult comes to know what her father is. Cameron’s wife, Fiona (whose slight body is androgenous as a 10 year old girl’s), throws him out when she discovers inappropriate photos taken by him of Ingrid, Dara’s childhood friend.
Dara’s neighbors are Sean, who is writing a book on euthanasia – recently divorced – and Dara’s confidant, Abigail, a theater producer. It is Sean who discovers Dara’s body. The tension builds as the reader understands the extent of Cameron’s obsession, filling one with foreboding, and making the experience of reading this book like turning the pages on a time-bomb. Secrets are revealed, unforeseen relationships are brought to light, and the shattering truth is exposed. Livesey’s prose is controlled, almost repressed, and tightly checked (like Cameron’s supposed self-restraint).
Reading the book is like watching a movie unfold in slow motion attributable to some invisible substance that impedes normal motion, or a dance in which the dancers change partners in an effort to find the perfect match that will set their innermost being soaring, but only find the next entrapping embrace.
My favorite line: “A liar may not be telling you the truth but they are telling you something about themselves.” Livesey has written a book neither to be forgotten nor ignored.
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told from the points of view of several characters.The core characters are Cameron and Dara, the father who thinks of himself as a present day Charles Dodgeson whose particular affinity for pre-pubescent girls is also documented in his photography. Dara is his daughter, a social worker, who as an adult comes to know what her father is. Cameron’s wife, Fiona (whose slight body is androgenous as a 10 year old girl’s), throws him out when she discovers inappropriate photos taken by him of Ingrid, Dara’s childhood friend.
Dara’s neighbors are Sean, who is writing a book on euthanasia – recently divorced – and Dara’s confidant, Abigail, a theater producer. It is Sean who discovers Dara’s body. The tension builds as the reader understands the extent of Cameron’s obsession, filling one with foreboding, and making the experience of reading this book like turning the pages on a time-bomb. Secrets are revealed, unforeseen relationships are brought to light, and the shattering truth is exposed. Livesey’s prose is controlled, almost repressed, and tightly checked (like Cameron’s supposed self-restraint).
Reading the book is like watching a movie unfold in slow motion attributable to some invisible substance that impedes normal motion, or a dance in which the dancers change partners in an effort to find the perfect match that will set their innermost being soaring, but only find the next entrapping embrace.
My favorite line: “A liar may not be telling you the truth but they are telling you something about themselves.” Livesey has written a book neither to be forgotten nor ignored.
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LibraryThing member moonshineandrosefire
It seems like a stroke of mutual good luck for Abigail Taylor and Dara MacLeod when they meet while studying at St. Andrews University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Despite their differences, the two young women form a firm and fast friendship and a lasting, unshakable bond. Even years later, they remain
Abigail - an actress who confidently uses her talent both on and offstage - charms everyone she meets, but believes herself immune to love. Dara - a counselor at a crisis center - is convinced that everyone is somehow irrevocably marked by their childhood; she throws herself into romantic relationships with frightening intensity.
Yet now it appears that each woman has finally found "true love". Is this another stroke of luck? Proof that each relationship is a once-in-a-lifetime love? Abigail has apparently found love with her academic boyfriend, Sean, and Dara with a tall, dark violinist named Edward; who quite literally falls at her feet. However, soon after Dara moves into Abigail's downstairs apartment, trouble threatens both relationships, as well as their friendship.
For Abigail, the trouble comes in the form of an anonymous letter, addressed to Sean and accusing Abigail of being unfaithful; for Dara, a reconciliation with her estranged father Cameron - who left the family when Dara was ten - reawakens some very complicated feelings. Through four ingeniously interlocking narratives - Sean's, Cameron's, Dara's, and Abigail's - we gradually come to understand how these characters' lives were shaped by both chance and determination. Whatever the source, there is absolutely no mistaking the veil that falls when tragedy strikes the house on Fortune Street.
I absolutely loved this book. In my opinion, it was a poignant and thought-provoking story - very intelligently and thoughtfully written. For me, this was also a compulsively readable story - one that I just could not put down. It was an interesting and engaging plot, and I needed to know what would happen next. I give The House on Fortune Street: A Novel by Margot Livesey an A+! and must say, that while this is the first book by this author that I've read, it most certainly won't be my last.
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such an unlikely pair.Abigail - an actress who confidently uses her talent both on and offstage - charms everyone she meets, but believes herself immune to love. Dara - a counselor at a crisis center - is convinced that everyone is somehow irrevocably marked by their childhood; she throws herself into romantic relationships with frightening intensity.
Yet now it appears that each woman has finally found "true love". Is this another stroke of luck? Proof that each relationship is a once-in-a-lifetime love? Abigail has apparently found love with her academic boyfriend, Sean, and Dara with a tall, dark violinist named Edward; who quite literally falls at her feet. However, soon after Dara moves into Abigail's downstairs apartment, trouble threatens both relationships, as well as their friendship.
For Abigail, the trouble comes in the form of an anonymous letter, addressed to Sean and accusing Abigail of being unfaithful; for Dara, a reconciliation with her estranged father Cameron - who left the family when Dara was ten - reawakens some very complicated feelings. Through four ingeniously interlocking narratives - Sean's, Cameron's, Dara's, and Abigail's - we gradually come to understand how these characters' lives were shaped by both chance and determination. Whatever the source, there is absolutely no mistaking the veil that falls when tragedy strikes the house on Fortune Street.
I absolutely loved this book. In my opinion, it was a poignant and thought-provoking story - very intelligently and thoughtfully written. For me, this was also a compulsively readable story - one that I just could not put down. It was an interesting and engaging plot, and I needed to know what would happen next. I give The House on Fortune Street: A Novel by Margot Livesey an A+! and must say, that while this is the first book by this author that I've read, it most certainly won't be my last.
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LibraryThing member oldblack
I found this to be a fundamentally good book. It tackles important issues with a realistic approach from 4 of the participants' viewpoints. It is a story about relationships (families, friends, and lovers), what can go wrong, and what impact those wrongs can have - directly and indirectly. The only
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problem I had with this book is that the stories of the four different people tended to involve too much repetition for me. Of course the different people would tell much of the story of their interactions in the same way, so I'm not sure how else it could be written (I'm not a writer!). As a father trying to work through his relationships with his children & partner, I found Livesey's observations, made through her characters, to be often very insightful and sometimes disturbing (especially the situation of a daughter with her dying father). Show Less
LibraryThing member Motherofthree
Another read for book club. It seems that's all I have time to read these days. The writing style was decent, but the story a little depressing. Is that what has become appealing in popular fiction today? I don't mind pain and suffering in a story. What I don't prefer, is getting to the end of a
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book, and having this general feeling of "what was the point of that?" With so much to read, I'd love to be filling my mind and soul with the good stuff that touches my core, challenges my thinking, and empassions me to care and love deeply. Yet, I love the girls in book club. And good discussion can still occur, even if I don't prefer a book. So for the sake of my fabulous book club friends, I pursue forth into the sometimes mundane, ill-written, poorly conceived literature of today. Show Less
LibraryThing member mkunruh
Livesey is exploring the disconnect the exists between our unstated private desires and feelings and the desires/feelings we choose to present to the world and the harm it does. Using four different characters (each one connected to a British author - Keats, Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte/Virginia
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Woolf, and Charles Dickens - who know each other she explores the assumptions they (and we as readers) make and the consequences of those assumptions. I thought is was an extremely skillful book, that easily avoids pathos despite an incident that would lend itself to such a presentation. Show Less
Awards
PEN New England Award (Winner — Fiction — 2009)
Original publication date
2008-05-06