Faulty Towers An unlikely exposition eventually grinds into gear and once settled in, the remaining two-thirds of this Murphy's-Law fable are increasingly engrossing. Morag Joss has read her Rendell, her Highsmith, and also her Poe; what we have here is a tale of grotesques, enlarged & protean creatures that are forced into smaller and smaller corners by their own actions. The alternating senses of pressure and release, panic and calm are the dynamic of the plot. (Unfortunately, the Stephen King parallels are there, too, and not necessary; this has way too much going for it in its solemn core to have to get close to that line...) Perhaps the nearest near-relative is Shirley Jackson in her Everyday-Gothic best; while the days pass with a regularity (let's make jam ! let's see if there's champagne in the cellar !) and calm incompatible with the circumstances, our happy grotesques are never able to diverge from the disastrous inevitable, and that's the ongoing suspense here.Author Joss gets her ducks in a row by the halfway point of the book and manages an effective, deluxe coup de théâtre with the return of the grandfather. Arriving late in the second act, this stroke propels the rest of the novel to it's impending appointment with ... what's coming. Looking forward to the next in Morag Joss' catalog; there is much here that is already the mark of a very accomplished plot and atmosphere writer. The prose itself is exquisite, by turns rapturous, enchanted, and then convincingly raw. What's left is character, and that's the quibble. Her lovely grotesques are by no means regular characters, and that's fine, they're meant to be maniacs. But not plausible or predictable from one scene to the next --(near-suicidal, hyperdepressive, shy Michael masquerading as a posh lord of the estate to fool the authorities ? ..) --tears a little, even at the fable level. My hope is that she either takes it to the limit, drawing even more outlandish lunatics and madmen or, better, tightens the reins a bit more and brings her maniacs more intimately into the fabric of the everyday mania we live in. The Rendellian split-screen narative requires a strict (even, especially, if mad--) coherence, and a deft interweave. And I think that's where Joss is headed, but we shall see...
This is the second Morag Joss novel I've read, the first being The Night Following which I adored. This is every bit as good, although quite different. The writing is a little more laid back and the pace is quite gentle. At the outset Jean is a housesitter, living all on her own in other people's houses, putting down no roots and with virtually no human contact. She prefers it that way. Fate brings her to Walden Manor, a beautiful, perfect family home. It also brings Michael and Steph into her life and we see the wonderful blossoming of Jean in the presence of their love. It's quite heartwarming and although each of them have their faults, I loved seeing three unhappy people find happiness and a sense of belonging. At the same I had the awful knowledge at the back of my mind that it was all built on sand. This was not, after all, their house; it belonged to someone else. That idyllic summer could not last forever. When real life beings to intrude, they must find ways of protecting their fragile family. Morag Joss has once again created fractured, flawed characters that I rooted for and forgave anything. My rational mind understood that the things they did were wrong, but my heart bled for them and hoped against hope that they could have their happily ever after. In the end I was torn between disgust and empathy, which I'm sure was what Joss wanted. I think she got it exactly right and I continue to be a huge fan.
What do You think about Half Broken Things (2006)?
DNF. This is a book about crazy and stupid people being crazy and stupid. I suppose it's possible some might find this a gripping look inside the mind of a mentally ill person, but the book keeps flipping out of first-person crazy person narration to normal old 3rd person.This should tell you if you will like this book: here's the first thing that happens. 64-year-old professional housesitter arrives at empty house she's sitting for the next like 9 months, gets call from housesitting agency.Agency lady: You are old now, so after this job you have to retire.PROTAGONIST OF THE BOOK: OK. So basically I'm going to hang up and instantly become insane and decide this house is mine and start wearing all their clothes-- not in a rebellious "screw you" way, but in a real crazy way where I just think I belong here.If you can identify with a protagonist who is a crazy asshole, read this book. She's joined by another crazy guy and a stupid girl, who do crazy and stupid things, respectively. About page 130 I thought I saw how the book was going to end, flipped to the last page, saw I was right, got rid of book.
—Peter
Morag Joss writes about forgetting and inventing in this book. She wants to show how people create a new world for themselves and how deeply you can bury yourself in it.The story is simple and about 3 people. One is an elderly lady named Jean, who housesits for wealthy people but is getting too old to continue the job. She's going to do her last job at a gorgeous mansion, but after that she has nowhere to go, no family or friends and no house. She starts to invent a new life for herself, while living in the mansion. Then there's Steph, 7 months pregnant with a child and stuck with its father, who doesn't seem to care for her at all. Michael is middle-aged, alone, in debt and about to become a thief. These three help eachother create the life they've always wanted, but at a cost.It's beautifully written (and as I read this in the Dutch translation, very well translated too.) and I loved the story. Sometimes Joss went a bit overboard with both writing and the story, but I found it all came together nicely. I liked the characters well enough and understood their motives. A very autumny book to curl up with when it's raining outside!
—Annelien
I picked this book from the library on a whim, really, and I'm so glad I did. It's about a 64 year old woman who is a house sitter. She's staying in this really big mansion of a house by herself, then circumstances bring a pregnant young woman and a young man who is nearly a criminal, to the house. They begin all living there as a "family" and begin to bond to one another. They all 3 come from very difficult childhoods, and have never had a sense of belonging to anyone or any particular place. They actually convince themselves that they ARE a family, and this IS their home. But of course the outside world starts to become involved, then everything just was a train wreck. It was like a snowball rolling down hill, one thing happened which created another problem, which created another problem, and I was just thinking....Oh No! They can't do that! I couldn't wait to get to the end to see how this was all going to turn out, and what a surprise, I never guessed what was going to happen at the end, until it was revealed in the last couple of pages.
—Patricia
