What do readers think of The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell? Write your own review.

In this book, Lisa Jewell introduces an idyllic family that becomes dysfunctional and estranged after a tragedy strikes.

Not only does Jewell use flashback to tell each character's story; but uses emails between the mother and her lover as an update.

This book would make a good Book Club choice because the book covers many topics : secrets, mental illness, relationships, hoarding, death, and tragedy reactions.

I made the mistake of starting it late in the day. I got very little sleep that night! This covers the Bird family over a 30 year period; it includes, hoarding, mental illness, betrayal, lesbianism, incest, and extra-marital affairs. I first thought maybe the author was trying to include too much. But I must say that the book just got better and better. A really satisfying read. It would be a great book club pick.

A great story about family dynamics, secrets that tear us apart and the ties that bring us back full circle.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters of this book; they were well described and easy to relate to. The plot is engaging and I really cared about the characters that grow as the story develops.

I believe any reader that likes books about family with a touch of dysfunction will find this book appealing. Book groups will have many themes to discuss as well.

While the family in this very readable novel would be considered dysfunctional, there are characters to like, even as they struggle. No one really addresses the mental health issues of the hippie hoarding mother and her infantile, selfish ways; the fascinating parts are each family member's decision about to how to live his or her own life as a reaction. What characters do or not do is frustrating, but it was a compelling read. Makes me want to read her other novels.

I think everyone fears living in a delicate situation. Lisa Jewell did an excellent job developing the characters in such a way that the reader really cares about them. I also enjoyed the addition of the Internet "dating/friend" of the Mother...it added an interesting insight to the Mother that we would not have had otherwise. In the end, keeping all of the stuff makes perfect sense.

What a wonderful read this book is. The characters are well fleshed out, and the story is believable. Reading it feels like you're getting a glimpse into the lives of real people in an average family, gradually learning their secrets and watching them find out who they really are. I've said in past reviews that a book has made me want to read the author's other work. I'll be digging into Lisa Jewell's earlier novels immediately after reading this one.

The House We Grew Up In is the story of a family rooted to a house through Lorelei, the mother. Lorelei is a spirit that delights in finding beauty in every little thing, and can't let go of the memories that "things" hold for her. When a devastating event occurs, the happy family fragments and falls apart. All but Lorelei leave the house. Lorelei can't leave. Each family member is broken and takes off in a different direction looking for a way to heal. In the end, it is again the house that calls them all home and helps them heal. I really enjoyed this book, I found the family very human. The author gives this family life and shows how family love can prevail.

I can't honestly say I "liked" this book – but I was completely enthralled by it, engrossed in it, and educated by it. The Bird family is reminiscent of the Weston family in August-Osage County, without the theatrics, and tempered by the Britishness of their upbringing. Jewell's characters were so deliciously analyzed and emotionally warped, even in their understatement of quiet destruction and coming together again, that I felt as though I were watching a drama rather than reading it. Lorelei's excuses, reasons, for her actions were spot on for someone trying to justify an illness and addiction, and her confessional letters drove home how all-consuming a psychological obsession can be. Her family's dismissal of her condition in the early years was a typical reaction for being too close to the situation, and then the disgust later on aimed at themselves as well as Lorelei, drove a stake into their relationship, seemingly severing any hope of continuing on as a family. That they came together at all was a miracle, and understanding what had happened reclaimed their humanity and sanity. Not a feel-good novel, but a sympathetic look at the horrors an average family can confront and overcome in its history. I must have missed many British novels, because the language and slang were very entertaining, although I am still wondering what some of the words meant. I will definitely recommend this book to my friends.