Reviews

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

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nicolap's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

christinecasey's review against another edition

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I should have quit at the end of Part 1 and let my imagination come up with the ending. It would have been better than the direction the book ended up taking.

This novel focuses on two perspectives. The Behrani’s are an Iranian family that flees to the US after a violent regime change leaves the former General and his family on the death list. Despite being high status in Iran, Mr Behrani cannot find a well paying job and has to work menial positions while his family pretends to keep up their pooldar (wealthy elite) status. The money the family brought with them is slowly dwindling, and after marrying off their daughter, Mr Behrani takes their remaining savings and purchases a house at auction. He finds that he will be able to sell the house at three times what he paid, and starts to envision the future that he and his family deserve.

The only problem is Kathy. She lived in the house. A house her father left her and her brother in his will. A house that was sold under faulty pretenses, of an unpaid tax bill that she didn’t actually owe. Kathy, a recovering addict, spirals with the loss of the house following quickly on the heels of her husband leaving her. One of the officers, Lester, tasked with evicting her from the home is captivated with Kathy. His own life flips upside down, and thus begins a chain of events that could be stopped at any time if it weren’t for stubborn man pride.

Oof. The Lester/Kathy “romance”. Sympathizing with Mr Behrani, when he’s actually a really unlikable character. The bad decision after bad decision. Disliking Kathy even though she’s been put in a really horrible situation. The unsatisfying ending. Maybe read the first part and stop there.