A review by katiep481
A House Among the Trees by Julia Glass

2.0

Beautifully written but I spent up until the very end waiting to understand what the major conflict or point would be. Ultimately the stakes for everyone, wealthy and successful all, are very low and no conflict or confrontation comes to a head (the museum curator is never even told the very simple explanation for her snub). The scene which is built up to be this big confrontational scrum isn’t even shown - an interruption by paparazzi then a flash forward to the next morning - and ends up being just sort of a companionable boozy meal. Flashbacks and current scenes alike are for the most part pleasant, if melancholy, and sort of gauzy hazy dreamlike. Everything works out perfectly fine for everyone- including some very random characters appearing to make sure no one ends up alone and a pointless broken helicopter to keep the weird caricature like villain away. I kept reading it because it seemed to have depth but as soon as it was over I was annoyed.