A review by robforteath
House Lights by Leah Hager Cohen
4.0
A very subtle and engaging story of a young woman whose home life is crumbling while she is simultaneously making a leap forward in her own development. It is told from her point of view, and with much precision. The prose is very "Times New Roman" in character, much like her upbringing. The normal circumstances of her young life -- her pointless job giving tours, the young man at work who has a crush on her -- are made irrelevant by the weight of her father's fall from grace and her desperate grasping at the one whiff of an opportunity that has presented itself.
Both story lines progress very rapidly; over the space of a few months everything is settled. We are led through it all expertly, with wonderful depictions of Beatrice's internal life. Everything feels real and unforced (apart from some forgivable coincidences that conveniently synchronise the two halves of the story), and the characters are excellent.
But then, oh dear... there is an extended, ham-handed, and completely unnecessary epilogue set 21 years later. If you stop reading when she leaves the Farm, you will be left with a better impression from the book than if you wade through to the end.
Both story lines progress very rapidly; over the space of a few months everything is settled. We are led through it all expertly, with wonderful depictions of Beatrice's internal life. Everything feels real and unforced (apart from some forgivable coincidences that conveniently synchronise the two halves of the story), and the characters are excellent.
But then, oh dear... there is an extended, ham-handed, and completely unnecessary epilogue set 21 years later. If you stop reading when she leaves the Farm, you will be left with a better impression from the book than if you wade through to the end.