Dream House: A Memoir

3.5/5 ( ratings)

In the tradition of Jill Kerr Conway's The Road from Coorain and Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life, this girl's life of the 1950s is a deeply moving family memoir. Nekota writes in eloquent translucent prose about a time when it was important to crease your khakis, shine the fins on your car, and plant colorful flowers in front of your suburban home. But her story contradicts this vision of families as well kept as their lawns. Nekola's is a woman's take on an era when men were men and women stayed close to home. Dad is in love with travel and, when not away on business trips, leaves home through his nightly cocktails. Mom collects recipes, having forsaken a career as a teacher. She dreams of writing children's books, but can't find a free moment to transfer the stories from her mind to paper. While the children glimpse the magic of childhood - getting up in the middle of the night to see an eclipse, finding possums in the backyard - they feel the disquieting reverberations of loss and longing. This family memoir looks at what might have been lost in the struggle to move up. It explores the cost of what was left unsaid by the silent generation, and what the cost was for their children - from becoming pregnant and marrying young to dropping out and becoming hippies. Nekola speaks compassionately of her family torn apart by alcoholism, early death, and homelessness. Through writing, through caring, she charts a path for others to rethink their lives and the lives of their families.