{"product_id":"the-hundredyear-house-9780099591795","title":"The HundredYear House","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eThe Borrower \u003c\/i\u003ereturns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an old-money family and their turn-of-the-century estate, Laurelfield.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who detests her parents' wealth but nevertheless finds herself living in their carriage house; Gracie, her mother, who claims she can tell your lot in life by looking at your teeth; and Bruce, her step-father, stockpiling supplies for the Y2K apocalypse and perpetually late for his tee time. Then there's Violet Devohr, Zee's great-grandmother, who they say took her own life somewhere in the vast house, and whose massive oil portrait still hangs in the dining room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eViolet's portrait was known to terrify the artists who resided at the house from the 1920s to the 1950s, when it served as the Laurelfield Arts Colony  and this is exactly the period Zee's husband, Doug, is interested in. An out-of-work academic whose only hope of a fut\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMakkai’s second novel defies genre – \u003cb\u003epart literary mystery, part comedy of manners, part wickedly funny satire. Whichever way you look at it, it’s remarkable.\u003c\/b\u003e * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRebecca Makkai is a writer to watch, as sneakily ambitious as she is unpretentious.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Richard Russo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMakkai humorously turns the conventional family saga on its head\u003c\/b\u003e, in \u003cb\u003ea clever exploration of metamorphosis and secrecy.\u003c\/b\u003e * Huffington Post *\u003cbr\u003eMakkai has written a novel that reads almost like early Muriel Spark – \u003cb\u003eclever, competent, and concealing an unsettling and skewed reality .\u003c\/b\u003e.. \u003cb\u003eThe hand that keeps giving the kaleidoscope another turn, controlling just how the pieces land, isn't fate, of course\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eIt's the artist, Makkai is one\u003c\/b\u003e. * Chicago Tribune *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003ebig-hearted\u003c\/b\u003e gothic novel, \u003cb\u003ean intergenerational mystery, a story of heartbreak and a romance\u003c\/b\u003e, all crammed into one grand Midwestern estate ... \u003cb\u003eA juicy and moving story of art and love and the luck it takes for either to last.\u003c\/b\u003e * Los Angeles Times *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornerstone","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51017531687255,"sku":"9780099591795","price":14.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099591795.jpg?v=1750773857","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-hundredyear-house-9780099591795","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}