The House We Grew Up In

Content Warning: This section includes discussions of suicide.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

The book starts with an email from Lorelei Bird to Jim, a man she has met on a dating website. She lives in the Cotswolds and describes herself as fit for her 65 years, and lists her interests as nature, the countryside, children, and swimming. She is one of three sisters, all named after mythical maidens. Pandora is still alive, but Athena was stillborn. Lorelei has four children: Megan, aged 40 who also has four children, Bethan (38) and twins Rory and Rhys (35). Jim is a widower who lives alone with his dog, and similarly she lives alone and doesn’t see much of her children. The impression is given that she is lonely but open to new experiences, and she says, “The Internet really is a marvellous thing, especially for old codgers like us…I’d be lost without it really” (2).

April 2011

Lorelei’s first-person emails are interspersed with a third-person omniscient narrator who describes the family cleaning out Lorelei’s house after her death.

Lorelei’s oldest daughter, Megan, and granddaughter, Molly, arrive in the Cotswolds. After years of tension, they now have an easy and companionable connection.