The House We Grew Up In - Lisa Jewell

This is the third Lisa Jewell I’ve read this year, and by far my favorite out of the three. I felt like I had found the author I fell in love with years ago again. I enjoyed I Found You and Then She Was Gone, and thought they were well written and carried great plots. But I won’t be revisiting them again. The House We Grew Up In however is just different.

The House We Grew Up In is the story of a family fractured by tragedy and mental illness. The House We Grew Up In is the story of a family home that gradually moves from happy place to a maze of boxes and clutter. It is the story of growing up and growing out and learning to live.

Lisa Jewell always strikes me with her wonderful talent in character development, her ability to create real life people on paper, and give them wings. They stay with you for ages after you have read their story. In The House We Grew Up In I just loved Megan, how strong and resilient she is, but also how forgiving and loving.

I loved this book. It was a wonderful portrayal of how tragedy can affect a family, but how sometimes you just need family to make it through, even if it happens years later.

I see that I have about 20 more of her books to read (slight exaggeration, but only slight). I will probably give myself a Jewell break now though!