The Good House

A Novel

By: Ann Leary

Narrated by: Mary Beth Hurt

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The Good House, by Ann Leary, is funny, poignant, and terrifying. A classic New England tale that lays bare the secrets of one little town, this spirited novel will stay with you long after the story has ended.

Now a major motion picture starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline!

Hildy Good is a townie. A lifelong resident of a small community on the rocky coast of Boston's North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone. And she's good at lots of things, too. A successful real-estate broker, mother, and grandmother, her days are full. But her nights have become lonely ever since her daughters, convinced their mother was drinking too much, sent her off to rehab. Now she's in recovery—more or less.

Alone and feeling unjustly persecuted, Hildy finds a friend in Rebecca McAllister, one of the town's wealthy newcomers. Rebecca is grateful for the friendship and Hildy feels like a person of the world again, as she and Rebecca escape their worries with some harmless gossip and a bottle of wine by the fire—just one of their secrets.

But Rebecca is herself the subject of town gossip. When Frank Getchell, an old friend who shares a complicated history with Hildy, tries to warn her away from Rebecca, Hildy attempts to protect her friend from a potential scandal. Soon, however, Hildy is busy trying to protect her own reputation. When a cluster of secrets becomes dangerously entwined, the reckless behavior of one person threatens to expose the other, and this darkly comic novel takes a chilling turn.

©2012 Ann Leary (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Both Hildy's denial and her vulnerability are dramatized extremely well by narrator Mary Beth Hurt. Hurt deftly portrays Hildy's tendency to hide her alcoholism under a veneer of polished perfection; she's a woman who can deal with anyone's problems but her own. As the novel continues, the listener feels the pain of Hildy's breakdown and relapse in Hurt's Delivery, so well does she depict Leary's beautifully plotted story.” —AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner

“The Good House is told in first person, which makes it an ideal audiobook – especially in the hands of reader Mary Beth Hurt, who simultaneously portrays Hildy as smart, funny, prickly, sympathetic and – well, pathetic.” —The Star-Ledger

“Mary Beth Hurt does a fantastic job bringing Hildy to life vocally in all her facets…The author is talented and the reader adept; they have created a comprehensively compelling audio experience.” —New World Review

I felt this powerful character!

Flew through this book. Fell on love work Hilty at the first dinner party. Shocking!

Very funny, organic and well performed!!!

Leary knows her stuff! The interior dialogue is spot on and Mary Beth's performance nails it! We usually look for change in our characters as a barometer of satisfaction with our drama (although it's fun to be entertained sometimes with somewhat static characters, such as in a series, as long as they keep surprising us), and this one doesn't let us down, although the ratio of kicking and screaming to change may keel a *bit* toward the kicking and screaming side. :-) That said, I would have been very angry had she merely shifted gears mid-story and hopped the first plane to luxury rehab- this is drama and drama IS the kicking and screaming that brings us to epiphany and change. Overall, awesome quality writing and quality performance. So glad I used one of my long-hoarded Audible credits for the book.

This is a personal issue - may not affect many, but for some reason the New England accents tend to grate my nerves (from the South & fully appreciate that it goes both ways and we sound annoying to many as well!), and the very authentic performance of the character sometimes made me want to reach for both Xanax AND the wine in the cellar. That's very good writing and performance if it instigates action in the audience (I didn't go to the bottle or cellar, but oh, how I wanted to). Honestly, it's the most any writer/performer can hope for, and Ann and Mary Beth should feel proud for putting this amazing work into the world.

For me it was especially difficult when the character was going WFO in drunken indignation. That, of course, coincided with the pinnacle of her narcissism & BPD behavior, both of which give me PTSD heebie-jeebies, which is very much my own issue, but attests to Leary's knowledge and command of that behavior in her characters. It will be a thousand times funnier to me when I revisit the book once I'm through processing some of my own hurts. For anyone else, I think it will play as pure and hilarious humor as it is so authentic, so please don't be put off by my issue.

Also huge kudos for bringing empathy to a character that is such a chaos-engine! It would have been easier to burn her at the stake, but Ann demonstrates excellent writing to hang in there and give us a reason to root for her, which I did all the way to the end, despite a growing number of "Oh, honey!" comments aloud as I listened.

I cruised through the reader comments as I was listening and noted a few that said they were unfamiliar with alcoholic behavior and this book was a good education. That's 100% correct, and bravo to those who choose to grow and learn! If I could give you a gold star I would! At the same time, I smiled sadly at the notion of "not being around alcoholic behavior," because I would almost bet they had, but our American society has normalized and legitimized drinking and workaholism for so many generations that we honestly don't recognize it when it's right in front of us. It took 12 years after a family member's death for me to finally have my "Oh, DUH!!!" moment to realize they had been a raging alcoholic for all my years and theirs as well, which explained a LOT of 40 year-old questions and certainly allowed me to quit feeling like so many incidents were somehow my fault or something I failed to fix (hell yes, I'm trying very earnestly to resign as president of Over-achieving Co-dependents Inc after so many years - and books like this help tremendously).

That's EXACTLY why books like this are so, so important - entertain to the hilt and sneak in some education while the reader laughs and is open to learning. For those who endured a family member like this, understanding the situation is worth all the Xanax and cellars in the world, and you don't need those comforts as much after you start understanding.

As a society we've not talked about these things for so long, and I appreciate that Ann Leary can start the conversation in such a hilarious way that it's all very approachable and doesn't feel like a preachy, awkward ABC after school special.

Would love a sequel where our heroine unpacks all that hurt she "doesn't have" (uh-huh)!

Thanks for a fabulous read, for aiming at the heart of the truth and for hanging tough and not flinching when things looked more ugly than presentable! Great book!

Abrupt Ending

Mary Beth Hurt did a wonderful job in the narration of this book. The story definitely kept me interested but the last 2 or 3 chapters were a big disappointment. It was as if the author wanted to quickly finish the book. I thought perhaps I had skipped some part since I switched from listening to it at home and then in my car. I therefore "re read" the last 2 chapters and it turned out that I had not missed a thing. The author just gleaned over 2 important parts of the book.
The book certainly showed that alcoholism is truly a sickness and one that is difficult to treat.

Excellent Story with Great Characters

I loved this book! I got completely caught up in the world that Ann Leary created. Her characters are totally believeable - flawed, humorous and recognizeable. Mary Beth Hurt's narration is excellent - I always knew who was speaking. This is a book I would listen to again - it's that good.

The narrator made this story work!

I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this book as much had I read it versus listened to it. I LOVED Hildy. Her character is full of personality and denial and the narrator was a perfect fit! I really, really enjoyed this book. There is no alcoholism in my family, but this was a fascinating look into the thought process of a humorous and struggling alcoholic.

So enjoyed this.

This was my first book by this author, I read it based on the review of another audible listener and cannot express how much I enjoyed it.
Hildie is such a wonderful character. She is well expressed by the narrator and the author.
The topics of child rearing, depression, alcoholism, and its effects on her family, friends, co-workers and the potentials for disastrous consequences are all touched upon just enough to give the book it's serious notes but not enough to take away from a lighthearted theme.
Some might think that the protagonist didn't take her drinking seriously enough, but then you wouldn't understand alcoholism. An alcoholic never does.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Good House is a Good Book!

I found this story to be quite engaging, suspenseful, and very realistic in its treatment of an aging, functioning alcoholic. Mary Beth Hurt couldn't be any better for giving voice to this cast of characters, especially Hildy. She nailed it!

Surprisingly good

Great story and very good narration. The only thing bad I have to say is the narrators voice for Frank was very annoying.

A great narrator

This is one of those books where the narrator just BECOMES the main character. Ms Hurt does a great job and thus makes what could have been just an average listen really come alive. The book can be sad at times, especially if you have ever known someone with a drinking problem, but it's worth a listen.

Very real

I love Hildy as much as I feel sorry for her. This book has such wonderful vivid characters that you fall in love with them and feel like you know them. The characters are brought to life by the narrator who is so exceptional I am truly grateful that I listened to this book instead of reading it.