The Red House

by Mark Haddon

The first book I read by this author was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which is so unusual and wonderful, being narrated by a young man with autism, that of course I'd want to read more. I also really loved A Spot of Bother, a humorous exploration of aging and mortality against the backdrop of a family celebration — not innovative like the first, but very well done and very entertaining.

This book is about family as well, but rather than celebration we have resentments, regrets and rivalries, and a sense of an ending. Some funny bits here and there, but overall somewhat melancholy, though not quite tragic. I put off reading this book due to a negative review I saw somewhere, but I think the review was just some rando rather than a critic or journalist or someone I trust. Anyway, not bad at all, but not top of my list for recommendations either.

(For the record, I'm not going to bother writing up Curious Incident. It's well-known enough, by me and many others, so the praise above will suffice and I will cross it off my list.)