BOOKISH FRIDAY: “THE SMELL OF OTHER PEOPLE’S HOUSES”

Welcome to another Bookish Friday, in which I  share excerpts from books…and connect with other bloggers, who do the same.

Let’s begin the celebration by sharing Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader; and let’s showcase The Friday 56 with Freda’s Voice.

To join in, just grab a book and share the opening lines…along with any thoughts you wish to give us; then turn to page 56 and excerpt anything on the page.

Then give us the title of the book, so others can add it to their lists!

What a great way to spend a Friday!

Today’s feature is a recent acquisition.  I was drawn to the quirky title…and the blurb:  The Smell of Other People’s Houses, by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, is “a seamless and continually surprising story of risk, love, redemption, catastrophe, and sacrifice.”

 

Beginning:  (Prologue, The Way Things Were Back Then)

Ruth, 1958-63

I can’t stop remembering the way things were back then.  How my father hunted for our food.  How he’d hang the deer in the garage to cure and how the deer’s legs would splay out when its belly was sliced open, its hooves pointy like a ballerina’s toes.  I watched him dozens of times as he cut the meet off the animal’s backside.  I can still hear how the knife sounded when metal scraped bone.

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Friday 56:  She was looking deep into her cup of Hills Bros. coffee.  As if that cup of coffee was the only thing in the world that understood her now.  At that moment, I kind of hated her for being the one who lived.

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Synopsis:  This deeply moving and authentic debut set in 1970s Alaska is for fans of Rainbow Rowell, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and Benjamin Alire Saenz. Intertwining stories of love, tragedy, wild luck, and salvation on the edge of America’s Last Frontier introduce a writer of rare talent.

Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled. This unforgettable William C. Morris Award finalist is about people who try to save each other—and how sometimes, when they least expect it, they succeed.

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I’m eager to read this book.  What do you think?  Would you keep reading?

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