"Houses" is about the many beautiful, enduring and literally earth-shattering epidodes that women and men experience in life. It's how the locust-like numbers of "baby boomers"...in our gusto for living, for challenge and change, helped bring about impassioned awareness, and long standing, meaningful new ways of living in our generation...not just social unrest, mindless war, entitlements and greed. And, we continue to effect social, spiritual, political and cultural change even today.
Ms Parks processes the conflicts of being a woman during the turbulent years of the mid-to end of the 20th century. Specifically, we follow the life story of Lacey Winters, a girl whose growing up years to current "golden years" will leave a lasting impression on readers of all ages.
Readers are taken on a nostalgic trip through childhood days of playing outside with neighborhood friends, the Kennedy and Martin Luther King days, civil and women's rights, the Viet Nam War, the bliss of first love, and the self-affirming conviction of being politically active for the first time. We come to know and love her family members, her friends both male and female and her loved ones.
We relive Lacey's agonies, [the agonies we, ourselves, may have endured, possibly still do!] to be a "good Mom" while minding the house and budget, working for a pittance at a boring/stagnant job, and trying to take one or two classes at a time to finish a college degree so that some day it might be possible to become what she "is." All of this only to find herself alone and most of those she loved gone by the time she "got there."
Ultimately, Lacey does find a satisfaction from things fought for and won, and they give some consolation keeping her in the game, though the questions and conflicts of the nature of being a nurturer and/or a concerned parent still linger even to our childrens' generation.
In chosing the title, "Houses," Ms Parks chooses a metaphor relating to the different houses either lived in, toured, loved or hated, by Lacey to define the stages of her life, and the expressions of her "self." This brilliant symbol leaves an indelible mark, causing us to examine ourselves in the same context. Parks is a powerful writer.
I want to leave this quote of so many brilliant ones in this novel:
"Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hopeful that our daughters and granddaughters will find it easier. The internet and telecommunicating now offer the promise, not just of a greener way of working, but of an avenue, for both men and women, to productive and fulfilling work that doesn't require abandoning the home, especially the children, whose needs don't always correspond to nine to five scheduling. We have the Family Leave Act now and the notion of daycare in the workplace seems less radical. The stay-at-home dad is not such a joke."
This book is brilliant and readable. Ms Parks is a writer you'll not soon forget.
While we sit on the cusp of the lst quarter of the 21st century, I know many of us will never rest on the footings we've gained in so many areas of our American lives...I hope and pray our children and grandchildren will continue to walk with us.
Deborah/TheBookishDame
Ms Parks processes the conflicts of being a woman during the turbulent years of the mid-to end of the 20th century. Specifically, we follow the life story of Lacey Winters, a girl whose growing up years to current "golden years" will leave a lasting impression on readers of all ages.
Readers are taken on a nostalgic trip through childhood days of playing outside with neighborhood friends, the Kennedy and Martin Luther King days, civil and women's rights, the Viet Nam War, the bliss of first love, and the self-affirming conviction of being politically active for the first time. We come to know and love her family members, her friends both male and female and her loved ones.
We relive Lacey's agonies, [the agonies we, ourselves, may have endured, possibly still do!] to be a "good Mom" while minding the house and budget, working for a pittance at a boring/stagnant job, and trying to take one or two classes at a time to finish a college degree so that some day it might be possible to become what she "is." All of this only to find herself alone and most of those she loved gone by the time she "got there."
Ultimately, Lacey does find a satisfaction from things fought for and won, and they give some consolation keeping her in the game, though the questions and conflicts of the nature of being a nurturer and/or a concerned parent still linger even to our childrens' generation.
In chosing the title, "Houses," Ms Parks chooses a metaphor relating to the different houses either lived in, toured, loved or hated, by Lacey to define the stages of her life, and the expressions of her "self." This brilliant symbol leaves an indelible mark, causing us to examine ourselves in the same context. Parks is a powerful writer.
I want to leave this quote of so many brilliant ones in this novel:
"Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hopeful that our daughters and granddaughters will find it easier. The internet and telecommunicating now offer the promise, not just of a greener way of working, but of an avenue, for both men and women, to productive and fulfilling work that doesn't require abandoning the home, especially the children, whose needs don't always correspond to nine to five scheduling. We have the Family Leave Act now and the notion of daycare in the workplace seems less radical. The stay-at-home dad is not such a joke."
This book is brilliant and readable. Ms Parks is a writer you'll not soon forget.
While we sit on the cusp of the lst quarter of the 21st century, I know many of us will never rest on the footings we've gained in so many areas of our American lives...I hope and pray our children and grandchildren will continue to walk with us.
Deborah/TheBookishDame
