House Rules

A Memoir

De: Rachel Sontag

Narrado por: Nicole Poole

A compelling, at times horrifying work that is impossible to put down, House Rules will stand beside Running with Scissors and The Glass Castle as a memoir that cracks open the shell of a desperately dysfunctional family with impressive grace and humor. Rachel Sontag grew up the daughter of a well liked doctor in an upper middle class suburb of Chicago. The view from outside couldn't have been more perfect. But within the walls of the family home, Rachel's life was controlled and indeed terrorized by her father's serious depression. In prose that is both precise and rich, Rachel's childhood experience unfolds in a chronological recounting that shows how her father became more and more disturbed as Rachel grew up. A visceral and wrenching exploration of the impact of a damaged psyche on those nearest to him, House Rules will keep you reading even when you most wish you could look away.©2008 Rachel Sontag (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC.

Painful and revealing

Yes, the author grew up in relative privilege, but any neglected or abused child knows that college funds and trips abroad don't make up for a self-absorbed parent's heedless cruelty. This was an infuriating listen at times, that had me talking back to her father like I wish the author could have with impunity.

Honest and understated memoir

A great look at what it’s like to grow up in an affluent household and still be abused even if no one ever lays a hand on you physically. Emotional abuse is real and has its own damages. I highly recommend this book for anyone who grew up with an emotionally abusive or personality disordered parent.

An echo of my hurt

Listening to this book was something that needed to happen. My friend had read the book and saw the echo of my family, and so she recommended it. My father, like Rachel’s, was mentally unwell. In listening to this, I cried, felt the hurt, but also the healing. The book helped to give closure to what if’s that I had held on to, second guesses that I’ve let haunt me. The book is beautifully written and truly and fully expresses the complicated nature of emotional abuse.

Disappointed

Seemed pretty narcissistic in the end. Others have had it way worse. Kept waiting for some kind of horrible story.