Product Description

Kate Hutchinson and her husband Simon are Londoners, performing the balancing act of raising two young children in a cramped terraced house whilst holding down stressful full-time jobs. When everything starts to come apart at the seams they decide to uproot and move to the Suffolk coast. Sacrificing her career, her friends and her independence, Kate battles to make a new life for the family under her mother-in-law's roof - while they search in vain for the perfect home. Months later, with Simon still working all hours and the strains of living with his mother beginning to tell, Kate is questioning the wisdom of their move. Then one evening, out walking, she stumbles upon the house of her dreams, a beautiful place, full of memories - but tantalizingly out of her reach. It belongs to a frail old lady, Agnes, and the two women become close friends. As Kate unravels the dying woman's story she is amazed to discover how much it echoes her own. And as past and present intertwine, Kate is given the strength and inspiration to reforge her own life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16043 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Cathy Kelly
'A beautifully written and magical novel about life, love and family'

Chris Manby
'What a treat! I devoured it over the weekend. It's so very real and utterly unputdownable'

Daisy Waugh
'Brilliantly evocative, wonderfully romantic'

Customer Reviews

A beautifully- written fusion of past and present
The Dream House is a truly great read which had me chuckling one moment and crying the next. It's a book which, in the lightest and most enjoyable of ways, compares the predicaments faced by two women living a hundred years apart. One minute you are busy empathizing with the modern day dilemmas of Kate as she seeks to juggle being a successful career woman and a successful mother. The next, when Kate finds her dream house in the country, you are being whisked back in time to witness the Victorian predicaments once faced by its now elderly inhabitant Agnes. Agnes' story is both tragically gripping and fascinating in its detail - can you imagine watching the first traffic lights being put up on Oxford Street??! The two eras are cleverly linked in a story that is intricately woven and keeps you guessing to the very end. I really couldn't put it down.

Very enjoyable
Amazon recommended this book to me as I had loved Kate Morton's 'Forgotten Garden' so I thought I'd give it a try and it is a lovely story which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I did find it a little bit slow to start with, I began to think that it was just going to be typical chick lit fare which generally isn't my cup of tea, but as it progressed the modern day story picked up and became more interesting, and the tale of Agnes set in the past was always fascinating.
I was sad when it ended as I really enjoyed it and have just ordered Rachel Hore's second book 'The Memory Garden.'

Brilliant!
I never thought I would like this book. But it actually turned out to be one of my favourites! I read a lot of books, all kinds of books, and this one really took me into its story, charachters and wonderful world! I wish I'd written it, that's how much I love it! Buy it because of its amazing story and very affordable price! A perfect summer read!