Review: The House by Anjuelle Floyd

Title: The House

Author: Anjuelle Floyd

Year of published: 2010

Pages: 303

Publisher: Neptune Publications

Rating: 

Anna Manning is struggling for a divorce of her thirty-three-year-old marriage and half of the house, where she has been trapped being a mother of four and a wife with husband’s several absences. Somehow, something stops her…

After enduring Edward’s extra-marital affairs in their marriage, Anna makes a decision to gather all pieces of her life and move on. She dreams of life in Europe and to pursue her long-time abandoned dream. Therefore, she fights for half-price of the house she’s going to sell. But when Anna knows that her husband she’s going to separate from, Edward Manning, is dying of cancer, she takes a turn---to forgive him and let him die in that house.

For what she’s been doing, Anna’s all alone. She has to face disagreement from her children who happen to fail with their own love lives, too. Then, something which she and Edward haven’t been done in their own pasts reveals a moment of truth in the future.

My review: Anjuelle Floyd’s second book brings an interesting family drama of complicated past of each characters involved. The story tells us many values of a family that will remain in a house. The author writes every part beautifully and intellectually about life, being a mother with complex situation.

Although the story centers to Anna, I found it more interesting that the book takes various angles of each character, leading to more detail of the situation. Let’s say, it’s a fair proportion as anything gives impacts to anyone. Reader could take some important message of the whole story.

The book cultivates the real drama of a betrayal, a tale of struggle within disappointment and failure, and how it would affect the entire family, even into personal. It opens up the hidden fact from a woman who sacrifices her life and dream for loved ones, what life takes to be a wife and a mother, the dilemma. It breaks the myth that women who are cheated as their lacks to keep the husband loyal, instead, Anna Manning’s story opens up the existence of a woman’s desires and hopes. Both of parents’ existence is also shown here as something important as one of the responsibilities for the children they have to bring up. And in betrayal, how you see the position of the husband who cheats; the wife and children who are left behind; a red line that connects them; and how the world sees them.

Anna Manning’s life is felt so real and moves you to the core. In the end, you might believe that all hold regret, and are seeking for forgiveness. Our salvation rests in the hands of others---quite particularly the ones whom we love most, and who have treated us wrongly.

About the Author

Anjuelle Floyd is also the woman behind the book "Keeper of Secrets... Translation of an Incident". Graduated from Duke University and MA Degree in Counseling Psychology from The California Institute of Integral Studies, she works as Marriage and Family Therapist. She also received MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.

More about Anjuelle Floyd on http://www.anjuellefloyd.com.

Also posted to my personal blog The Interesting Stranger - Naked and Caffeinated