Jayne Smith's Reviews > In the Dream House

In the dream house. In the beginning I thought it’d be good. In the first couple of chapters I was like okay. In almost every chapter the writer wanted us to know how smart she was, how hurt she was. In every situation she was a victim. In her parents house, on a beach. In Iowa. In grad school. In her relationship she never used her voice but she made sure to write a book so that her story would be heard. In the book she starts a lot of chapters with the word IN. In that way she lets us know how a smart person writes a book. In academia that is how they write books. In the end this book felt like someone who lived such a great life that even her memoir felt like a thing of privilege. In all her writing shops, in all her great friendships, in all her happiness, this one relationship was the worst thing in her life. In the end I didn’t care.