Keys to an Empty House

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

“Keys To An Empty House” tells the story of Elihu Goulding, a 60 year old ex-author who believes that he peaked in his 20s with his two bestsellers. Living off the royalties of his success, Eli spends his years hopping between homes in the country and city, with nothing to do but read and wander. However, he soon receives a wake up call when the son he never met shows up at his doorstep wanting to learn more.

My opinion on this book flip-flopped with each chapter. First, I found the writing style off-putting and frustrating to get into. I was eventually able to find my flow, but the abrupt sentences and the strange 3rd person stream of consciousness narration distracted from the story.

The parts that I found most enjoyable were descriptions of the characters' routines, but in all honesty I found that there was too much unnecessary detail elsewhere. One example is the multi-page description of Eli's relationship with Bart, which is never made relevant throughout the story other than a brief “scare” when they almost run into each other. Several pages were spent on this, and in describing Eli's masturbatory and sexual habits when it was simply irrelevant to the plot.

There is little dialogue in this novel until the end, which honestly works in its favor. When the dialogue does begin, it's unnatural and unnerving. No one uses contractions, they speak as though they were working on a theater piece, and there's an abundance of 50-cent words (vicissitudes, bivouac, erstwhile, peripatetic - just to name a few).

All in all, this was intriguing enough for me to commit to reading it fully, but not something I would seek out or recommend.