8/8/2019 Review of House of the Deaf

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Review of House of the Deaf September 29, 2005

House of the Deaf By Lamar HerrinUnbridled Books, $23.95

Michelle Williamson, studying abroad in Madrid, is tragically killed in a bombing engineered by Basque

separatists.

While it’s a literal bomb that kills Michelle, the resulting fallout in her family is an emotional bomb and sets intomotion feelings which threaten to tear the very fabric of the Williamson family.

Father Ben, naturally, is devastated, but two years later, still harbors a fierce desire to understand exactly whathappened and to see that someone “pays” for Michelle’s death. Michelle’s mother has divorced Ben inintervening years since her daughter’s death.

The other daughter, Annie, was never close to Michelle, and harbors resentment towards her dead sister for referring to her as the “spare” daughter. Ben goes to Spain, seeking answers, and Annie, worried about her father, soon joins him.

Together, the two embark on an emotional journey. Ben and Annie both have much to discover aboutthemselves and coming to terms with the impact Michelle’s death has had on them. House of the Deaf is alovely, wrenching novel that will move even the most unemotional of readers.