Publication
Detroit : Thorndike Press, 2010.
Collection
Call number
Large Print Fiction G
Physical description
611 p.; 22 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: �Clever and accomplished . . . A little Irving, a little Doctorow, a little Winston Groom�[The Irresistible Henry House] is storytelling for story lovers; realism with an enchanting touch of fairy tale.��Newsday �Sweeps along with such page-turning vitality that [Henry�s] story is indeed irresistible. [Grade:] A��Entertainment Weekly In this captivating novel, bestselling author Lisa Grunwald gives us the sweeping tale of an irresistible hero and the many women who love him. In the middle of the twentieth century, in a home economics program at a prominent university, orphaned babies are being used to teach mothering skills to young women. For Henry House, raised in these unlikely circumstances, finding real love and learning to trust will prove to be the work of a lifetime. From his earliest days as a �practice baby� through his adult adventures in 1960s New York City, Disney�s Burbank studios, and the delirious world of the Beatles� London, Henry remains handsome, charming, universally adored�but unable to return the affections of the many women who try to lay claim to his heart. It is not until Henry comes face-to-face with the truths of his past that he finds a chance for real love. Praise for The Irresistible Henry House �Like T. S. Garp, Forrest Gump or Benjamin Button, Henry House, the hero of Grunwald�s imaginative take on a little-known aspect of American academic life, has an unusual upbringing. Grunwald nails the era just as she ingeniously uses Henry and the women in his life to illuminate the heady rush of sexual freedom (and confusion) that signifi ed mid-century life.��Publishers Weekly (starred review, Pick of the Week) �A smart, enjoyable read that will leave you with a pleasing thought: Even for guys who just aren�t that into anyone, there�s hope.��People �Truly extraordinary . . . Get ready for a story, an adventure, and a cast of characters you�ll never forget.��Liz Smith �Imaginatively picaresque and often gut-wrenching.��O: The Oprah Magazine �Grunwald�s novel runs parallel to perfection.��Chicago Sun-Times.… (more)
Subjects
Media reviews
Amazon Best Book of the Month
To the ranks of iconic mid-century modern men Gump and Garp, add The Irresistible Henry House. As imagined by Lisa Grunwald, inspired by the peculiar beginnings of a real baby, Henry's life unspools with more realism and intention than Gump's, with less a sense of dread than Garp's. But Henry and
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his story have the same almost-magic magnetism. . . . The multidimensional generations of women in his life make a fascinating microcosm of the cultural revolution that redefined the expectations of all American women in the latter half of the 20th century. But it's Henry's struggle to define the desires of his own heart that propels this story, culminating in a scene as transcendent as Carver's Cathedral. Show Less
Starred review, Pick of the Week. Like T.S. Garp, Forrest Gump or Benjamin Button, Henry House, the hero of Grunwald’s imaginative take on a little known aspect of American academic life, has an unusual upbringing...With cameos by Dr. Benjamin Spock, Walt Disney and John Lennon, and locations
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ranging from a peaceful college campus to swinging 1960s London, Grunwald nails the era just as she ingeniously uses Henry and the women in his life to illuminate the heady rush of sexual freedom (and confusion) that signified mid-century life. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Airycat
Show! Don't Tell!!
I wanted so badly to love this book, but it was not meant to be. The biggest problem I had was that I'd put it down and not care if I picked it up again. At first, I attributed this to the fact that I'd started it just before Christmas. By mid-January, however, I realized it was
Clearly, based on other reviews, there are people who don't mind a telling book. If it were shorter, I might not have minded it, myself. Grunwald writes well and I enjoyed her descriptive scenes, particularly in California and London. What the telling does for me, however, is make me not care about any of the characters. The main characters are particularly annoying. By the end of the book, the only character I liked was Mary Jane. It had no intimacy for me. I didn't get to 'know' these characters, and learn about them that way. It was Lisa Grunwald telling me about these characters she knew. She was always telling me how they felt and what they thought. I never got the chance to learn these things myself. They became, for the most part, characters I didn't want to hear about.
Beyond my not getting to know the characters, I also got the feeling they were too 'scripted.' I don't get the feeling that Henry or Martha or Betty told Grunwald how (s)he felt about anything. Grunwald had a story to tell and made her characters fit the story. The fact that Peace was so much like Henry, even though she had been adopted, reinforced this 'make the character fit the story' sense. The biggest flaw I saw here was Henry's attitude to Martha. It didn't make sense to me at all. She was the one constant he'd had. Yes, he would be angry at her for lying to him. Yes, he'd want to run away with Betty. Yes, he'd likely want to leave home ASAP (or else become a 'mama's boy'). But, I think part of all of that, once he got over the initial anger at Martha for lying, would be, not because he had no feeling for her, but because he did have feelings and needed to get away from her smothering.
As I write this, I think maybe, possibly, Grunwald expected the reader to realize he actually did have feelings for Martha. I still believe that the telling manner of writing makes this much more difficult for the reader to see. If one gets to see Henry's emotions, rather than be told about them, one can then determine that he thinks he feels nothing for Martha, but actually really does.
Kudos to Grunwald for the ending. I tend to doubt that Henry would have made the realization about Mary Jane as young as he did, but her reaction was absolutely right. It is this ending, Henry's realization, that makes me wonder if everything we are told about how he feels about things is accurate, though it's all too vague. I sort of suspected that was how it would end for Henry and was really concerned that it would be a sappy ending. I was delighted it wasn't. It is this ending (along with the Disney and London settings, so well described) that made the book worth reading, for me.
If you like a literary style (I do) and don't mind telling (I do), go ahead and read this book. If you prefer action stories or at least a feeling of actually getting to know the characters, you probably won't care for this book.
I wanted so badly to love this book, but it was not meant to be. The biggest problem I had was that I'd put it down and not care if I picked it up again. At first, I attributed this to the fact that I'd started it just before Christmas. By mid-January, however, I realized it was
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the book. After thinking about why that was so, I realized this book is 99% telling and 1% showing. Grunwald broke the cardinal rule for writers -- Show, don't tell!!Clearly, based on other reviews, there are people who don't mind a telling book. If it were shorter, I might not have minded it, myself. Grunwald writes well and I enjoyed her descriptive scenes, particularly in California and London. What the telling does for me, however, is make me not care about any of the characters. The main characters are particularly annoying. By the end of the book, the only character I liked was Mary Jane. It had no intimacy for me. I didn't get to 'know' these characters, and learn about them that way. It was Lisa Grunwald telling me about these characters she knew. She was always telling me how they felt and what they thought. I never got the chance to learn these things myself. They became, for the most part, characters I didn't want to hear about.
Beyond my not getting to know the characters, I also got the feeling they were too 'scripted.' I don't get the feeling that Henry or Martha or Betty told Grunwald how (s)he felt about anything. Grunwald had a story to tell and made her characters fit the story. The fact that Peace was so much like Henry, even though she had been adopted, reinforced this 'make the character fit the story' sense. The biggest flaw I saw here was Henry's attitude to Martha. It didn't make sense to me at all. She was the one constant he'd had. Yes, he would be angry at her for lying to him. Yes, he'd want to run away with Betty. Yes, he'd likely want to leave home ASAP (or else become a 'mama's boy'). But, I think part of all of that, once he got over the initial anger at Martha for lying, would be, not because he had no feeling for her, but because he did have feelings and needed to get away from her smothering.
As I write this, I think maybe, possibly, Grunwald expected the reader to realize he actually did have feelings for Martha. I still believe that the telling manner of writing makes this much more difficult for the reader to see. If one gets to see Henry's emotions, rather than be told about them, one can then determine that he thinks he feels nothing for Martha, but actually really does.
Kudos to Grunwald for the ending. I tend to doubt that Henry would have made the realization about Mary Jane as young as he did, but her reaction was absolutely right. It is this ending, Henry's realization, that makes me wonder if everything we are told about how he feels about things is accurate, though it's all too vague. I sort of suspected that was how it would end for Henry and was really concerned that it would be a sappy ending. I was delighted it wasn't. It is this ending (along with the Disney and London settings, so well described) that made the book worth reading, for me.
If you like a literary style (I do) and don't mind telling (I do), go ahead and read this book. If you prefer action stories or at least a feeling of actually getting to know the characters, you probably won't care for this book.
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
Henry (House) Gaines was a practice baby. Born in 1946, given up for adoption by his unmarried teen-aged mother, he became a "House" baby in a university Home economics program where he was "raised" by a procession of young women majoring in home economics.
Today, our high school students often
Lisa Grunwald gives us a fictionalized account of one such experiment. Henry was only 6 weeks old when he came to live in the House. Martha Gaines, the house mother, is a stern widow who goes strictly by the book of no-nonsense child rearing. Babies were fed on schedule, bathed, walked, and dressed on time, with no cuddling, picking up, soothing allowed. After all, if a child learned he could cry and get picked up, then he would cry all the time! Each class of 8 student mothers rotated living in the house for a week at a time for one or two semesters of 'child-rearing'.
So Henry was "Raised, as a consequence, not with a pack of orphans by a single matron but as a single orphan by a pack of mothers....(he) started life in a fragrant, dust-free, fractured world where love and disappointment were both excessive and intertwined." (pg. 7)
Martha did not allow emotional bonding with the babies, either for herself, or her students. Somehow, Henry didn't get the message, and Martha found herself falling in love with this particular infant. One of the other practice moms also exhibited a special attachment to Henry.
Without spoilers, this is the story of Henry's life...how he came to stay in the practice house beyond the normal one year limit and be raised by Martha as her son. How he came to use her last name. How the lack of a male role model, and the constant need to please a number of women impacted his emotional life as he grew. How his search for, and subsequent relationship with, his birth mother colored his perceptions of parenting. It is the story of Henry, from his birth to his ultimate assimilation as a young adult into the drug culture of the sixties, of his adult relationships with his mother(s) and with young women his own age, of his life as an graphic artist both in Hollywood and London, and his search for permanence in his family setting.
Ultimately, I saw this book as an indictment of an experiment, as the story not just of Henry, but a study of the need for permanent bonding relationships of infants and parents, of one human with another, and of the need for trust to be established and honored. Grunwald has given us an extraordinary picture of human relationships, and of the universal need to belong to a family.
Henry's story is well told, and well worth reading.
Today, our high school students often
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carry 10 pound sacks of flour, diapered and dressed in baby clothes which they must "care for" for a period of days/weeks/months--an assignment designed to impress on young people some of the limits and responsibilities parenthood imposes on parental time and freedom of movement. Some of today's high schools even have robot or mechanical 'babies' programmed to cry, wet, burp, sleep, etc. But in 1906, when Cornell University instituted the idea of a Practice House, and contracted with a local orphanage to care for practice babies, the concept was quite radical. It subsequently spread to many colleges across the country and continued well into the 1960's.Lisa Grunwald gives us a fictionalized account of one such experiment. Henry was only 6 weeks old when he came to live in the House. Martha Gaines, the house mother, is a stern widow who goes strictly by the book of no-nonsense child rearing. Babies were fed on schedule, bathed, walked, and dressed on time, with no cuddling, picking up, soothing allowed. After all, if a child learned he could cry and get picked up, then he would cry all the time! Each class of 8 student mothers rotated living in the house for a week at a time for one or two semesters of 'child-rearing'.
So Henry was "Raised, as a consequence, not with a pack of orphans by a single matron but as a single orphan by a pack of mothers....(he) started life in a fragrant, dust-free, fractured world where love and disappointment were both excessive and intertwined." (pg. 7)
Martha did not allow emotional bonding with the babies, either for herself, or her students. Somehow, Henry didn't get the message, and Martha found herself falling in love with this particular infant. One of the other practice moms also exhibited a special attachment to Henry.
Without spoilers, this is the story of Henry's life...how he came to stay in the practice house beyond the normal one year limit and be raised by Martha as her son. How he came to use her last name. How the lack of a male role model, and the constant need to please a number of women impacted his emotional life as he grew. How his search for, and subsequent relationship with, his birth mother colored his perceptions of parenting. It is the story of Henry, from his birth to his ultimate assimilation as a young adult into the drug culture of the sixties, of his adult relationships with his mother(s) and with young women his own age, of his life as an graphic artist both in Hollywood and London, and his search for permanence in his family setting.
Ultimately, I saw this book as an indictment of an experiment, as the story not just of Henry, but a study of the need for permanent bonding relationships of infants and parents, of one human with another, and of the need for trust to be established and honored. Grunwald has given us an extraordinary picture of human relationships, and of the universal need to belong to a family.
Henry's story is well told, and well worth reading.
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LibraryThing member Ellen-The-Librarian
"It is a very strange thing to start life as an orphan."
The Irresistible Henry House should have been 200 pages shorter. Grunwald took an interesting, previously unexamined topic like practice babies and dragged it on and on and on until the reader finally wants to scream "get over it" to Henry and
The Irresistible Henry House should have been 200 pages shorter. Grunwald took an interesting, previously unexamined topic like practice babies and dragged it on and on and on until the reader finally wants to scream "get over it" to Henry and
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"get on with it" to the author. All in all, I would skip this book if you've got other things on your "to read" list. Show Less
LibraryThing member karieh
I can say with a good deal of certainty that the premise of this book is one of the strangest that I’ve seen in a long time. And? It’s not about aliens, or magic, or preposterous conspiracies. It’s about a phenomenon called “practice babies”. And? It’s based on fact.
From 1919 to 1959 at
The book follows the life of Henry House (all of the babies in this program are given the last name House – for “practice house”). He arrives in the practice house a bit younger in age than most of the babies, and in a complete turnaround from the other babies, ends up staying. Martha, the director, ends up keeping Henry after his seven practice mothers are finished with the program. And then the reader is allowed to follow his life, the life of a child who had many partial mothers, but no mother all his own.
Martha, the woman who decides to keep him, is a very interesting mix of cold logic and fact, and tightly controlled grief. “Martha saw herself in the mirror at the top of the stairs and readjusted her scarf, forcing the memory out of her mind. Once a day. She allowed herself to think about that only once a day.”
And the feelings that Henry has…about himself, his place in the world, families and women in general, are fascinating. To grow up in such an environment, when many women are pretending to be your mother and yet none of them are in any sort of traditional sense, is such a bizarre idea that were I writing the story, might come up with hundreds of different possibilities. One similarity might be this, though:
“He wondered what other secrets she’d kept, what other lies she had told him. He assumed that there had been many of both. Trust was not a muscle he had learned how to use.”
Henry develops a fierce need to be wanted, to be loved…that competes with his lack of an ability to then form an attachment. He becomes used to people coming into his life that shower attention on him…but these people leave. That is the pattern of his younger life, one that he continues into his young adult relationships.
“He wondered if they missed him. They had not even tried to call him. He wondered if he missed them. They were receding into the horizon of his mental landscape, smaller and smaller as the city’s buildings, and the city’s people, rose. He wondered if he had ever truly missed anyone, or ever would.”
The more I read, the more I wondered what might have happened to these children. Some of Henry’s choices and emotions (or lack thereof) made me wonder if some of them might have turned out to be sociopaths. As babies, they received a great deal of attention, but no actual love, and then even that was snatched away when they were returned to the orphanage. How would these children have learned to care about others or themselves? How would they understand true feelings, what kind of grasp on reality or human relationships would they have?
“He endured their various reactions of hurt, rage, disappointment, and blame with utterly feigned remorse. He wanted to have no one. If he had no one, he figured, he would have no one to lose.”
But Henry’s life does not follow such a dark path. Though he certainly has (and creates himself) a number of problems, he seeks out a new world for himself, an animated world where he feels more at home than in the real world. “It was a world in which it seemed that the real purpose of all things was to be transformed into other things.”
And here, Henry is transformed. Once surrounded by unreal things and people who create them, he is able to start separating truth from fiction, and starts learning more about himself…and as an extension of that, other people.
I found the premise of this book fascinating, and I think that Grunwald fully fleshes out the character of Henry. While the start of his life seems incomprehensible, the results of that start are compelling and very believable.
From 1919 to 1959 at
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Cornell University (and other institutions across the country) home economics programs used babies “on loan” from orphanages to help teach women how to be mothers. These “practice babies” lived away from the orphanage for months to years – having many “practice mothers” during that time. This book came about when the author saw a picture of one of these babies on the Cornell University website and read about the history of the program. Which then, of course, leads one to wonder what happened next…and Grunwald does a compelling job of answering that question.The book follows the life of Henry House (all of the babies in this program are given the last name House – for “practice house”). He arrives in the practice house a bit younger in age than most of the babies, and in a complete turnaround from the other babies, ends up staying. Martha, the director, ends up keeping Henry after his seven practice mothers are finished with the program. And then the reader is allowed to follow his life, the life of a child who had many partial mothers, but no mother all his own.
Martha, the woman who decides to keep him, is a very interesting mix of cold logic and fact, and tightly controlled grief. “Martha saw herself in the mirror at the top of the stairs and readjusted her scarf, forcing the memory out of her mind. Once a day. She allowed herself to think about that only once a day.”
And the feelings that Henry has…about himself, his place in the world, families and women in general, are fascinating. To grow up in such an environment, when many women are pretending to be your mother and yet none of them are in any sort of traditional sense, is such a bizarre idea that were I writing the story, might come up with hundreds of different possibilities. One similarity might be this, though:
“He wondered what other secrets she’d kept, what other lies she had told him. He assumed that there had been many of both. Trust was not a muscle he had learned how to use.”
Henry develops a fierce need to be wanted, to be loved…that competes with his lack of an ability to then form an attachment. He becomes used to people coming into his life that shower attention on him…but these people leave. That is the pattern of his younger life, one that he continues into his young adult relationships.
“He wondered if they missed him. They had not even tried to call him. He wondered if he missed them. They were receding into the horizon of his mental landscape, smaller and smaller as the city’s buildings, and the city’s people, rose. He wondered if he had ever truly missed anyone, or ever would.”
The more I read, the more I wondered what might have happened to these children. Some of Henry’s choices and emotions (or lack thereof) made me wonder if some of them might have turned out to be sociopaths. As babies, they received a great deal of attention, but no actual love, and then even that was snatched away when they were returned to the orphanage. How would these children have learned to care about others or themselves? How would they understand true feelings, what kind of grasp on reality or human relationships would they have?
“He endured their various reactions of hurt, rage, disappointment, and blame with utterly feigned remorse. He wanted to have no one. If he had no one, he figured, he would have no one to lose.”
But Henry’s life does not follow such a dark path. Though he certainly has (and creates himself) a number of problems, he seeks out a new world for himself, an animated world where he feels more at home than in the real world. “It was a world in which it seemed that the real purpose of all things was to be transformed into other things.”
And here, Henry is transformed. Once surrounded by unreal things and people who create them, he is able to start separating truth from fiction, and starts learning more about himself…and as an extension of that, other people.
I found the premise of this book fascinating, and I think that Grunwald fully fleshes out the character of Henry. While the start of his life seems incomprehensible, the results of that start are compelling and very believable.
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LibraryThing member detailmuse
Who knew?! -- that for decades during the early and mid-20th century, the home economics programs at prestigious American universities taught domestic arts through fully equipped “practice houses” ... including child-care using orphaned infants known as “practice babies.” That historical
In 1946, four-month-old Henry arrives at the practice house of Pennsylvania’s Wilton College and the eager ministrations of a rotating series of student “mothers.” But later, instead of returning Henry to the orphanage to be placed elsewhere through permanent adoption, program director Martha Gaines (hardened by a bad marriage and a miscarriage) arranges to raise him herself. The novel follows Henry through his childhood and adolescence, his relationships with girls and women, and his early jobs (including terrific passages as an animator on Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine).
A romp through mid-20th century popular culture, the novel is promising in the beginning and somewhat satisfying in the end, easy to read but oddly unengaging. I think my biggest disappointment is that it is less an exploration of its wholly original premise, and more a general story of adoption.
(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)
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fact sets up Lisa Grunwald’s fiction about what happens when one such child is raised “not with a pack of orphans by a single matron but as a single orphan by a pack of mothers.”In 1946, four-month-old Henry arrives at the practice house of Pennsylvania’s Wilton College and the eager ministrations of a rotating series of student “mothers.” But later, instead of returning Henry to the orphanage to be placed elsewhere through permanent adoption, program director Martha Gaines (hardened by a bad marriage and a miscarriage) arranges to raise him herself. The novel follows Henry through his childhood and adolescence, his relationships with girls and women, and his early jobs (including terrific passages as an animator on Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine).
A romp through mid-20th century popular culture, the novel is promising in the beginning and somewhat satisfying in the end, easy to read but oddly unengaging. I think my biggest disappointment is that it is less an exploration of its wholly original premise, and more a general story of adoption.
(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)
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LibraryThing member rhshelver
The Irresistible Henry House had an interesting premise, multi-dimensional characters, and a plot that moved the reader along at a nice pace. It was a good book, and well worth reading. Somehow, though, I finished the book without caring much one way or another about what Henry did in the end.
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Perhaps, even as a reader, it was hard to get attached to a character who went out of his way to avoid anyone getting close to him. The end, too, was somewhat weak, without an effective crisis that would lead to Henry's changing as a person and becoming more likable. But this is one of those books that lead its readers to consider the situation the main character finds himself in and to reflect on what effects that situation would have on a child. For this reason, I predict that The Irresistible Henry House will be popular with many book clubs. Show Less
LibraryThing member hpat
What a gem! Henry is a charming charactor who guides the reader through decades of history changing people, events, and ideas. Reading this book prompts the reader to examine both their childhood bonding experiences as well as their own parenting style.
Because of his unique experience as a test
Somehow, the appearances of Dr Spears, Walt Disney, and the Beatles, are believable in this entertaining and touching story.
Because of his unique experience as a test
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baby, Henry never learns how to achive the thing he most desires- a loving relationship. He fears rejection and broken trust, always skirting intimacy when it is offered. He keeps Mary Jane, the person he comes closest to loving at an arm's length. Meanwhile, he completely shuts out his adopted mother, Martha, who wants nothing more in this world than Henry's love. Somehow, the appearances of Dr Spears, Walt Disney, and the Beatles, are believable in this entertaining and touching story.
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LibraryThing member sruszala
The Irresistible Henry House is, indeed, an irresistible read. Funny, poignant, clever and light. In many ways the writing reminded me of John Irving--tracing the central feature of the central character through many unique twists and turns. In this case, the central character, Henry House, starts
Final note: Grunwald's coverage of the different eras involved in the book, particularly juxtaposing the utopian, clean-cut Disney philosophy with the debauchery of the 60s--is superb.
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life as a practice baby with many different "mothers"--and his quest is to repair that early fractured beginning with a permanent, committed relationship. Note: Grunwald is no John Irving, clearly....while the writing is excellent, the early cleverness of the practice baby idea fizzles into a pretty mundane ending. But perhaps that is the point (no spoilers here!)Final note: Grunwald's coverage of the different eras involved in the book, particularly juxtaposing the utopian, clean-cut Disney philosophy with the debauchery of the 60s--is superb.
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LibraryThing member samfsmith
An entertaining and original novel, about an orphan baby who was “loaned” out to a Home Economics “practice house” back in the 1950s. Henry House (House for practice house and practice baby) is raised in his first year by a succession of students in one-week shifts. He proves to be so
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irresistible that he is adopted by the teacher. The novel is essentially a coming of age story, and follows Henry’s attempts to make sense of his curious upbringing and difficulties with relationships with other people. It’s an intriguing premise, inspired by an actual historical practice baby, and a well executed novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member akowen
I found this book fascinating. The story is derived from the post-World War II college home economics programs that offered practice houses as well as "practice" babies for young women to learn the basics of household management. The babies were provided by orphanages or homes for unwed mothers,
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allowing small classes of women to care for them from around 6 months to two years of age when they were returned for adoption. "The Irresistible Henry House" tells the story of fictional practice baby Henry House and the bonding/abandonment issues that a child with such an upbringing might have experienced. Not only was I drawn to the unusual story line, but Henry's career path provided a Forrest-Gump-like look into 1960's history. All in all, a very entertaining read. Show Less
LibraryThing member ddirmeyer
Lisa Grunwald's latest novel had me hooked from the very beginning. The premise of her book, based on historical facts, of orphanages supplying college home economics classes with "practice babies" to be tended to by a rotating group of college students until being sent back to the orphanage after
Henry House, the protagonist of this book, is an appealing practice baby who remains in the house with the program director as his "mother" after his time as a practice baby is over. The story follows Henry as he grows and comes to term with the unusual circumstances of his childhood.
Grunwald cleverly balances the reader's sympathies toward Henry as well as Martha, his "mother". She also used actual historical and cultural events as a perfect background to Henry's plight.
I found this book to be engrossing to the end. I feel certain it will be a hit with book clubs as there is much to discuss concerning the personal relationships as well as the practices during Henry's childhood. I highly recommend this novel.
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a year or two. Grunwald develops her characters quickly and skillfully, drawing the reader into the book and the many facets of life in these "practice houses". Henry House, the protagonist of this book, is an appealing practice baby who remains in the house with the program director as his "mother" after his time as a practice baby is over. The story follows Henry as he grows and comes to term with the unusual circumstances of his childhood.
Grunwald cleverly balances the reader's sympathies toward Henry as well as Martha, his "mother". She also used actual historical and cultural events as a perfect background to Henry's plight.
I found this book to be engrossing to the end. I feel certain it will be a hit with book clubs as there is much to discuss concerning the personal relationships as well as the practices during Henry's childhood. I highly recommend this novel.
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LibraryThing member JackieBlem
I am utterly captivated with this book because its premise is SO fascinating, especially since it's based in historical fact. Apparently, from the 1920s to the 1960s, there were collegiate level home economics classes that involved rotations in a 'practice house' taking care of a real live
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'practice baby'. Orphanages literally "loaned" babies to these college programs for roughly two years per baby, and several women worked weekly rotations being in charge. The whole program was actually quite brilliant, since it was a quiet way of teaching women high level physics, mathematics, mechanics, economics etc. under the guise of letting them earn their MRS degrees (example: one project was to dismantle and then reassemble a refrigerator). Grunwald takes us into that world, with a stern proctor named Martha, an unusually charming orphan named Henry and his 6 practice mothers. The book follows Henry from 3 months old to roughly 25 years old and shows what might have happened to a boy raised in such a way. Grunwald carefully weaves in actual psychological studies done on real "practice babies" as well as extremely clever character development of her own, generously spiced with the cultural details of the changes that happened throughout the 1950s and 60s to create a truly absorbing story. You've never read a book like this one. I guarantee it. Show Less
LibraryThing member theunstrungharpist
This beautifully descriptive novel of heartbreak, unresolved longing, and isolation in a world of eager, demanding, and suffocating people won me over from the first page. While Henry House grew up in unusual circumstances, I found myself relating to his feelings of annoyance, detachment, and
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feigned interest as exaggerated responses to oppressive social expectations. Grunwald's character development was supurb and I found myself worrying about and empathizing with all the people Henry encountered along his journey, especially the women. I also appreciated the well-planned historical and cultural references throughout the work which gave the story depth and context. Grunwald's writing style reminding me of John Irving, even though I cannot articulate exactly why. I adored this novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member pamelalia
This was an interesting book taking place at a Pennsylvanian college with a Home Economics Practice House, where young women would learn to keep house and care for a baby. The babies were provided by the local orphanage for about a year or two before returning to the orphanage for adoption
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placement. The students would each spend a week at a time living in the practice house caring for the baby creating a steady flow of mothers coming and going in the infant's life. Henry is born in the early 1940's, right before Dr Spock arrives on the scene, so the accepted method of child rearing and the concept of mother child bonding was a bit different than what's typically understood today. The instructor of this program is particularly taken with Henry and arranges to adopt him herself, and they both reside in the practice house where mothers come and go throughout Henry's life. The author explores how this arrangement affects all of Henry's relationships throughout his life. Lisa Grunwald did a good job making me question my own concepts about mother child relationships and how that crucial first relationship can have such a profound impact on all other relationships. Show Less
LibraryThing member clue
A well written book with an unusual plot, the book begins when Henry House is a baby, an orphan who has been taken to a university campus to live in the Home Ec practice house. This house was an actual home where the baby would live with the director of the program and students would come to the
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house to learn to care for him. Most babies were returned to the orphanage for adoption at 2 years but Martha, the director of this program, asked and was allowed to keep Henry. The story follows Henry as he grows up and we learn the effects of his unusual upbringing as he becomes a young adult. A chapter or two into the book I started thinking I might not want to continue because it was probably going to be very sad. It wasn't though, I'm glad I stayed with it! Show Less
LibraryThing member karenlisa
The Irresistible Henry House By Lisa Grunwald It is 1946 and Martha Gaines runs a home economics program at a prestigious college. Commonly in the early 1900's to the late 1960's womens studies programs at university included a practice house, where female students would learn to properly run a
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house, perform wifely duties, and care for a baby. In this novel a different infant from a local orphanage is raised for 2 years in the practice house. This baby is loved and cared for by multiple mothers and the strict rules of Martha Gaines. When Henry is brought to the house Martha finds herself falling madly in love with him as a she has never before. She decides to continue to raise Henry past the 2 year mark for the reminder of his childhood. Henry is a charming, smart funny remarkable young man that is deeply affected by his multiple practice mothers. He has trouble finding his freedom and true love. He cannot define his needs or which path his life should take. Henry mistakes Martha's love for selfish need and cannot appreciate all she has given of herself. Very unique story, likable intriguing characters. A highly recommended read. Show Less
LibraryThing member MEENIEREADS
Who knew that babies were actually used to practice on in home economics class? They don't even have those classes anymore! Fascinating characters and fascinating to those of us raised in the 50's and who came of age after this in the late 60's.
Do we need that first bonding love between mother and
Do we need that first bonding love between mother and
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child to have a successful love life and be successful in relationships? Show Less
LibraryThing member read_dance_bliss
This is a great book.
I really didn't know what to expect from this book about a "practice baby", supplied to a home economics class by a local orphanage in the 1950s, but it turned out to be a delicious read and one I highly recommend.
The fact is, Henry House *is* irresistible. The dynamics of the
An added feature of this delightful story was the 1950s (and on) setting. Many small differences between daily life then and now added a fascinating sepia-tint to the landscape of the story, and the novelty of now-common icons of popular culture (some new thing Disney is working on down in Florida? some movie that new band the Beatles are making?) brought the era to life in a wonderful way, especially to someone who didn't live through it. I am sure anyone who did live through it will also enjoy it, as they are reminded of these moments of recent history.
This book was terrific on many levels. It was a light and fun read. It raised an interesting psychological question about attachments and childhood. It was a primer on recent popular culture and what it might have been like to have had a (literal) hand in much of it. Irresistible.
I really didn't know what to expect from this book about a "practice baby", supplied to a home economics class by a local orphanage in the 1950s, but it turned out to be a delicious read and one I highly recommend.
The fact is, Henry House *is* irresistible. The dynamics of the
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Practice House, the relationships between the babies and the mothers and their supervisor, Martha, are fascinating and well-told by Lisa Grunwald. The quirks in the story line were unexpected but believable and this reader often found herself wondering what would happen next. The story did not disappoint.An added feature of this delightful story was the 1950s (and on) setting. Many small differences between daily life then and now added a fascinating sepia-tint to the landscape of the story, and the novelty of now-common icons of popular culture (some new thing Disney is working on down in Florida? some movie that new band the Beatles are making?) brought the era to life in a wonderful way, especially to someone who didn't live through it. I am sure anyone who did live through it will also enjoy it, as they are reminded of these moments of recent history.
This book was terrific on many levels. It was a light and fun read. It raised an interesting psychological question about attachments and childhood. It was a primer on recent popular culture and what it might have been like to have had a (literal) hand in much of it. Irresistible.
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LibraryThing member Kimaoverstreet
Several years ago, my oldest daughter worked in a Human Environmental Sciences (formerly Home Ec) department at a major state university, and came across scrapbooks of babies from a practice house in the basement. We were astonished that such a thing ever existed and spent alot of time speculating
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how such care would affect the children raised there. So, when I saw this book, I purchased it right away. The Irresistible Henry House did not disappoint. It was well written, quite fun and playful in parts, and easy to read. My only complaint was that the middle, full of Henry's complaints and early sexual exploits, seemed to drag on a bit longer than necessary. But, overall this is definitely a book I will recommend! Show Less
LibraryThing member tammathau
I enjoyed this book! Sometimes it seems hard to find a book with a subject not already written. I was amazed to find that practice babies were really used at universities. I liked reading about Henry's exploits and experiences working with Walt Disney and in London with the Beatles.
This book makes
I look forward to the author's next book!
This book makes
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me wonder how the real practice babies turned out. Did they all turn out like Peace and Henry?I look forward to the author's next book!
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LibraryThing member embarczynski
Lisa Grunwald is a marvelous writer, she has a true gift for language. Each page contains beautifully expressed (if sometimes prose. This makes "Henry House" easier to read; although by the time Henry enters his Forrest Gump stage (hobnobbing with Walt Disney and The Beatles), I found myself
I was also sorry to see that Henry's story ends when he's only 22. Difficult for me to believe that at such a young age he's finally reached a level of maturity to understand where he's gone wrong. The story might have had more emotional weight if we'd seen how Henry's disassociated youth affected him into middle age. I'm sorry to say that I was happy to leave "Henry House" and its inhabitants behind.
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growing impatient and skipping ahead. Ultimately the book runs out of steam, and ends up being tiresome instead of heartbreaking and hopeful. I was also sorry to see that Henry's story ends when he's only 22. Difficult for me to believe that at such a young age he's finally reached a level of maturity to understand where he's gone wrong. The story might have had more emotional weight if we'd seen how Henry's disassociated youth affected him into middle age. I'm sorry to say that I was happy to leave "Henry House" and its inhabitants behind.
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LibraryThing member tahoegirl
This book was okay. I never felt connected or really cared about the main character. I'm not sure if that was the authors intention or just me. I did like how he worked at Disney and lived in London during the 60's. Overall is was an easy read, but definitely not "irresistible"
LibraryThing member whitfour
I really was expecting much more from this book. I thought the topic had so much potential. But I really did not like how the author developed the main character at a young age. I did enjoy the story more as he grew older and was working for Disney and living in London.
LibraryThing member pak6th
Grunwald has taken the extraordinary fact of "practice babies" and imagined what it would be like to have been one of those babies. Martha runs the practice house at a university where young women are taught to care for babies. Normally the babies are loaned from an orphanage, are mothered by as
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many as 8 women over 2 years and then are returned to the orphanage to be adopted. But, Martha ends up keeping Henry and raises him. Henry, of course, is used to charming women and winning their love, but he is curiously detached in all his dealings, and actually stops speaking. Then he turns into a rebellious teen. He manages to find a job with Disney doing animations, and we follow him as he makes his way through the tumultuous 60's era looking for love. In the tradition of The World According to Garp and Forrest Gump. Show Less
LibraryThing member stephaniechase
A skillful blend of social history, nature vs nuture, and the complexity of the relationships that make up our lives. Henry House was a "practice baby," part of one of many college programs that existed in the early to mid 20th century to give young women a taste of what it really meant to run a
I found Henry to be a fascinating character, both irresistible, as the title claims, and deeply troubling. Mothers in particular may be drawn to the questions raised by the book, Henry's upbringing, and his relationship with women, especially Martha.
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house. The "Practice House" program in our book is led by Martha Gaines, a woman for whom past events has caused to become unlikeable, inflexible, and, as we and the main character find, very emotionally needy; Henry House is a practice baby that ends up staying at the practice house, believing Martha is his mother -- when really, a host of revolving mothers helped with his early care, creating in Henry a natural ability to charm women as well as an inability to create strong, long lasting attachments.I found Henry to be a fascinating character, both irresistible, as the title claims, and deeply troubling. Mothers in particular may be drawn to the questions raised by the book, Henry's upbringing, and his relationship with women, especially Martha.
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Language
Original publication date
2010-03-16
ISBN
9781410425829