House of Broken Dreams

Rating:
Summary: Lacks sense of focus
Review: F. Scott Fitzgerald commented that the rich are different from the rest of us, to which Ernest Hemingway is supposed to have replied, "Yes, they have more money."

However, the Widdicombe's, who are the focus of this novel, are not only different but downright peculiar, whether they have money or not. The question is why anyone would really be interested in what happens to these utter snobs, who place so much importance on what they are they never bother to find out WHO they are.

Told in the first person by the main character whose nickname, Strut, is undoubtedly intentional, this view of a family fallen on hard times clinging to tradition tooth and nail might hold more interest if any of the characters showed any sign of depth. Unfortunately, the Widdicombes-they assume their mother's maiden name to avoid any connection with the late and unlamented pater familias who is discovered to have embezzled from his bank-despite the clear ironic difference between their perception of themselves and the shallow, arrogant reality, simply don't wear well. Once that point is made, it goes nowhere. Instead, the book leaps large gaps of time to provide what amount to little more than vignettes that repeat essentially the same theme as all the ones that preceded them.

This lack of any real plot isn't helped by the author's choosing to give Strut a voice straight out of Jane Austen-and then try to justify it by having Strut say he does it on purpose. All Mr. Roberts achieves is making the reader constantly aware of his presence. Worse, Strut's homosexuality seems like a plot contrivance rather than an aspect of character, thrown in to provide some modicum of tension because it was an unacceptable lifestyle for the rich and famous during the period in which the book is first set.

HOUSE OF BROKEN DREAMS could have been a sharp, scathing look at social snobbery and the lengths to which those for whom family name and social position are everything will go to preserve them. Unfortunately, it simply goes on too long without really getting anywhere.