The House Next Door

Review of The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

There is an old Greek saying that if you don’t praise your own house, it will fall on you.  Indeed, good old Elphaba could tell us a lot about houses that fall and kill one’s siblings.  There are books about them, too, those nasty, vicious, sort of haunted houses, but the ghosts and malicious presence are the house itself.  Rose Red, Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House, and so many more nasty abodes seem to have their own brand of deadly in hospitality.

Siddons has written a masterful suspense about a malicious house and its grounds worthy of real estate like The Castle of Otranto.  This brilliant, modern house, and its lush grounds and rhododendrons, prove deadly to all its owners.  Spoiler alert; the architect does not leave unscathed.  Also, if you like pets and animals, maybe you want not to read this book.

The praise heaped on the house next door soon turns into a curse.  Strange maladies, violence, and personal tragedies creep up on you.  The prologue skillfully foreshadows  events to come.

Colquitt and Walter Kennedy are the couple who witness and define the neighborhood, full of old money, but not ostentatious.   Their names conjure Camelot, which we all know wasn’t. Comfortable, New Englandy, a classier version of Peyton Place.  A talented architect creates a gorgeous modern house in  neighborhood of classic traditional homes.  Each part of the book introduces a new family that meets with all kinds of catastrophes once they move into their dream home. An interesting aside is the name “Colquitt” which is an old Anglo Saxon name meaning “from the coal pits.”

Be careful what y wish for; you might get it.  This house is pure, shining, daytime evil, where no one is safe.

"And So this is Christmas . . "

Every year the holidays seem to come and go much more quickly.  They are as ephemeral as the snowflakes that often accompany them, often dissolving on glass even as they accumulate on dead grass and concrete.

Tonight I went to a brief, but wonderful, Christmas concert of classic carols and music, sung in harmony by amateur musicians with professional heart.

With each note, I heard the ghosts of everyone I've loved, those same phantoms of Christmas past blinking in the lights of the Christmas tree.

For the first time this season in all of the frantic behavior, it felt like Christmas. Our holiday is low key this year, wrapped more in memory than giftwrap.  How I miss my mother and dad, my grandparents, uncles, good friends now long gone.

As I age, I measure my life in Christmases past, and wonder now many will be in my future.  Memories of the smoked chicken and pheasants we used to have are almost better than whatever it is we have for dinner this year.  At least we aren't coming off of or planning funerals. 

What memories do you cherish of The Holidays?  I remember and treasure the memory of nearly every gift I've ever received, and I've treasured the giver more.  I treasure memories of handmade Christmas gifts and cards, of cooking my mother's recipes one after the other to try to resurrect her.

To those who lament the alleged commercialism and  excess of Christmas, I say Christmas is more than that, those aspects have been lamented since at least the 6th century.  Christmas is good will, and good feelings, it is fellowship, and music, and spirituality.  There is nothing like it, and no one like Santa and its key players, including the Holy Family and the three wise men.

Angels we have indeed heard on high, and sometimes, we even listen to them.

God bless us, everyone!

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Thinking outside the Doll House: A Memoir and Museum

So, I’m back!  Trying to keep up, but setting up the museum takes all I’ve got these days.  It is a small, but temporary space, a chance for us to begin while we pursue a larger building for our permanent home.

My friends have stepped up in unimaginable ways, from Michele, who made the building available, to Diane, her business partner who has helped with supplies, and costumes, and doll accessories, to Dick and Nancy who have offered their help in so many ways. 

Gloria, Caroline, Clara, Jill, Marie, Kathy, and Nancy S., and everyone else who has donated dolls to us, to the Friedken family for the little trike, and to everyone at Good Will, Salvation Army, Erin at Rescued, Dennis of The Treasure Chest, and our many friends in the antique and thrift community who have helped me, and given me encouragement and advice.  I wish my Mom and Dad were here, and my doll friends now gone, Mary Hillier, Stephanie Hammonds, Mikki Brantley, and so many more wonderful writers and doll artists, my friend and pen pal, R. Lane Herron who currently writes for Doll Castle News, and so many others.

Believe in your passion, follow it, and you will be happy.  Success is measured not by monetary gain, but by true happiness.  It has taken me my entire life to get here; I started collecting when I was three, and I never met a doll, or toy, I didn’t like.  I studied, my folks helped me travel, my Dad carried home dolls from all over the world, even one given to me from executives of Mitsubishi.    My mother made them, repaired them, dressed them, and put up with old things, which she really didn’t like.  At least, not at first; she changed her mind later.  My husband, Dino, has been a huge help, my editor, my best friend, my navigator in this journey. Our friend Greg, gone too soon, believed in me, and Mark, our other friend, contributed a lot.

I’ve had antique adventures with my friends Rosie, Lori, Nancy T, Danyelle, and more.  My Aunt Rosie and Uncle Tony looked everywhere for old dolls for me, and Rosie made them in her ceramics studio for me.  My Uncle Tom brought one home each week for me, and my Uncle George cruised Berkley and Lost Gatos looking for stores that sold dolls. My grandma’s collection of international dolls inspired my collection; two of them began it.  She also dressed dolls, sometimes over night.  Doll nudity offended her.

We hope to open November 30, 2019, Small Business Saturday; for the first time in a long time, I’m looking forward to something, and the sun is shining again.  Thank you to all who read me blogs and postings, and to those who have bought and read my books.

Thinking outside the Doll House, A Memoir, will be out soon.  You can read my entire doll story there.  Thank you, and I love you all!

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