Review: The Muir House by Mary DeMuth

Title: The Muir House
Author: Mary DeMuth
Released: June 27, 2011
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages/Format: 336 (Trade Paperback)
Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction
Source: Publisher

Words from Willa Muir’s sketchy childhood haunt her dreams and color her days with longing, regret, and fear. What do the words mean? Willa is far from sure.

So when Hale Landon places a ring on her finger, Willa panics, feeling she can’t possibly say yes when so much in her past is a mystery. Bent on sorting out her history, Willa returns to Rockwall, Texas, to the Muir House Bed & Breakfast, a former funeral home.

But the old place holds her empty memory close to itself. Willa’s mother utters unintelligible clues from her deathbed, and the caretaker of the house keeps coveted answers carefully protected. Throw in an old flame, and Willa careens farther away from ever knowing the truth.

One Sentence Review: I was captivated by DeMuth’s distinctive writing, but some characters and the ending fell flat for me.

In-Depth Review

Recently I’ve been reading Mary DeMuth’s new ebook, 11 Secrets to Getting Published, in which she reveals her insider knowledge of the writing craft. After thirty-eight pages of instruction on how to fix everything from dangling participles to head hopping, and her accolade of Khaled Hosseini’s writing as “stark, full of detail, and [having] amazing emotive impact” (11 Secrets to Getting Published, page 31), I formed a pretty clear expectation of what DeMuth’s writing style would be like and I wanted to read one of her books to experience it for myself.

DeMuth follows her own advice to a tee. She paints vivid word pictures and her style has a certain edge to it that I found both compelling and captivating. The Muir House also lacks the verboseness that makes me want to hurl many a review book across the room. I also appreciated the references to The Princess Bride, because, let’s face it, all books that mention this oft-quoted film are better for it.

Shane Claiborne

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, there are some characters I click with and some I don’t. Hale was one of the latter. I couldn’t help picturing him as a slightly less bug-eyed version of Shane Claiborne, sans dreadlocks, which isn’t the most compelling image. I also found myself growing irritated with his contemplative bent (which may speak to my own character deficit). On the flip side, I was sufficiently creeped out by antagonist Blake Alderman with his borderline obsession with Willa and stalkerish personality.

The mystery surrounding Willa’s childhood is intriguing and the ending satisfying, if a little anti-climactic. There were a couple of twists towards the end of the book, but I had a general notion of what was going to happen beforehand.

The story contains a clear message of hope and healing in Christ, which is presented in a non-preachy way. Hale’s character also illustrates the importance of caring for the poor and sacrificing personal comfort to follow God’s calling.

While there were characters and aspects of the plot that fell flat for me, DeMuth’s distinct writing style is enough for me to want to try reading another of her books, and if you’re unsure about whether or not to read The Muir House after reading my review, I recommend giving it a try and drawing your own conclusions.

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About Mary DeMuth:

Mary DeMuth is the author of several southern novels, including the Christy award finalists, Watching the Tree Limbs and Daisy Chain. She’s also written four parenting books and a memoir, Thin Places. She’s passionate about the written word and mentoring writers. Mary lives in Texas with her husband, Patrick, and their three children.