The Easter House

The Easter House
David Rhodes

I loved this book. It was like reading the literary equivalent of the results of a Lomographic camera in the hands of a pro – the images are never quite “right” and the resulting colors are not what one sees behind the viewfinder, but the end result is a undeniably beautiful and haunting. Sometimes in a book you find yourself nodding along in self-recognition or at least someone-else-recognition. In David Rhodes’ masterpiece, you find yourself recognizing certain similarities, but at the same time, everything seems well, just shifted a little to the left. Or right. Either way, it’s an absolute treat to read – read it just for the character names alone. Most of the reviews online only mention Easter House in conjunction with their review of his more recently released Driftless (Easter House was published in 1974). If the books reviewed on here were my children, this one would be my favorite. If I were the sort of parent who would have favorites. Which actually, I’m allowed since I only have one kid. So, there. I have a favorite kid and a favorite book. Perhaps not coincidentally, said favorite kid loved looking at the favorite book at dinner.