3 BOOKS THAT REMIND US OF HOME
When stuck at home, whether due to inclement weather or global pandemic, many of us reach for a book to occupy our time. You may not be able to get a change of scenery, but these three books will make you look at your home in a new light.
The design of our homes has changed over time, influenced by historical events and social norms. Bill Bryson explores that history in At Home: A Short History of Private Life by taking the reader on a tour of his Victorian home in Norfolk, England. Journeying from the hall to the scullery to the plum room and beyond is more than your typical house tour. Each room gives Bryson a reason to delve into the fascinating history of the structures where we reside. A trip to the fuse box becomes a discussion of the transition to an electric world and the study is the setting for a discussion about the invention of mousetraps and household pests more generally. When you are staring longingly out your living room window, you can consider the window and glass taxes in Great Britain (from 1696 and 1746, respectively) which impacted the architectural designs of the era and caused many buildings to have windowless rooms. The buildings we live in are shaped by history and are enduring examples of what was (and is) important to daily life.
Many of us can’t imagine home without thinking about food. The kitchen is the center of many residences, whether or not cooking is happening in there with any regularity. An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler is a cookbook, but it is also a meditation on how to cook with what is available. Many of us have had produce go bad because we didn’t plan out our meals properly for the week or have found questionable leftovers in the back of the fridge that had to be trashed. Living in a large city like Chicago, it is easy to run to the store or pop into a nearby restaurant to get exactly what we are craving at the moment in time. However, cooking for oneself can be incredibly fulfilling and many of the meals that are most comforting are made from basic pantry staples. For anyone looking to get reacquainted with their kitchen, this book is a great place to start.
The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai is the perfect novel for anyone who has wondered about the previous residents of their home. Told in four parts and backwards through time, Makkai unravels the secrets hidden within a fictional hundred year old estate about thirty miles north of Chicago as we learn about the wealthy couple who built the house, the art colony that existed on the premises, and the modern day (well, the year 1999) occupants. When you reach the end, you’ll want to flip back to page one to reread it with a new perspective!