This plot-twisting ghost story is everything you want it to be without rehashing the too-familiar. Orson Scott Card and his innovative story-telling draw you in and hold you until the last possible second. From a care-worn protagonist who won't give up to an old magician living next door, the characters are complex, emotion-worthy, and real.
Don Lark buys a house in desperate need of repair, planning to fix it up and turn it for profit. Because he would otherwise be living out of his truck, he puts up a cot in the house. To his surprise, he finds a squatter, a girl named Sylvie who's been living in the house for years because her college plans fell through. And to his annoyance, the old women next door tell him he shouldn't fix up the house and that he should tear it down right away.
Of course, he doesn't want to tear it down. This was how he made his living. But the more he does to the house, the weirder his life gets. Things happen that force him to confront his past; a lost daughter and ex-wife. His past intertwine's with Sylvie's past, both of them having lost things. And while he's repairing the house, things go missing, and the house gets stronger...
Okay, I'm not going to give much more away.
What I liked: Mostly, that this was a scary story without all the gore, blood, or sex. Instead, it ran on strong characters, plot, and setting. Everything about this book was strong. After only a few pages I liked Don Lark, and I knew he was a good person with a horrific past. I like that the humans are human, that no one of them is perfect or expected to be perfect. Even Don has a mean streak. The house made a beautiful and interesting setting, and the plot kept moving forward, kept me involved. The main plot and the subplots wove together and made everything relevant.
What I didn't like: I didn't love Cindy's character, but I felt sympathy for her. Other than that, I can't remember if anything really bothered me.
Favorite quote: "We're not a family. We're the opposite of a family. We're people so lonely that when we're together we make a black hole of loneliness and everything else gets sucked down into it and is never seen again." (Don Lark)
Would I recommend? Definitely! 4 out of 5.

Too much of a romance novel for my taste

Homebody is a fairly run-of-the-mill supernatural thriller about a magical, haunted house. (Probably it is a spin-off from the magical, haunted house in Treasure Box, published a few years prior.) The writing is decent compared to other books in the genre, but lackluster for Card. The book is at its best in its descriptions of the protagonist's deep and abiding grief for his deceased child. Card himself lost a child, so these passages spring directly from his own personal experience.

It may also interest readers to know that the cosmology described on page 374 --- according to which names have power, and body + spirit = soul --- is rooted directly in Card's Mormon religious beliefs. Names have special significance in the LDS temple ceremony, where practitioners are given new, sacred names. And according to Mormon scripture (D&C 88:15), "The spirit and the body are the soul of man."

Am I grown too jaded?

Just felt like I was reading a trashy romance novel with a supernatural twist. It's been a long time since I've read an Orson S. Card novel. In my youth, I was captivated in the worlds created by Mister Card, and I was hoping to rekindle that feeling.... but this one didn't work for me. I thought the writing was stilted and not the flowing prose I remember getting lost in. Oh well. You can't go home again, I guess.

This book was given to me by my father for something to read on my long plane ride home from visiting him and my family.

The story is about a young contractor who has had some tragedies in his life and is confused about where he is heading in the future. One moment he thinks he's ok, the next not. Many of us can relate to these feelings. I found it hard to put down and that's why I'm giving it 5 stars. It's so quirky and fun. Not to be taken seriously at all. Not like other Orson Scott Card books I've read such as Ender's Game and Sarah. There where parts where I just chuckled to myself and there were parts where I wanted to keep reading on because I was in so much suspense. I hope I can find another book that is so much fun!

A great book by Orson Scott Card. I have now read this one three times. Mostly because I forget I've read it and start it all over again. Each time I find something I didn't remember. That is one of the things that makes Card one of the best writers, his ability to have put so much in a book each new reading shows new ideas, thoughts, and details.

The concept was great. The plot line was intriguing. The book could have been sooooooooo much better. I tried to follow the pictures playing in Mr. Card's mind but I couldn't alway see the plotline jumps and why he did them.

I like his books. This one was a bit silly, but enjoyable to read.

This was fairly enjoyable - a ghost story done by the man most known for his Ender series and the Alvin Maker fantasy series. It is contemporary, and revolves mostly around a man who lost his family, and who know restores old homes to their former grandeur, making enough money to get by, buy a new home, and continue. When he discovers a spirit, and a trio of powerful women who are keeping a dark soul in check, the house itself begins to act out against him. A good solid ghost story with enough twists and turns to make it interesting, though there was a slight cringe-worthy factor with the three black women helping the hero - they rang a little false and borderline racist in their characterization.

Please note: that review is from 1999, and since then I've learned how the author feels about people like me, and as such I no longer read his works given that his royalties help him fund anti-gay organizations and movements.

gah.

I found this simplistic, disappointing, and highly misogynistic.
I am also, openly, more interested in violence, smut, and gory detail than Mr. Card provides.

So, a little ghostly mystery, with haunted house themes, and big strong man protagonist.

Card's horror novels tend to be very normal the first half and then pick up the pace in the second. His writing makes you want to keep turning the pages regardless. It was a bit predictable but a satisfactory read.

Loved the house.