The Good House

The Good House (2013), a novel by American author Ann Leary, follows successful real estate agent Hildy Good as she relapses into alcoholism.

Sixty-year-old Hildy Good lives in Wendover, a fictional town on the Massachusetts North Shore. It is a beautiful and historic place, and Hildy knows it well. She has lived in Wendover her whole life, and for most of her career, she has been the town’s most successful realtor. Lately, she has seen the town change for the worse. Wealthy city people have been buying up local houses as holiday homes. As prices have risen, Wendover locals have been forced out. Local businesses have been replaced by nationwide chain stores. Even Hildy is under threat. Her former assistant, now working for Sotheby’s, is taking a bigger and bigger slice of her clientele.

It is no wonder that Hildy feels the need to drink a glass or two of Pinot Noir in the evenings. Two years ago, Hildy’s adult daughters staged an intervention (Hildy calls it an “inquisition”) and all but forced her to undertake a 28-day stint in rehab. Hildy resented it at the time and resents it still. She insists she is not an alcoholic, and indeed, she does exhibit considerable self-control. She arrives at parties after the cocktails have been served and leaves after dinner. Her drinking is done at home and according to strict rules: only wine, no phone calls, and no driving. After her drink (or two), she sometimes strips naked and bathes in the river at the bottom of her garden.

Many of Hildy’s neighbors consider her a little “witchy,” and she prides herself on her ability to understand people’s psychology, an ability which she boasts does border on psychic intuition. She likes to tell her clients that she is a descendent of Sarah Good, one of the first victims of the Salem witch trials. In fact, Hildy’s skills are the result of decades in the real estate business. People’s homes tell her what is going on in their minds. At a dinner party, we witness Hildy demonstrate her skill by “reading” another guest.

Hildy’s husband left her when he discovered that he was gay, and she is lonely. Much of the novel revolves around Hildy’s curiosity about a new client, Rebecca McAllister, whom Hildy befriends.

Rebecca is a wealthy but anxious young woman, who has recently moved into an expensive house in town with her billionaire husband and his two children. Rebecca, a horse-enthusiast, went to boarding school in Wendover. She wanted to move back to town to spend more time with her horses. Hildy watches her win a showjumping competition on an expensive new horse.

As Hildy spends more time around Rebecca, keeping an eye on her as she does her business around town, she learns that the younger woman is struggling to fit in. She spots Rebecca visiting a psychiatrist, Peter Newbold, who rents the office above Hildy’s. Hildy is intrigued. She babysat Peter when he was a troubled and lonely child.

Hildy positions herself as Rebecca’s confidante and learns—as she half-suspected—that Rebecca is sleeping with Peter.

Rebecca’s romantic entanglements inspire Hildy to look again at local handyman Frankie Getchell. Hildy and Frankie grew up together and were teenage sweethearts, but Frankie has made so little of himself that Hildy is reluctant to admit she still finds him attractive. Now, however, she decides to resume their affair. Both Hildy and Frankie find that their teenage passion is still there under the surface.

Hildy also takes on a new client, Claire, who needs to sell her house so she can move closer to her disabled child’s school.

Meanwhile, Hildy’s drinking has begun to creep up on her. She is drinking more than a glass or two now, sometimes waking up with a bad hangover. She begins to suffer memory loss and gradually learns from her neighbors that she has been breaking her rules during these lapses, placing unwise phone calls and even getting in her car.

When Hildy’s daughter realizes she is drinking again, she refuses to let Hildy care for her grandchild. This serves to push her closer to Rebecca, whom she starts to treat almost as a daughter. But Rebecca is deeply damaged, and soon their relationship is more co-dependent than filial. Hildy finds herself blackmailing Rebecca over her affair to protect her own secrets.

Hildy’s drinking worsens. One morning, she wakes up with a dent in the fender of her car and no memory of driving it. That day, she learns that Claire’s child is missing.

Overcome with guilt, Hildy is on the brink of confessing when Claire’s child is found. Hildy finally admits that she has a drinking problem and checks herself into rehab.