Love And Houses

Love and Houses, by Marti Leimbach, is a very entertaining book, at times even laugh-out-loud funny. The narrator, Meg Howe, is 37 years old, seven months pregnant, and newly separated from her husband, Andy. She is also literally between homes because she and Andy bought one house before selling their apartment and are now saddled with two mortgages they can barely afford to pay. To Meg, houses and relationships are inextricably entwined. One friend, she says, “bound by custody laws to remain in her home, gutted all three stories . . . and rebuilt the entire inside so that not one brick or fragment of mortar from her marriage remained . . .” Another “took up with a guy she met from work and bought the house next door to him.” Naturally, the first question that comes into Meg’s head upon her husband’s desertion is what to do about her real estate situation. If Meg seems a little flip, it’s only because she’s fighting to maintain her equilibrium. As Leimbach peoples her novel with old friends, old lovers, eccentric but lovable errant husbands, and new babies, houses stand for stability. When her friend Carla asks Meg why she cares so much about “a house, a mere structure,” Meg responds: “It’s what it means.” Love and Houses is a delightful foray into love, marriage, divorce, and community property.