House of Sand and Fog

Title: House of Sand and Fog

Author: Andre Dubus III
Published: 1999
Read: January 2006
Number of pages: 365
Fiction
Where I obtained the book: Borrowed from parents

How I discovered it: liked the movie, so decided to read the book
My grade: A-

Before this novel was made into a 2003 movie starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, it was an Oprah book club selection. That was enough to make me not want to read it as I don't like people telling me what I should read, least of all Oprah. After watching the movie, which I thought was pretty good, I decided to read the book as my parents already owned it and I was looking for something to read at the time.

I'm glad I did because it was a very intriguing story told from the point of view of two different characters - Kathy Nicolo (the Jennifer Connelly character if you've see the movie) and Colonel Behrani (the Ben Kingsley character). The writing style is also different as well as the tenses so it makes you feel like they are two different people. One was told in the present tense and the other in the past tense, which is something I've never seen done much in books. You either get one or the other. 

Kathy's house has goes up for auction and the Colonel and his family has moved in and she's  trying to get her house back. The novel takes you through a journey of the characters' lives. The ending is not one that is happy!