A Book A Week: House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III, Random House, 1999 Via the First Vintage Contemporaries Edition, 2000 (with movie tie-in cover)

A tax error, which sounds very trivial, sets in motion this tense, elegant thriller. Kathy Nicolo is a recovering addict who lives in a house she inherited from her father. A hard-won stability starts to slip away from her when she is abandoned by her husband and the county tax office evicts her for non-payment of taxes. Sheriff Lester Burdon witnesses her eviction, just doing his duty, but afterward he can’t get Kathy out of his mind. Colonel Behrani is an Iranian refugee, once wealthy. Here in the U.S. he patches together jobs that are embarrassing to him in order to maintain the illusion that he is still wealthy. Taking a chance with the last of his savings, he bids on a house at a county auction, hoping to flip it for a profit and begin to rebuild both his wealth and pride. 

This story is knotty, the characterization excruciatingly detailed and realistic. As the lives of these three people—each desperate for something—become tangled around each other and this house, the tension becomes suffocating. When the eruption finally happens, the outcome is shocking. I don’t want to spoil the ending, so I’ll just say that I found the final few pages puzzling. While the resolution for two of the characters is undeniably tragic, I’m less certain about how we are to view the conclusion for the third, which, though dramatically changed, feels somehow safer. 

Check in to the comments and let me know if you’ve read this one and what you think about the last few pages.

I have not seen the film, and as I’ve grown increasingly sensitive to depictions of violence the past few years, I’m not sure I could watch this one. If you’ve seen the movie, what can you say about the level of violence? How graphic is the ending?