“This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival…” -Rumi
Guest House
Let love change you.
Driving home from work on a summer afternoon, Melba Burns witnesses a nightmare collision. The wreck ends her pursuit of success at any cost—Melba parks her car, quits her job and stops driving. She retreats into her beloved old farmhouse, yearning for a simpler peace.
But peace and Melba’s new roommate, JoLee Garry, have never met. A shallow, self-absorbed stunner, JoLee magnetizes messes and trouble. She brings boyfriends, booze and a tag-along son with her—a series of unexpected guests who transform Melba’s solo life into something different, daring and richer.
This fast-paced, contemporary novel moves between Portland, Oregon and Atomic City, Idaho, the absolute center of nowhere. GUEST HOUSE explores the grace that comes from daring to intervene in a stranger’s suffering. It will appeal to those who have forgotten the power that comes from living simply, and to anyone in their middle years whose life has been hijacked by love.
“This being human is a guest house,” Rumi says, “Every morning a new arrival…” Arrivals come and go in Melba Burn’s life: JoLee Gary who can’t shake her addictions, her husband Gene Garry, who won’t give up on love, and Matt Garry, their unwanted son who will stop at nothing until he has found his own way home.
But peace and Melba’s new roommate, JoLee Garry, have never met. A shallow, self-absorbed stunner, JoLee magnetizes messes and trouble. She brings boyfriends, booze and a tag-along son with her—a series of unexpected guests who transform Melba’s solo life into something different, daring and richer.
This fast-paced, contemporary novel moves between Portland, Oregon and Atomic City, Idaho, the absolute center of nowhere. GUEST HOUSE explores the grace that comes from daring to intervene in a stranger’s suffering. It will appeal to those who have forgotten the power that comes from living simply, and to anyone in their middle years whose life has been hijacked by love.
“This being human is a guest house,” Rumi says, “Every morning a new arrival…” Arrivals come and go in Melba Burn’s life: JoLee Gary who can’t shake her addictions, her husband Gene Garry, who won’t give up on love, and Matt Garry, their unwanted son who will stop at nothing until he has found his own way home.
Put your copy of GUEST HOUSE
on the map!
Looking for readers in all fifty states
and around this beautiful world.
Download and listen to Chapter One!
Contact: guesthouse@barbarakrichardson.com
What Critics Are Saying
"GUEST HOUSE is perhaps the most rapid-fire novel of domestic hope and strife you’re likely to read all summer."
—Ben Fulton,THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
—Ben Fulton,THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Check out the Truck Stop Tour times and places. And save room for warm peach pie!
What Writers Are Saying
"The people living in GUEST HOUSE are as particular and real--and flawed--as our neighbors, our friends, ourselves. In this remarkably generous novel Barbara Richardson chronicles not only the betrayals and sorrows of the human heart, but the love and hope and caring that heals it."
—Molly Gloss, author of THE HEARTS OF HORSES
"Richardson, who is part comedienne, part landscape artist and part Zen master, reveals the vulnerability of her characters with utmost delicacy... there is salvation here, and it happens in this addictively-readable and often hilarious novel..."
—Lisa Jones, author of BROKEN: A LOVE STORY
"This is a novel deserving of awards and a great book to discuss in a book club. I can't wait to read more from this new and talented writer.
—Nel Rand, author of MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
"GUEST HOUSE beautifully exemplifies the 21st century maxim that we are not born into families, but choose those who mean the most to us."
—Bruce Feld, co-author of THE GIVERS AND THE TAKERS
—Molly Gloss, author of THE HEARTS OF HORSES
"Richardson, who is part comedienne, part landscape artist and part Zen master, reveals the vulnerability of her characters with utmost delicacy... there is salvation here, and it happens in this addictively-readable and often hilarious novel..."
—Lisa Jones, author of BROKEN: A LOVE STORY
"This is a novel deserving of awards and a great book to discuss in a book club. I can't wait to read more from this new and talented writer.
—Nel Rand, author of MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
"GUEST HOUSE beautifully exemplifies the 21st century maxim that we are not born into families, but choose those who mean the most to us."
—Bruce Feld, co-author of THE GIVERS AND THE TAKERS
Author Interview with SpiritualMediaBlog
Matt Welsh and Barbara K. Richardson discuss writing process, growing up in Atomic City, Idaho and how the author finds joy amid difficulty and destruction.