House of Sand and Fog

By: Andre Dubus

“a haunting story of desperation that leads to violence and heartbreak"

    Just where do you reach the point of no return? Andre Dubus raises this question, along with many others, in his novel House of Sand and Fog. The book is about a young woman, Kathy Nicolo, who loses her house to the county and, along with policeman Lester Burdon, goes to great lengths to reclaim it. Almost as soon as she is forced to move out, an Iranian colonel acquires the house in an auction. Colonel Behrani is hoping to establish a new life for his family, for whom America is not exactly the land of opportunity. Although they were a very rich family in Iran, conflict drove them into America and, eventually, to California. Unwilling to let go of the excellent deal he got on Kathy’s old home, he clings to his new ownership of the house even when Kathy hires a lawyer to drive him out. When their paths cross, stubbornness, fear, and misunderstanding leads to disaster. House of Sand and Fog is both riveting and haunting, and it’s no wonder that this book sports the Oprah’s Book Club stamp.

    Dubus tells his story from the perspective of both Kathy and Behrani, and I was fascinated by his ability to create two characters so incredibly different and so very human. Kathy and Behrani narrate the issue at hand from utterly opposite viewpoints. Both have good motives but make damaging mistakes that make the tale all the more poignant. From one chapter to the next, I sympathized with both characters as they fought against each other. Behrani is a good man whose primary goal is to protect his family, but he also carries a pride and a terrible temper. Kathy is essentially gentle and hard-working, but when she loses her house and enters into an unlikely love affair with Lester Burdon, demons from her past resurface and threaten to destroy her. Lester, too, finds that his involvement with Kathy is both a blessing and a curse. Their passionate and slightly reckless affair is crucial to the plotline. 

    For the most part, House of Sand and Fog is all the more moving because of its realistic characters, descriptions, and events. However, in the second half of the book, the plot becomes much less realistic and more dramatic, almost like an adventure story. Not only have both Behrani and Kathy have become more and more desperate and uncompromising in their fight against one another, their loved ones have been drawn into the conflict. The fight for possession of the house eventually leads to violence, and although neither party wishes it, neither can turn back.

    The title of the book describes the heartbreak of the story very well. What was once a home becomes unreachable. Like sand, the harder Behrani and Kathy try to grasp it, the more it falls through their fingers. House of Sand and Fog is a great novel with a beautiful writing style, and I would definitely recommend it—just don’t expect a fairy tale.

-Heidi S.

"Dubus puts you in the characters' minds to sift through their perspective of the world."

      In a nutshell, House of Sand and Fog is a story of a struggle over a house. While this doesn’t may not sound like a very compelling tale, hidden within these pages is a struggle well worth putting some time into cracking open. In this novel, Andre Dubus III presents the stark differences between two nationalities and two lifestyles. Through the struggle over ownership of a house, Colonel Behrani, Kathy Nicolo, and Lester Burton experience their own personal struggles with the American dream, redemption, and what one wants versus what is right.

      Kathy Nicolo is a recovering drug addict who was recently left by her husband and thinks that her family considers her a failure. Her life is falling apart and she is possibly suicidal. Through a mistake by the government, her house is wrongfully taken from her and sold in an auction to Colonel Behrani. Behrani was rich and well respected in his homeland of Iran. However, when revolution broke out, he and his family were forced to flee to America where he is unable to find work. He lost his money and his status as a result and sees Kathy’s house as an opportunity to regain this. Lester Burton fits into the story on Kathy’s side. A married police officer who was present when Kathy was forced from her home, Lester sympathizes with Kathy and finds himself pulled into the conflict as he falls in love with her.

      The book is presented so that each side can argue its points. Each chapter flips from Kathy’s point of view and Behrani’s. In this way, there is no clear hero or villain in the story. You actually, over time, can choose which character is in the wrong and will find yourself rooting for either Kathy or Behrani to get the house. The problem here is that none of the characters are very likeable. Kathy’s a miserable slob who let her life slip from her fingers because of her apparent lack of good choices. Lester isn’t half-bad, but would go against everything he vowed not to do and walk out on his wife and kids just like his father. Behrani is an egotistical and power-hungry old man who would risk everything just to get his status back while claiming its all for his family.

      Yet that’s life. People are not perfect and Dubus has created characters with many flaws who hardly even try to do the right thing and likeable or not, this makes them all the more real. House of Sand and Fog is the story of ordinary battles fought by ordinary people. This is its brilliance, because it is easy to relate to these characters. Dubus puts you in the character’s mind and allows you to sift through the character’s perspective on the world. The intimate connection Dubus creates between the reader and his characters makes it almost impossible not to sympathize with them.

      The book starts slow and about as interesting as a quarrel over a house sounds. Soon after, though, the character’s struggles grab you. Even as the plot appeared unmoving, I found that I didn’t want to put the book down. The characters' personal struggles made me keep coming back to find out what would happen to them. And the book only gets better as it goes along. I wasn’t ready for the twist near the end, and once I got there, Kathy, Behrani, and Lester consumed my every thought. House of Sand and Fog is a book that everyone can enjoy. I highly recommend it.

-Travis G.