The characters of “Bad Houses”, whether they know it or not, seem to live by the motto: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Not only is that a fascinating theme that the book explores, but the strength of the work itself expands as it reveals its little secrets to you. That’s just one of the many reasons why “Bad Houses” is an absolute treasure.
Written by Sara Ryan
Illustrated by Carla Speed McNeilLives intersect in the most unexpected ways when teenagers Anne and Lewis cross paths at an estate sale in sleepy Failin, Oregon. Failin was once a thriving logging community. Now the town’s businesses are crumbling, its citizens bitter and disaffected. Anne and Lewis refuse to succumb to the fate of the older generation as they discover—together—the secrets of their hometown and their own families.
It’s fair to say that almost every character in “Bad Houses” has work to do to get their own metaphorical houses in order. The relationships between them are complex and oftentimes damaged because of this. Whether it’s Lewis, who seems trapped helping in his overly demanding mother’s estate sale business, or Anne, the other defacto main character of the story, who is frustrated by her hoarder mother – everyone seems to carry with them a lot of excess baggage. The two of them have a meet-cute at an estate sale and begin to help one another unpack their lives. While “Bad Houses” is mainly about the physical idea of owning, buying, accumulating, and selling physical “objects”, it’s also about clearing out the cobwebs in your soul and learning to accept what you have.
Whether you live in a big city, or the small fictional town of “Failin, Oregon” (a clear play on its status as a failing logging town falling further and further into irrelevance) where everyone knows you – at least you have your home to keep things to yourself. As Lewis and Anne’s friendship continues to develop, the intimacy of that small town and the history of the characters within begins to have an unraveling effect. The people in Lewis and Anne’s lives all have different feelings about what they value in life and end up in conflict with one another over feelings that were buried under the clutter. Most fascinating is a character named Fred, an antique seller who barges his way through estate sales like a freight train with no regard for those around him. The pain that he has kept hidden over the years reveals a much sadder, somewhat sympathetic (albeit still misguided) character. Particularly interesting is the way that his relationship toward physical objects manifests its way into his relationships with some very important people from his past in a way that he can’t let go of.
McNeil uses a straight-forward and clean artistic approach, and the choice to work in black-and-white gives the town of Failin a melancholy feel, as if it were once something much greater. In fact, there are a handful of flashbacks that seem to be drawn in a slightly more ornate style that recall the town’s former glories and serve to remind the reader just how much has changed.
McNeil fills the town and the buildings within it with all manner of little curiosities. She shows magnificent attention to detail when it comes to filling a hoarders house with stuff, or the antique shop with what feels like decades of accumulation. There seems to be a clear choice made to make the external scenes feel brighter (where the white tends to dominate) and more open, while the insides of the principle characters’ homes can appear to be claustrophobic and oppressive. Later in the story, there’s something of a visual reversal of this idea – an effect that pays off in a thematically and visually satisfying way.
McNeil’s character work is also great strength, as each has a unique and memorable design with little flourishes that give the characters depth. Anne looks a lot like her mother, but with a swath of suggested color through her hair that suggests a purposeful intent to individualize herself. The aforementioned Fred carries with him some extra weight that he didn’t have when he was a younger, more virile man. The years, and his pent up resentment, have taken a toll on him. The attention to detail does not go unnoticed.
At its heart, “Bad Houses” is a story about love. Objects come and go – can be bought and sold – though you can try to cling to them. But when everything else is gone, love remains. Okay, cheesy, I know, but it’s an essential truth that some people struggle with. These characters all struggle with it in one way or another. Perhaps the idea of “home” really is a naive melody, as David Byrne once put it. Ryan and McNeil’s “Bad Houses” tries to tell us that no matter how cluttered you think your life is, you can find a home in the honest, open connections with the people around you.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – Buy
