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The Fence My Father Built
by
Linda S. Clare (Goodreads Author)
In The Fence My Father Built, when legally separated Muri Pond, a librarian,hauls her kids, teenage Nova and nine year-old Truman, out to the tiny town of Murkee, Oregon, where her father, Joe Pond lived and died, she’s confronted by a neighbor’s harassment over water rights and Joe’s legacy: a fence made from old oven doors.
The fence and accompanying house trailer horrify
...morePaperback, 294 pages
Published
October 1st 2009
by Abingdon Press
(first published June 1st 2009)
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An interesting story line - neighboring property owners fighting over land and water rights, combined with a daughter's struggle to learn more about her father. The fight for water & land reminded me a tiny bit of Erin Brockovich, but all in all this story fell a little flat. I would have preferred more meat, more substance. More insight into the relationship between Muri & Rubin, especially at the end of the book. I'm not too much of a fan of open endings, which is how their relationshi...more
Muri Pond is in the midst of a divorce from Chaz when she receives word of her father, Joseph Pond’s, death and the issues surrounding her inherited property. The land she inherited consisted of a dilapidated trailer where her Aunt Lutie and Uncle Tiny live, where they cared for Joseph until he died, as well as a creek and the legal problems surrounding the creek (‘liquid gold’). She arrived with all belongings and her two children, Nova, 15, and Truman (Tru), 11. Attitudes clashed between mothe...more
Title: THE FENCE MY FATHER BUILT
Author: Linda S. Clare
Publisher: Abingdon Press
October 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0073-6
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary women’s fiction
Muri Pond is starting over. She’s lost her job as a school librarian, lost her husband to another woman, lost her home, and now she’s on the verge of losing her sixteen-year-old daughter, Nova. Then she learns that her father, Joseph Pond has died, willing his high-desert property to Muri.
When Muri arrives in town, she and her two chi...more
Author: Linda S. Clare
Publisher: Abingdon Press
October 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0073-6
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary women’s fiction
Muri Pond is starting over. She’s lost her job as a school librarian, lost her husband to another woman, lost her home, and now she’s on the verge of losing her sixteen-year-old daughter, Nova. Then she learns that her father, Joseph Pond has died, willing his high-desert property to Muri.
When Muri arrives in town, she and her two chi...more
Linda Clare pens a heart warming and sensitive story about a woman, Muri Pond, whose whole world has been turned upside down with her pending divorce. An Aunt she hardly knows seeks her out for help; help in keeping the property that belonged to her father—the father she never remembered meeting. She had hopes of meeting him someday but learns from her Aunt, her father is dead.
Muri brings her two teenage children to stay with her Aunt while she tries to understand the lawsuit against her father...more
Muri brings her two teenage children to stay with her Aunt while she tries to understand the lawsuit against her father...more
The Fence My Father Built by Linda S. Clare is a poignant novel about finding where you belong. Muri Pond is taking her two children, Nova and Tru, home to her father's home in the desert area of Oregon after the loss of her job and the end of her marriage. She grew up never knowing Joseph Pond, but after his death, she finds she has nowhere else to go, so going to his home makes sense. Until she finds out that his home is a trailer with a group of cobbled together additions and is occupied by h...more
From the first time I saw the cover of this novel, I was intrigued by the oven-door fence and knew it had to be a unique story. Linda Clare weaves several plot elements into a cohesive and engaging whole. The story begins as young mother Muri Pond sets off on a new life in the aftermath of her pending divorce. The father she never knew has recently died, leaving Muri his property in the remote Central Oregon high desert (I didn't even know Oregon had high-desert country!). There, she starts to l...more
I LOVE this author! The poor mom in this story, Muri, is dealing with some serious junk--divorcing her cheating husband, handling a rebellious teen daughter, losing her job, finding herself homeless. Add to that the death of the father she'd just begun to search for and not seen since early childhood, and this gal's got major stress. She drives out to recently-deceased Dad's home to meet her aunt and uncle and try to connect with her heritage, and finds herself in the middle of a Hatfields-and-M...more
This is probably more like 2.5 stars, but since that isn't an option, I gave it a 3. I almost put it down after the first few chapters because it seemed to kind of drag, but I'm somewhat glad I stuck it out. Things I did like were Mur's family dynamics, the small town life, and learning a little bit about Native Americans.
The things I didn't enjoy were the fact that it seemed like a lot of stuff was going on without tons of details.
**Slight spoiler***
For example, Muri got permission to open a sm...more
The things I didn't enjoy were the fact that it seemed like a lot of stuff was going on without tons of details.
**Slight spoiler***
For example, Muri got permission to open a sm...more
I liked this story. I did feel it was a little repetitive of her feelings. I did like how strong she was. I didn't like the vagueness of Muri and Rubins relationship. I wish she would have gotten more into that. I also felt like at some places the wording was weird. But overall it was a good story. I guess it gets 3.5 stars. Maybe 4. Maybe I'm being a little harsh?!?
It was a good story. There were a few places in the book where I felt there was missing information--that the plot just sort of jumped out of nowhere. But all in all, I liked it. I read it with genre in mind--and this isn't a genre I read: Christian Fiction. But, the blurb was intriguing, the cover made me wonder, and the premise was good.
I particularly like the character, Lutie. Very well-written, fully fleshed out, as was Muri.
I don't know anything about the author, but suspect that as she wri...more
I particularly like the character, Lutie. Very well-written, fully fleshed out, as was Muri.
I don't know anything about the author, but suspect that as she wri...more
I found this book hard to follow at times. Some places didn't have enough information, and others had too much. The characters were interesting and believable. One character that I didn't care for was Rubin. He was too carried away with romance for the amount of time he and Muri spent together, and personally, I would have been concerned that he was a possessive stalker guy if I had been Muri.
I very much liked how Muri grew during the story and how her daughter matured, too. The two of them, and...more
I very much liked how Muri grew during the story and how her daughter matured, too. The two of them, and...more
I really loved this book. It was well-written and flowed along with an easy grace letting us come to know the hearts of many warm-blooded and realistically drawn characters. It touched my heart in so many ways. Having times in my own life when everything that mattered to me seemed to fall apart or desert me all at once, I could really identify with how lost and alone she was. I was glad to cheer her on as she found the courage to persevere through it all for the late father she hardly knew and i...more
I couldn't get past the first 50 pages...
1 like · like · see review
The teaser on the back cover of The Fence My Father Built reads, “This is the story of finding your way home—even when home is a trailer in the middle of nowhere.”
And what a story this is. Muri Pond’s parents divorced when she was a small child, and she has spent her life dreaming about reuniting with her father. When she decides to take the journey to eastern Oregon to find him, she takes her less-than-eager children with her. Her fifteen-year-old daughter would be a handful for two parents,...more
The Fence My Father Built was an interesting look into a different lifestyle and culture pertaining to water rights, land ownership and Native American burial grounds. It read like a woman's fiction novel, which was probably the author's intent. The author also used pretty creative descriptions at times, almost giving the story a bit of a literary feel. Nicely written.
I enjoyed the parts of the story where Muri read the journal that her father had written in before he died. I also loved the whol...more
I enjoyed the parts of the story where Muri read the journal that her father had written in before he died. I also loved the whol...more
This book has a lot of quality writing and some passages that I highlighted because they were so clever and well done. I am a big fan of stories about American Indians, and this one had a character that was interesting and intriguing. I also really enjoyed the central character and the way she related to her kids and her quirky aunt and uncle. What kept this from being a four-star book for me was that some of the plot elements happened too easily and too quickly.
I got this free on my Kindle. I really enjoyed it. The only complaint I have is that some things were repeated as if they were new. For instance, the lawyer saw the evidence twice but the 2nd time he saw it, he acted surprised. This was a bit confusing. Some dialouge also seemed repetitive. Other than that, the book was interesting, a fast read and made me want to Google map central Oregon. I like visuals. ;)
I could tell it was terrible after the first 5 pages, but forced myself to read another 70 pages since it was a book club pick (a book club I still have high hopes for despite this selection). Boring stereotypical characters, a plot line out of any Lifetime movie and Christian propaganda shoved down the reader's throat. I can't read another page!
2 likes · like · see review
The story is a good one, but there's not enough detail. So may things happened that left me saying, "Wait. What just happened?" I think there could have been more bridging done and more fleshing out of relationships, especially that of Muri and Rubin.
This is a story about a woman who didn't know her father growing up and trys to settle his estate after he dies. It was an okay story and kind of slow. However, the book ends abruptly and doesn't bring closure to a couple of the story lines in the story.
I liked the storyline of this book, but it was hard to gauge the time line of the story. It took place over a matter of months,, however time was very seldom referenced and everything came from the main characters view point. Story was enjoyable.
I would give it 3.5 stars. I did like it and the characters were very interesting. I was just hoping for more, especially the ending. I do have to say that the setting was completely unlike anything I've read and I did enjoy that.
I downloaded this as a free book from Amazon. I would give it 2.5 stars. The book was good, I liked her writing but it dragged in the middle a little. I judge it needed a little more editing, but all in all a pretty good read.
I really liked it.
Muri, divorced with 2 children struggles with her new life, the father she didn't know, her Native American heritage, and the mess her father left her when he died, including a lawsuit with his neighbor over water rights to a creek.
Muri, divorced with 2 children struggles with her new life, the father she didn't know, her Native American heritage, and the mess her father left her when he died, including a lawsuit with his neighbor over water rights to a creek.
I really enjoyed ready this book. It makes you sit back and think about people that you really need to keep in touch with no matter what. You can not go back.
this was a good story. though I felt lost in some of the scenes since evidently things had happened in between the story lines itself. I wasn't fond of the ending, it left me with many un answered questions. but still it was a good story once you sort.it out.
Another free eBook. It was very good, so why do they give it away? (Probably to promote the author so I WILL purchase one of her books one day).
Loved, loved this book. A realistic look at current Native American life, and the love of a father for his only child.
A glimpse, for me, into a culture that I have not encountered firsthand. Interesting.
Different and interesting. It might be listed under Native American Contempory Fiction
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Mar 12, 2012 08:50am