The Irresistible Henry House

May 12, 2010 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, america, four-star-fiction, domestic-and-relationship-fiction

For me, this book's greatest appeal was the overview of American culture in the mid-20th century. If you were alive between 1946 and 1968, this will be a fun stroll down Memory Lane. If you're too young to have been there, this is your nice light primer on the era. Grunwald manages to toss in the most memorable trivia about social attitudes, clothing, decor, music, and current events of the period.

Henry's life begins with the post-war optimism of the late 1940s and progresses through the golly-...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Hayes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, tbr-challenge-2012, link-with-author

3.5 stars: I am not a big fan of The Novel. It was okay, just not my genre. It got off to an overwritten, slow start and I was thinking about not finishing it. But my best chum from elementary school is the author--how could I give up? And I'm glad I continued because it got better. It's a strange but moving story, and at the end, where Henry winds up in London among the hip and the mod, I was reminded of another friend's older sister, who found herself in London with the hip and the mod and in...more

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Jun 14, 2010 Nathan James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, bookgrouppick

I think most of the book group would agree that they liked the book well enough while they were actually reading it. "It was a good read" was an often spoken sentence. Stop reading now if you have plans to tackle this book and you don't want to start it with prejudices.

The good news is the author knows how to propel the storyline and can turn a pretty phrase. However, there were some major issues with the plot. The bad news is once you're done reading this book and you reflect on the story arc,...more I think most of the book group would agree that they liked the book well enough while they were actually reading it. "It was a good read" was an often spoken sentence. Stop reading now if you have plans to tackle this book and you don't want to start it with prejudices.

The good news is the author knows how to propel the storyline and can turn a pretty phrase. However, there were some major issues with the plot. The bad news is once you're done reading this book and you reflect on the story arc, you might have some trouble paving over the holes.

Loose ends were strewn everywhere in this story. Often characters would come upon a situation in which the narrator says something like "it would be years before this character would realize the implication of their actions". Realizations that would never come, in fact I can't think of one character who significantly changed during the telling of the story. A hint of change lies at the end that the title character has made some progress, but it is subtle and noncommittal (just like that character).

Also, several plots lead no where that seem as if more time should have been spent explaining their random insertion into the storyline: the art room fire and its fallout, Henry's relationship with the photographer, the advance in the school shower room. And several plot points are so lazily or inexpertly written they made my eyes roll: Peace breaking Henry's heart in what has got to be the most expected and banal way (as opposed to Henry and Mary Jane's relationship), Henry's inability to draw without copying (we got it, it's a MAJOR THEME), and the whole Walt Disney plot (one group member mentioned that the story turned into Forrest Gump at this point).

We talked quite a bit about how the young Henry House was written so precociously when he was little, that the reader could easily forget (or in my case not even realize) that by the time the story ends he's barely 20 years old. It forced the reader to expect more from that character very early on. Apparently an actual study was done that suggested children who do not form attachments within the first few months of life turn out to be horribly maladjusted adults. Because of this idea and how Henry was written early on some of us thought Henry would start killing people at any moment in the story. One of us also pointed out the worst written scene of teenage masturbation ever.

The story of a practice baby has a lot of potential. Lisa Grunwald seemed to focus on the overall attachment issues people would have who were raised in a Home Ec practice house. She wrote on this subject very convincingly. I very much enjoyed the beginning of the book. But when it comes to unleashing Henry to the world, the story jumped several sharks that made one of our group have to go back to the first page to see if the story started with the phrase 'Once upon a time.'

For a better told psychological story, try either Set This House In Order by Matt Ruff or Riven Rock by T.C. Boyle. For a better epic family tale, try either Bloodroot by Amy Greene or The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker.(less)

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Apr 16, 2010 Sheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Henry House is a "practice baby" in a home economics class in the 1940s. I had never heard about practice babies before. The schools would take orphan babies, and let students practice taking care of them. Then they would be adopted out when they were toddlers. The instructor for this class, Martha Gaines, is especially drawn to baby Henry, and asks to raise him as her own child.

Henry has such appeal to women, everyone wants to be his favorite, and he does not want to be tied to one woman. As he...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Ricki Treleaven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This week I read The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald. It has been in my TBR (to be read) pile forever, and I finally got around to reading it.

Lisa Grunwald's story was inspired by a photograph of a practice baby from Cornell University's practice house where they used real babies from the 1920's to the 1960's to teach mothering skills to students. These babies were supplied by a local orphanage. In Grunwald's book, fictitious Wilton College is the setting, and Martha Gaines is the lat...more This week I read The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald. It has been in my TBR (to be read) pile forever, and I finally got around to reading it.

Lisa Grunwald's story was inspired by a photograph of a practice baby from Cornell University's practice house where they used real babies from the 1920's to the 1960's to teach mothering skills to students. These babies were supplied by a local orphanage. In Grunwald's book, fictitious Wilton College is the setting, and Martha Gaines is the late forty-ish matron of the practice house program. She names each baby every year with an "H" name, and gives all of them the last name House. When Martha brings Henry House home to Wilton's practice house, he is only fourteen weeks old. Martha prefers her babies to be five or six months old when they begin the program. As Martha introduces Henry to his new temporary home, she whispers to Henry, "I think I am going to love you. Don't tell a soul."

Henry House does seem to be irresistible to all women with his dark hair and autumn-colored green with orange-flecked eyes. All of his practice mothers are smitten, and as he grows up, he finds it almost impossible to make choices or commit to girls/women because he can never fulfill what each one desires. One criticism I have about the book is Henry's angst and animosity directed toward his adoptive mother. I am probably much more sympathetic to her than I should be. He never seems to mature, and he has trust issues that should not have stemmed from his experiences in the practice house. I tend to disagree overall with Grumwald's premise.

I do love this book. I can't help but be completely fascinated by the practice house concept and a matron who rules it with an iron fist. Martha's schedule is contradictory to everything in Dr. Spock's book with its first line, "You know more than you think." I also appreciate Grunwald's use of leitmotif. Many of Henry House's milestones are punctuated by Walt Disney. Look for this technique early in the book. I also adore the depiction of the 1960's culture in The Irresistible Henry House. The book reminds me of Forest Gump in that respect. Although I personally cannot stand the spoiled generation of the Age of Aquarius, Grunwald's prose is well researched, and it is little wonder that she is also a journalist. It would not surprise me in the least to discover that she is also an accomplished anthropologist.

I hope Lisa Grunwald writes more fiction in the near future. The Irresistible Henry House and its inspiration is, well, irresistible!
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Feb 12, 2013 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a strange one, a book that is chocked full of interesting plot points, but that lacks any likable characters. Henry House is a practice baby provided by a local orphanage for a small Pennsylvania women’s college in the 1940s. This is something that really happened from 1919 to 1969; orphans were used in home economic courses to help teach young women how to care for babies.

Martha runs the practice house where Henry lives and eventually becomes his mother. We also find out who his real m...more This is a strange one, a book that is chocked full of interesting plot points, but that lacks any likable characters. Henry House is a practice baby provided by a local orphanage for a small Pennsylvania women’s college in the 1940s. This is something that really happened from 1919 to 1969; orphans were used in home economic courses to help teach young women how to care for babies.

Martha runs the practice house where Henry lives and eventually becomes his mother. We also find out who his real mother is and we see Henry live a Goldilocks-style life, with one mother too old to understand him and the other too young to care for him properly. Henry spends his whole life watching anyone he loves eventually leave him. Because of this he’s unable to form any real connections with people.

At one point Martha compares Henry’s upbringing to that of the rhesus monkeys that were experimented on. They were given wire “mothers” that dispensed milk and cloth “mothers.” The monkeys preferred the cloth surrogate mothers, but in the end they all went mad because they had no real mother, no real caregiver. It’s a dark and disturbing thought coming from the woman who is supposed to be his “mother.”

We follow Henry throughout his childhood and early adulthood, watching the world change around him in dramatic ways. The book is almost reminiscent of Forrest Gump in the fact that we see dozens of major events and famous people cross paths with Henry in one way or another. There’s a mini history lesson on each page and that was by far my favorite aspect of the novel.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth reading if you’re curious about the history of using practice babies or about Disney animators. The writing style reminds me a lot of John Irving – even when you don't like the characters the story is still quirky and compulsively readable, but it leaves me feeling dissatisfied. I think I would have preferred a nonfiction book on the subject to this.

“If he had no one, he figured, he would have no one to lose.”(less)

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Mar 13, 2012 Barb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Henry was an orphan who became a practice baby in the 50's for a college home economics class. For the first 2 years of his life he was cared for by a different student in one month intervals. I had no idea this really happened in the past. Martha, who ran this program for her entire career, adopts Henry after learning he was the grandson of the head of her Department and son to one of her students. She raises Henry, but he is unable to trust others or form attachments to other people. This was...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Connie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise of a practice house was what drew me in, something that was a new concept to me even though I was born during the same time period of the novel. I also expected to revisit those years in my reading. In that I was disappointed. I think the author did superficial research and even though there were brand names or little details to pin down the period, it never did feel like it captured the essence of the era. That said, I found myself drawn into my own mental dialog of the universal de...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Judy Ross rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Orphanages supplied infants to the “practices houses” at universities from the 1920's until the 1960’s so home economics majors could learn homemaking with a live baby. The girls took turns mothering the infants, changing places from week to week. The main character, Henry “House” (he was raised in the practice HOUSE), grows up to be handsome and charming, but has difficulty with trust and is fearful of attachments. His passion is art – especially drawing animated characters. Perhaps Henry's upb...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Allison added it · review of another edition

This novel poses a very interesting question: how do children, raised in a "practice home" for one year by various "mothers" fare later in life? Unfortunately the question is not answered, and/or the answer is buried in a series of inconsistencies throughout the novel. Henry House is a special case: he spent his whole childhood in the practice home, due to the fact that the director of program forms an unhealthy attachment to him. As Henry's story unfolds, we see him struggle with intimacy and p...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Gwen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The subject of this book --following a boy whose first two years were as the "house" baby in a home economics practice house -- piqued my interest. Since it dovetails with current research interest and time period, and friends who have heard of the book asked if I'd read it (yet), I got it and finally read it.

As promised, the novel follows the life of Henry House, so-named by the faculty supervisor of the practice house (all of "her" children bore H-first name House as their monikers for their...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Judith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

We have all met Henry House before. He's the kind of guy who looks directly at you when you are talking and makes you feel that everything you say and do is significant. Better still, he understands that what you don't say is also very important, and he remembers and tries to please based on your specific interests. Oh, and he is heterosexual, tall, dark, and handsome, a great cook, housekeeper, world traveller, and a talented artist. I said we have met him. I didn't say we got to keep him. This...more We have all met Henry House before. He's the kind of guy who looks directly at you when you are talking and makes you feel that everything you say and do is significant. Better still, he understands that what you don't say is also very important, and he remembers and tries to please based on your specific interests. Oh, and he is heterosexual, tall, dark, and handsome, a great cook, housekeeper, world traveller, and a talented artist. I said we have met him. I didn't say we got to keep him. This kind of guy is irresistible and can never be caught till he's as old and senile as Warren Beatty, and therefore no longer so irresistible.

Henry House became this way because he was raised as a practice baby. At the age of 3 months old, he was taken from an orphanage and brought to a university's "Domestic Education" practice house, where he was cared for by a series of doting females and their teacher, for the purpose of educating the girls so they could care for their own babies some day. Henry was supposed to be returned to the orphanage by the time he was a year old, and another practice baby would take his place. Due to a series of circumstances,not the least of which was Henry's charm, he stayed at the practice house and continued to be raised ( along with an ever changing baby of the year from the orphanage). Thus he became an expert on women. The story is a lesson in the various levels of love and attachment, and I just found it fascinating.

Believe it or not, this work of fiction is actually based on a real historical event which was practiced by many colleges and universities in the U.S. up until around 1969. I kept wondering if that was really true till I finished the book and read the after-notes which confirmed that the story was based on Cornell University's program. The author read about it and wondered how the babies would have turned out, thus the book answers that question in her imagination. It was also interesting because Henry was born in '48, and the book is a delightful reminder of the baby boomers' historical events. (less)

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Feb 22, 2011 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In 1946, America is in-between eras. With one foot in the detritus of WWII and the other nudging the Cold War, it is also an uncertain time for women who want a higher education. Soldiers return to procreate with their waiting wives, giving rise to the Baby Boomer generation. Motherhood is a hot topic, with Benjamin Spock garnering headlines for his pioneer theories of child rearing. He advocates a very tactile approach, which includes picking up the infant every time (s)he cries. This is diamet...more In 1946, America is in-between eras. With one foot in the detritus of WWII and the other nudging the Cold War, it is also an uncertain time for women who want a higher education. Soldiers return to procreate with their waiting wives, giving rise to the Baby Boomer generation. Motherhood is a hot topic, with Benjamin Spock garnering headlines for his pioneer theories of child rearing. He advocates a very tactile approach, which includes picking up the infant every time (s)he cries. This is diametrically opposed to the former approach of instilling a strict schedule and forcing the baby to conform to it, letting the baby cry until it is "time" to pick her or him up. In this supremely inventive and provocative novel, Grunwald creates a protagonist, Henry House, an in-between baby born with one foot in the strict schedule and the other in Dr. Spock, an orphan who is raised by not one mother but many "practice mothers" and one woman who pleads for his love. Adored by many but unable to love any ONE.

Henry is the tenth orphan sent to the Wilton College of Home Economics, where female students practice mothering skills in two-year rotations, taught by the firm and stern director, Martha Gaines. Every two years, a new orphan is sent as a "practice baby" for a half-dozen female students. Not only do they practice mothering, but they also learn to fix kitchen equipment, remove stains, balance a budget, and manage a household. Ironically, the program is a subversive defender of women with ambition. They learn chemistry, physics, economics, and engineering, among other challenging subjects. When the rotation is over, the babies are sent back to the orphanage and are hopefully adopted by a loving family. The women graduate and move on to their futures.

When Martha falls in love with Henry at first sight, she is emotionally transformed. She relaxes her rigid routine and secretly champions Dr. Spock's touchy-feely approach. And, in a surprising twist of fate, Henry becomes the first and only baby to stay and be raised at the practice house, with Martha as the primary caregiver and a succession of women vying for his love and attention. Conversely, Henry thrives on their adoration, and learns guile and charm early in his life, endearing himself to his many "mothers." He doesn't attach himself to the ultra-needy Martha, or any specific caregiver or peer. He learns to manipulate and gain power by extracting differentially from each "mother" and later uses similar techniques with children his age. However, at nursery school he meets Mary Ann, a beautiful little girl that becomes a constant, although interrupted, presence in his life.

If you have been schooled in attachment theory, you know that the first few years of a baby's life are critical. That is the time when a baby needs to develop a primary relationship. If this is disrupted, like in the case of the Wilton practice baby method, the baby may form maladaptive behaviors and fail to develop healthy attachments. In Henry's case, he consistently keeps everyone at arm's length. As he matures, he is filled with rage at his parents' desertion and is unable to love or affectionately bond with Martha or anyone else.

Henry is prepossessing, yet affable, and women are naturally drawn to him--his long, lean, angular body, soft full lips, and striking green eyes. Yet, he all but sucks the spirit out of women who get involved with him. He objectifies them and accumulates them with an uncanny indifference, seemingly without any dents to his hard shell or damage to his psychic wall. He closed up that opening years ago, as a toddler. He is intermittently cruel to Mary Ann and supercilious towards Martha. Ironically, he becomes an "in-between" animator by profession. The novel examines Henry's journey to find his heart and to feel it beating. The key is for Henry to find a source that leads to a towering self-reflection.

Grunwald's buoyant prose is as bewitching as Henry. Clear and crisp, it glides effortlessly, ripe with terse paradoxes, engaging us with radiant characters. The author's ingenious insights into human behavior and her ability to keep the reader off-balance but fastened to the story is truly inspired. She captures the atmosphere of the times, as we move from poodle skirts to mini-skirts, and from Howdy Doody to Hair. I have not read another novel that captures the liminal time and essence of attachment theory with such clarity and imagination.

The author's premise for this story was stirred by research into an actual "practice baby" house that was part of a Cornell University home economics program from 1919-1969. (less)

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Feb 14, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From my posts so far, it seems like I have nothing else to do but read fiction. Would that it were so. But this is an anomaly - we were on vacation for the holiday and I squeezed in several books just for fun. But I plan to review books I'm reading for work, too, so the next batch will certainly be about Afghanistan, Iraq, 9/11, or the Cold War. The Cold War, in fact, leads me to my next book...

The Irresistible Henry House is about a baby who was taken from an orphanage in 1951 to be a "practice...more

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Sep 11, 2010 Ellene rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had a hard time liking Henry for about 85% of this book because he seemed like he was so self-absorbed and refusing to take responsibility for himself--such a drama-mama. His reaction to his adoptive mother Martha as well as birth mother Betty is understandable but extreme. But then again, his reactions to the only person who ever accepted him as is, Mary Jane, was also quite extreme at times. It was MJ who really kept me going throughout this book. Because if she could accept him for what he...more

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Aug 27, 2010 Melissa Railey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book has an amazingly unique premise. It tells the story of Henry House a/k/a Henry Gaines. Henry is a practice baby. This means that he was born as an orphan and began his life living in a practice house at Wilton College. A practice house program is part of the home economics department. Here prospective mothers take turns learning how to raise a baby using the practice baby of the year. I had no clue that such a program ever existed and found the whole idea fascinating. The book continue...more

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Aug 26, 2010 Robin Nicholas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting premise. Apparently starting in the 1920's through the mid 1960's there were a few colleges that had a home-ec program that included a "practice house" with a "practice baby". The school would get a baby from an orphanage and keep it for two years. Each term there would be about 6 students who would take turns taking care of the house and the baby one week at a time. Meaning that the baby was well taken care of, but had no chance of forming a strong bond with one person in their live...more

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Jun 28, 2010 Felice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Who knew that 50 years ago college level Home Economic programs would use 'practice babies' as teaching tools? How strange is that? When I was 4 I was 'loaned' to my older sister's high school Home Ec class for a week. I would go to school with her, spend the day with the Home Ec classes and then go home. The vague memories I have of this are all good. I remember playing and being surrounded by teenagers interested in me. I'm sure I was in hog heaven with all that attention. So in a minor way I...more Who knew that 50 years ago college level Home Economic programs would use 'practice babies' as teaching tools? How strange is that? When I was 4 I was 'loaned' to my older sister's high school Home Ec class for a week. I would go to school with her, spend the day with the Home Ec classes and then go home. The vague memories I have of this are all good. I remember playing and being surrounded by teenagers interested in me. I'm sure I was in hog heaven with all that attention. So in a minor way I am a sort of veteran of the type of teaching programs that author Lisa Grunwald explores in The Irresistible Henry House. A wonderfully fun nature verses nurture tour of a baby boomer's life.

In 1946 orphan Henry is brought to the all girl Wilton College as a practice baby but instead of going back to the orphanage at the end of the semester, Henry is adopted by Martha Gaines the head of the college's Home Ec program. So begins Henry's childhood. At Wilton Henry gets a batch of doting new mothers every year. He is also the recipient of the changing attitudes of raising children. The last tenants of the Victorian nursery were blowing away and Dr Spock was replacing them but not for Martha Gaines. She tried to bring Henry up with science not cuddles. Martha's student mothers on the other hand were eager to please Henry. As a result Henry grows up seeing women as interchangeable. A series of people easily pleased and ready to be manipulated and cajoled before they inevitably move on.

Henry's life through the 50's and 60's hits on all the major cultural touch points. Grunwald's writing about the events we all know about and Henry's adventures with them is fresh and fun. No mean feat. Henry becomes an artist as an adult and on the surface manages to successfully play well with others. His issues of trust and abandonment torpedo any lasting relationships until he meets another former practice baby. Mother Martha's life with and after Henry is a more distant study of those times but equally well written and for me very moving.

I relished reading The Irresistible Henry House. The basis for the story is a grabber but there is much more to this book than that single idea. Lisa Grunwald entertained me and made me want to share Henry--just like all those make believe mothers at Wilton College.
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Jun 14, 2010 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wish I could give this one 3.5 stars. I read it in one big gulp and was fascinated in particular by the first half of the book. Grunwald wrote this novel after finding out that home economics departments at several universities in the mid twentieth century used orphans as "practice babies" for their students. The baby would live on campus with rotating "mothers" for a year, after which he or she would be placed for adoption.

The first part of this book focuses on Henry, a practice baby, and Mar...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Mary added it

Henry House starts his life in 1946 as a "practice" baby in a college home economics course designed to give students real life experience in babycare. As Grunwald explains in an afterword, this was a real part of college curricula, including Cornell University, until as late as 1969. In Grunwald's version, the students take turns living for a week in the "practice" house, where the orderly, rule-driven Martha Gaines presides. Henry is the tenth baby she's brought to the house, and he's a bit yo...more Henry House starts his life in 1946 as a "practice" baby in a college home economics course designed to give students real life experience in babycare. As Grunwald explains in an afterword, this was a real part of college curricula, including Cornell University, until as late as 1969. In Grunwald's version, the students take turns living for a week in the "practice" house, where the orderly, rule-driven Martha Gaines presides. Henry is the tenth baby she's brought to the house, and he's a bit younger than most of the previous babies. And then there are his eyes, that draw her in, and his engaging smile. Martha falls in love. Henry proves irresistible to most of the women in his life and learns early to manipulate his power.

Further complicating the situation, Betty, one of the students in the class, the college president's daughter, in fact, turns out to be Henry's biological mother. She had him extramaritally, while her husband was on military duty, so initially she gave Henry up. Taking care of him in the house starts to change her mind, but when her husband, who everyone thought had died, turns up AWOL in Australia, she abandons the idea of keeping Henry altogether. Strict, orderly Martha gives in to her desires and adopts Henry, so he grows up surrounded by an endlessly changing cast of women and babies, yet unable to feel attached to anyone in particular as they leave after a year. Martha tells Henry that his mother is dead, and when Betty turns up divorced and wanting a relationship with Henry, Henry feels betrayed by Martha, who lied out of her own need to possess Henry. His relationship with Martha, already strained by her excessive neediness, is hopelessly mangled. He stops talking to her, and then stops talking altogether.

The story follows Henry's relationships with women first in a school for troubled youth, then when he runs away to New York to live with his mother, then on to California and a job at the Disney studios, then to London to work on the animation for Yellow Submarine. As the world changes--from the fifties to the sixties--the iconic Henry changes, too. Grunwald weaves a colorful, engrossing tale of self-discovery as Henry struggles with conflicting desires and his own creativity. This is a must-read novel for 2010! (less)

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Jun 04, 2010 Jean rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

Lisa Grunwald took a photo of a real baby and a real idea - that orphans were used as practice babies in college home economics classes - and took off from this premise to see what the effect on these babies might be. The baby in this story is Henry House, orphan, who comes to a university home economics class during WW II as an infant. The story follows Henry as he is cared for by college students, loved and "adopted" by Martha, the professor teaching the course. Martha teaches that a baby must...more

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May 06, 2010 Almie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The descriptive writing is excellent. The characters, the settings and the detailed movement that brings a book to life drew me into the book. It is evident that a great deal of intricate work went into the creation of this book and the writing shows that. Disappointingly, there is no discernible plot to this book and there is no ending. If it was meant to be a character study and I somehow missed that fact, then….my bad. I apologize for this review. We follow the main character, Henry, through...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Tattered Cover Book Store added it · review of another edition

Shelves: indie-next-noteables, jackie-recommends, staff-recommends

Jackie says:

I am utterly captivated with this book because its premise is SO fascinating, especially since it's based in historical fact. Apparently, from the 1920s to the 1960s, there were collegiate level home economics classes that involved rotations in a 'practice house' taking care of a real live 'practice baby'. Orphanages literally "loaned" babies to these college programs for roughly two years per baby, and several women worked weekly rotations being in charge. The whole program was actu...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, pleasure-reading, work-review-related-reading

I am utterly captivated with this book because its premise is SO fascinating, especially since it's based in historical fact. Apparently, from the 1920s to the 1960s, there were collegiate level home economics classes that involved rotations in a 'practice house' taking care of a real live 'practice baby'. Orphanages literally "loaned" babies to these college programs for roughly two years per baby, and several women worked weekly rotations being in charge. The whole program was actually quite b...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Chana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american, historical-fiction, fiction-family-drama, not-for-kids, received-through-bookcrossing

Other than the fascinating facts I learned from this book I didn't care for it that much.
So what did I learn? "...at Cornell, from the 1920's through the 1960's, babies supplied by local orphanages were used to teach mothering skills to students, who would take turns bathing and feeding and dressing their charges." "The program was available at some fifty colleges around the country." That just blows my mind (the last part of the book is largely set in the 1960's and it evidently blew some sort...more Other than the fascinating facts I learned from this book I didn't care for it that much.
So what did I learn? "...at Cornell, from the 1920's through the 1960's, babies supplied by local orphanages were used to teach mothering skills to students, who would take turns bathing and feeding and dressing their charges." "The program was available at some fifty colleges around the country." That just blows my mind (the last part of the book is largely set in the 1960's and it evidently blew some sort of present time circuit in my head and my language has regressed to an earlier age, namely the 1960's). But it really did surprise and shock me. The part of the book that chronicles a (fictional) Practice House, which is where the baby and house mother live and the students who are practicing to be mothers have their practicals, is really really interesting.
I also learned that there was a place called the "Custodial Asylum for Unteachable Idiots"! That was in NY in the mid 1880's. You can google it. The idea was good loving care for the kids, but not education, because an uneducated idiot was a happy idiot. Wow!
Then there was all the interesting stuff about Disney studios in the time of the making of Mary Poppins and then Jungle Book after Mr. Disney's death. Now I didn't research all of that to see what was true but it sounded pretty likely. The 1960's were also well done.
So what didn't I like? The story itself. Henry and his emotions, Mary Jane and her emotions, Martha and her emotions, etc. I'm not saying it couldn't be that way, I just didn't enjoy reading it. As an adopted child myself (although not a practice baby) I found Henry and Peace to be ungrateful and troubled. At least they could have been grateful for all that they did have. Neither was unloved. And the ending was unsatisfactory in my opinion. ------and with this book being about the importance of attachment to mother, the whole Disney thing was strange as in most Disney movies there is a noticeable lack of mothers! (less)

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Jul 13, 2012 Mallory rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Irresistible Henry House begins on a really interesting note, with the concept of a boy who is raised by a house of home economics students and their teacher and how that affects his psyche. Although the idea that Henry (and, later, Peace--another house baby) would be unable to attach to anyone later in life because of his lack of initial attachment to one mother is intriguing and seems to be based on scientific research, as well, I found it a bit unconvincing as written in the book. There's...more The Irresistible Henry House begins on a really interesting note, with the concept of a boy who is raised by a house of home economics students and their teacher and how that affects his psyche. Although the idea that Henry (and, later, Peace--another house baby) would be unable to attach to anyone later in life because of his lack of initial attachment to one mother is intriguing and seems to be based on scientific research, as well, I found it a bit unconvincing as written in the book. There's no real development of how Henry comes to be this way; we're simply told that Martha, who becomes his parental figure, and pretty much all the other women in the novel want too much from him and that he is unable to provide that because of his early childhood upbringing.

To me the fact that Henry's actual mother abandons him repeatedly seems a much larger issue in terms of his inability to commit or attach to anyone, but, although the book certainly acknowledges the issues with that, they're lumped in with the more general critique of his upbringing, the fault for which is mostly placed at the feet of Martha, the only person who is truly devoted to him. He complains often that everyone in his life has left him, but Martha's constant love and attachment--as self-serving as they may be--undermine this point for me. He does get called on this a few times, and by the end of the novel we get the sense that he is changing, but most of the book seems to indicate that we should accept without question Henry's own diagnosis of his problems.

This quick diagnosis of a psychological problem or subconscious feeling is recurrent throughout the book and one of its biggest issues. As another reviewer mentioned, we constantly run into lines like, "It was only much later that Henry realized [some profound psychological insight that most people probably don't have the self-awareness to actually realize about themselves without professional help]." At certain points in the novel, there is literally a sentence like this in each of several consecutive paragraphs. All of these realizations just come too easily, and Grunwald seems to use the strategy of placing them in the future to avoid doing the legwork to show us how Henry comes to these understandings, or even how he comes to have these hang-ups to begin with.

Henry's placement in the midst of cultural phenomena like Disney and the Beatles craze through his career as an artist is interesting and well-researched, but, again, I wished there were more development of the characters and less jumping from moment to moment. For instance, Peace, the first woman Henry is able to love (or think that he loves), is not developed much past what her name, clothes, and occupation signify. She is mod, and she is like Henry because she was a house baby, too, but otherwise, there's not much there to grab onto in terms of a developed character.

I realize I'm complaining a lot about a book that I gave a fairly high score, and I think it's because the core ideas are so promising that I'm critiquing it more heavily than if it were a similar execution of a less interesting pretense. The question of how one's upbringing shapes the rest of a life is a fascinating one, and that concept alone made for an enjoyable, intriguing read. (less)

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Jul 04, 2012 Sherri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Imagine a world where some orphan babies are taken to university's home economic departments and raised for the first year or two of their lives as practice babies in practice homes by women practicing to be mothers. These are the true-life events that happened between 1919 and 1969 at Cornell University. The Irresistible Henry House is a fiction book about these occurrences.

The difference between the true-life babies and Henry House is that Henry is adopted by the home economics teacher who tea...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Dawn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-general, ebook

Fictional memoirs really do seem to be all the rage these days, and The Irresistible Henry House , while a good read and superbly written, is tragically flawed. Henry House is a "practice baby" raised in a university home economics teaching facility. Sounds bizarre, and something I wasn't aware actually happened, but apparently it was a fairly widespread practice.

Grunwald draws you right in with an emotional center that is a saving grace here. Loose ends, stray references, actions that dont see...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Agatha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought I would really have to quash my emotions and feelings for the plight of an orphan at the center of this conceit, but it wasn't too bad. Great book – and based on reality: this really did happen at numerous college across the country form like the 40s to the 60s! Orphans were given to a college home ec program to be "practice babies" for the home ec students to learn about child-rearing. One girl would be in charge of the baby – and live in the practice house—for one week at a time, wri...more I thought I would really have to quash my emotions and feelings for the plight of an orphan at the center of this conceit, but it wasn't too bad. Great book – and based on reality: this really did happen at numerous college across the country form like the 40s to the 60s! Orphans were given to a college home ec program to be "practice babies" for the home ec students to learn about child-rearing. One girl would be in charge of the baby – and live in the practice house—for one week at a time, write down everything in a journal, and then the next girl would take over for the next week, ad infinitum. CRAZY!!! When it was "over" (after about a year or so), the baby went back to an orphanage to be adopted out to a "real family." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, the whole entire book is like a cautionary tale of failed attachment in a child. Recommended. From Amazon:

Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2010: . . . Starred Review. Like Forrest Gump or Benjamin Button, Henry House, the hero of Grunwald's imaginative take on a little known aspect of American academic life, has an unusual upbringing. In 1946, orphaned baby Henry is brought to all-girl's Wilton College as part of its home economics program to give young women hands-on instruction in child-rearing (such programs really existed). Henry ends up staying on at the practice house and growing up under the care of its outwardly stern but inwardly loving program director, Martha Gaines. As a protest against his unusual situation, Henry refuses to speak and is packed off to a special school in Connecticut, where his talents as an artist and future lover of women bloom. After he drops out of school, Henry finds work as an animator, working on Mary Poppins, then on the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. With cameos by Dr. Benjamin Spock, Walt Disney and John Lennon, and locations ranging from a peaceful college campus to swinging 1960s London, Grunwald nails the era just as she ingeniously uses Henry and the women in his life to illuminate the heady rush of sexual freedom (and confusion) that signified mid-century life. (Mar.)
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Jun 08, 2010 Denise rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was drawn to this book because I am adopted and was interested to read about this home economics program that took orphaned infants to use in training mothers, kept them for two years and then turned them in like a leased car so the now toddler could be adopted by some grateful couple that was glad to see the child had been subjected to a 2 year disciplined program that supposedly made them "more adoptable". I know (from the book) that this was a real program in schools from 1919 to 1969. Afte...more

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