Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2010: To the ranks of iconic mid-century modern men Gump and Garp, add The Irresistible Henry House. As imagined by Lisa Grunwald, inspired by the peculiar beginnings of a real baby, Henry's life unspools with more realism and intention than Gump's, with less a sense of dread than Garp's. But Henry and his story have the same almost-magic magnetism. Henry arrives in the world as a "practice baby," passed between a dozen young women at the Practice House of Wilton College's Home Economics program in a decidedly pre-Spock era that discouraged mothers from holding babies "too much." From the beginning, Henry inspires in women the desire for his exclusive attention--but none want them more than Martha Gaines, the program director, who has spent her career overseeing the proper raising of a string of "house" orphans who were eventually adopted out.
Unable to let Henry go, Martha raises him as her own. Burdened by her need and bewildered by his own inability to reciprocate affection, Henry retreats into a silence that buys him banishment to a school for troubled teens in Connecticut, far from Martha's grasp. In these mute years, Henry hones his aptitude for drawing and experiences the benefits of knowing instinctively how to please women (sometimes including Mary Jane, his real childhood sweetheart). His skills open doors for him at Disney Studios to draw Poppins penguins, and in London for Yellow Submarine. The multidimensional generations of women in his life make a fascinating microcosm of the cultural revolution that redefined the expectations of all American women in the latter half of the 20th century. But it's Henry's struggle to define the desires of his own heart that propels this story, culminating in a scene as transcendent as Carver's Cathedral. --Mari Malcolm
Amazon Exclusive: Lisa Grunwald on The Irresistible Henry House
 This novel begins with a photograph, and my writing it began the same way. I was trolling the Web five years ago, looking for entries to add to Women's Letters, an anthology I was editing then. Somewhat by accident, I landed on a Website created by history students at Cornell University, and I saw for the first time a thumbnail photograph, just an icon, of an irresistible baby’s face. I clicked on it, not knowing exactly why, and met an orphan who had spent the first year of his life being cared for as a "practice baby" in a home economics course. A real baby. Handed off in turns from practice mother to practice mother. Initially, the journalist in me wanted to know what had happened to that baby. The novelist in me asked the same question. There was a brief skirmish. But when I read that the babies raised this way were returned to their orphanages and adopted like any of the other infants, the novelist in me won out. Without access to more information, I had a feeling that fiction would be if not stranger than at least longer than truth. Still, the time frame in which the novel would be set plunged me into my first attempt at writing historical fiction, and other facts ended up being important to Henry House’s story. A few examples of fun facts I found along the way: - Far from offering just the "MRS degree" that became part of its reputation, home economics--in teaching women about cleaning, cooking, and household equipment--provided an almost revolutionary path to subjects traditionally thought of as men’s province: chemistry, biology, electrical engineering.
- One of the most popular childcare experts in the 30s and 40s recommended a firm handshake as the best way to greet one’s young children.
- In the early 20th century, children with what we now know as learning disabilities were still being sent to institutions with names like the Custodial Asylum for Unteachable Idiots.
- It was Walt Disney’s own idea to replace the tuxedoed waiters in the book of Mary Poppins with the animated penguins who dance in the movie; as a child he had always thought tuxedoed men looked like penguins.
- It wasn’t really the Beatles who did the speaking parts for Yellow Submarine.
All of these facts landed in my private file of "who knew?" and subsequently landed in the novel as well. But the central fact remained that the baby in the picture had started his life being cared for by multiple women, and I knew that no matter what else happened in the book, that weird fact would shape the heart of my character and, I will hope, the heart of the book. --Lisa Grunwald (Photo © Jon LaPook)
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 Too many mothers but not a one |
| Review Date: February 11, 2010 |
| Reviewer: switterbug, Austin, Texas United States |
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. |
PRACTICE BABIES? PRACTICE BABIES? YES, PRACTICE BABIES!!!
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| Review Date: February 21, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Pamela A. Poddany, Toledo, Ohio |
THE IRRESISTIBLE HENRY HOUSE
We are introduced to one adorable little baby boy, namely Henry House, an orphan who is lucky enough to be selected to become one of many practice babies to live in a practice house at Wilton College. What does this mean for sweet and innocent little Henry? The situation is this -- for approximately two years, Henry will live at the practice house and have a bevy of young women students be his mommy. These young home ec girls will learn how to be mothers -- using Henry as their tool in learning. Henry -- and the babies before and after him -- will not have any one mother, but many, many mothers. He starts out at an early age winning the hearts of the ladies.
The one heart he warms and wins over though is one Martha Gaines, the woman in charge of this home ec project. Martha normally is more hard-hearted, but there is something about Henry that wins her over and she happy to keep Henry on to live with her.
While at best Henry and Martha's relationship can only be described as full of turmoil, Martha dotes on Henry to a point of being obsessive and desperate to win his love. Henry, meanwhile, having had so many mothers, has a real problem forming attachments to any one person and is not one to love or trust. For Henry, this is a real problem and will stay with him the remainder of his life.
We follow Henry's life through his baby years, school years, seeking employment, and always seemingly to be on the run and trying to find someone he can love and trust with his entire being. He tries to locate his birth mother and tries to distance himself from Martha. Martha is unrelenting in her pursuit of keeping Henry near and dear to her which makes Henry want to keep further away from her.
Henry is a talented artist and lands a job with the Disney studios. He never seems happy however and his life always seems lacking. He dates and discards numerous women in his pursuit of happiness.
Enjoy Henry's journey through his life trying to find joy, stability, and someone to love, all the while meeting many realistic and graphic characters. Does Henry find his birth mother? If he does, do they bond and become a happy family of sorts? Does any one woman make Henry feel whole? Read this book and find out!
What is amazing is that practice houses and practice babies really did exist at Cornell to name one such place. These practice baby programs originated in 1919 and lasted until the l960's. What effect did these programs have on the practice babies? Did these babies ever realize what the first few years of their being entailed? Did these programs have an ever-lasting effect on the lives of these children? Eventually these babies were returned to the supplying orphanage and hopefully were adopted into loving homes -- homes that possibly could erase any damage that had been done by not really being able to bond and be loved by any one person.
As Henry searches for answers in his life he meets Walt Disney, The Beatles, countless different women, and travels the world. Join him on his fantastic journey. This is a book that shouldn't be missed.
Thank you!
Pam |
Difficult to put down
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| Review Date: March 20, 2010 |
| Reviewer: E. Jacobs, |
It's difficult to review this book without giving away what ultimately happens to Henry House, a 'practice baby' borrowed from an orphanage in order to train young college women how to be mothers; however, I will not include any spoilers in this review.
First, I did not find it easy to put this book down, because the author has created a character and a story that left me with a craving to know what happens next. As hard as it may be to believe, the use of practice babies was a very real phenomenon in the U.S. from the 1920's to the 1960's. As stated in the author's notes at the end of the book, at the time it was generally believed to be beneficial both to the mother trainees and the baby. However, it will probably not come as a surprise to modern readers that these experiments may not have been entirely successful.
The story follows the life of one such baby whom the program director ultimately cannot bear to send back to the orphanage. From the mid 1940's to the late 1960's, the author seamlessly transitions through the phases of Henry House's life, including references to many historical and iconic elements of each era.
This book is the author's answer to the question of what might have happened to these practice babies. To me, the book also explored the question "what is a mother"? Beautifully written, great characters, thoughtful analysis, and a plot that keeps you riveted. I can't think of anything this book is missing.
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An Irresistible Novel
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| Review Date: February 26, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Mr. August, Highland Park, IL |
Lisa Grunwald wrote an original story based on a factual Home Economics class at Cornell University and other colleges in our country. Infants were supplied by local orphanages to the "practice houses" for a year or so to teach college girls the correct way to care for a baby and a home. The philosophy during the 1940's and 1950's was to provide the baby with affection but the babies' needs were not met on demand, but rather on a defined schedule. It was definitely an anti-Dr. Spock viewpoint; the baby was not picked up when crying and not necessarily fed when hungry. There was a specific agenda for the care and upbringing of a child. It was not without warmth but the affection was doled out on a timetable also.
Martha Gaines, the director of the "practice house" at Wilton College, was a childless woman who taught the classes without wavering from the plan. All babies entering the house had names beginning with an "H." Martha treated all the babies and students the same, with a rather inflexible protocol. She was hardly moved until she fell in love with Henry House, a baby received at a few months old. Henry, even as an infant, did not respond to Martha's love and the novel tells us how Henry evolved from an infant to a young man. Martha spent the rest of her life vying for Henry's love, competing with his birth mother and the outside world. She was a tragic character who remained unloved. Henry, on the other hand, was alluring to countless women but his own abandonment seemed to inhibit his relationships. Henry became purposely mute as a child and was sent to a special school, which was all part of his need to leave Martha. Mary Jane, a beautiful girl from his pre-school class, is a positive influence, despite the fact that he marred her for life. Henry even hooks up with another practice baby (Hazel aka Peace) and she, too, suffers from an inability to want a mature relationship.
The premise of the book is fascinating and Grunwald creates a captivating Henry House. Despite his anger and quest for family, he is a talented artist. He never finishes high school but lands a job at Walt Disney. The descriptions of Disney's staffing and organization is enthralling. Because this novel is based on a real college class and I can remember "let the baby cry" ideal of caring for a newborn was the standard, this child-rearing concept does not seem so long ago. A great read. |
Awesome
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| Review Date: March 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Joylin L. Buchanan, |
| This book reeled me in on the get go. I find it fascinating that they would use live babies to train girls instead of the "babies" we know of today. I love where Henry ends up working later in life, Mostly, I just found this book very engrossing. |
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