Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Fiction 2016/ 230 pages

The story is primarily about teenage girls who are best friends, and their relationships with their younger siblings and their parents.  Males join the cast a bit later and are also important.  It is 1950 in Alaska, a time of significant change,  when Alaska because a state and land laws change.  The characters are indigenous ... Inupiaq, Athabascan, and others, and white.

The title is a reference to how different cultures and people are perceived and understood (by themselves and others) through the lens of their homes, customs, and traditions. Differences, yes, but so many similarities also. There is tragedy, fun, love, sorrow.

What is astounding about Hitchcock's writing, in this, her debut novel, is how she differentiates the characters by customs, traditions, history, family status, ability, color.  Of course Dumpling, who is Athabascan, will see a situation differently from Ruth, who is white.  The parents in this novel are also quite different in their parenting style.  One of the dads is supportive of all the children, whether they are his or not.  Another dad is abusive and violent.

One young woman becomes pregnant, and she is sent off to a convent ... an entire story in itself!  There she discovers the links between her family and the nuns.

Three young men are stowaways on a ferry, and their fascinating story becomes its own subplot.  (But don't worry ... they all tie together in the end.)

There is a character list and a map at the beginning of the book, which I found imperative.  Nevertheless, using the character list all through the book, I could not keep track of who is who.  This many characters was an unnecessary error on the part of the author, in my humble opinion, and is why The Smell of Other People's Houses earned three hearts from me instead of four.

Yes, an interesting and visual read.

Thank you Carol for the loan.

September 2025