Rise: How a House Built a Family by Cara Brookins

The premise of this story was intriguing to me: A single mom of four building her own home from the footings to the roof tiles.

‘Is it true?’ was my first question and ‘How is that possible?’ was my second question.  It seemed like an intimidating and insurmountable task to build a house without the “professionals”.  I’m not saying that I would take this on because this is not my dream but it was inspiring to know that those things we think that we cannot do are actually achievable and anyone can be successful at anything they take to heart.

It was an uplifting story overall and I applaud the main character for her bravery in facing adversity…. but (you knew it was coming), there were just so many missteps.  I am by no means a critic of people’s personal choices but I also feel that she kept getting involved with people who were abusive and put her children in jeopardy of being truly hurt.  I do not take lightly the fact that her husband tortured the family dog and she hid it…she didn’t report it!  Fear is paralyzing.  It is what keeps you on your toes and it represses its slave.  Fear is a tormentor to the tortured and this character was inhibited by it.

I felt like this book was really two books. One book is the inspirational anecdote of personally rising from ashes while dually building a house from the ground up.  The second book was all the wrong ways to raise your children while juggling several abusive husbands.  I wish the author had provided some insight into how her children felt during this time period of instability.  She conveys her own angst but barely touches on the children’s fears.  I’m still on the fence about recommending this book.  It had some highlights but also some very obvious holes.  There was a lot of information that was missing from this story.

Did you have empathy for the main character?

Did you like her?

What do you wish she would have done differently in telling this story?

Would you have exposed yourself personally by telling the same story?

What was missing from this story for you?

How do you think this family is functioning now?