
Open House
A Life in Thirty-Two Moves
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dawn Harvey
-
By:
-
Jane Christmas
About this listen
Moving house has never flustered author Jane Christmas. She loves houses: viewing them, negotiating their price, dreaming up interior plans, hiring tradespeople to do the work and overseeing renovations. She loves houses so much that she’s moved thirty-two times.
There are good reasons for her latest house move, but after viewing sixty homes, Jane and her husband succumb to the emotional fatigue of an overheated English housing market and buy a wreck in the town of Bristol that is overpriced, will require more money to renovate than they have and that neither of them particularly like.
As Jane’s nightmare renovation begins, her mind returns to the Canadian homes where she grew up with parents who moved and renovated constantly around the Toronto area. Suddenly, the protective seal is blown off Jane’s memory of a strict and peripatetic childhood and its ancillary damage - lost friends, divorces, suicide attempts - and the past threatens to shake the foundations of her marriage. This latest renovation dredges a deeper current of memory, causing Jane to question whether in renovating a house she is in fact attempting to renovate her past.
With humour and irreverence, Open House reveals that what we think we gain by constantly moving house actually obscures the precious and vital parts of our lives that we leave behind.This is a memoir that will appeal to anyone whose pulse quickens at the mere mention of real estate.
©2020 Jane Christmas (P)2020 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
They Left Us Everything
- A Memoir
- By: Plum Johnson
- Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After almost 20 years of caring for elderly parents - first for their senile father and then for their cantankerous 93-year-old mother - author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their middle-aged knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, 23 rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought, How tough will that be? I know how to buy garbage bags. But the task turns out to be much harder and more rewarding than she ever imagined.
-
-
Thought provoking
- By Margaret on 05-02-17
By: Plum Johnson
-
Forever Home
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging—and sparks a flurry of speculation. What does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned him and his children all those years ago? Carol and Declan know their relationship is the talk of the town, but the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer.
-
-
Well done funny!
- By Peggy OConnell on 09-22-23
By: Graham Norton
-
Make Something Good Today
- By: Ben Napier, Erin Napier
- Narrated by: Erin Napier, Ben Napier
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Ben and Erin Napier, the stars of the hit HGTV show Home Town, comes Make Something Good Today, a memoir that lets us all know that great love stories are possible, big things can bloom in small towns, and there is always magic in the ordinary if you know where to look for it.
-
-
A must read for everyone who wants to see the good in life
- By Bailey Garner on 01-08-19
By: Ben Napier, and others
-
The Orphan House
- Absolutely Gripping and Heartbreaking Historical Fiction
- By: Ann Bennett
- Narrated by: Naomi Frederick
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sarah Jennings knows there’s one place she can go to find some peace and quiet during her difficult divorce. But arriving at her beloved father’s home in the countryside, she finds him unwell and hunched over boxes of files, studying the records from Cedar Hall, the crumbling orphanage in town. He says that hidden behind the wrought iron gates and overgrown ivy are secrets about their family, and he asks for her help.
-
-
The Orphan House
- By Sylvia Sue Wilson on 04-22-20
By: Ann Bennett
-
The Great Blue Hills of God
- A Story of Facing Loss, Finding Peace, and Learning the True Meaning of Home
- By: Kreis Beall
- Narrated by: Reagan Boggs
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born with the gift of hospitality, Kreis Beall helped create one of the nation’s most renowned resort destinations, Blackberry Farm, in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountain foothills. For decades, she was a fixture in the travel and entertaining world and frequently appeared in the pages of popular home and design magazines. But at the pinnacle of her success, Kreis faced a series of challenges that reframed her life, including a brain injury that permanently impaired her hearing and the conclusion of her 36-year marriage to her best friend and business partner, Sandy Beall.
-
-
Wonderful Memoir
- By B. Smith on 10-20-20
By: Kreis Beall
-
Congratulations, the Best Is Over!
- Essays
- By: R. Eric Thomas
- Narrated by: R. Eric Thomas
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After going viral “reading” the chaotic political news, having one-too-many awkward social encounters, and coming to terms with his intersecting identities, R. Eric Thomas finally knew who he was and where he was going. He was living his best life. But then everything changed. In this collection of insightful and hilarious essays, Thomas moves back to his perpetually misunderstood hometown of Baltimore (a place he never wanted to return, even to be buried) and behaving completely out of character.
-
-
so delightful, and relatable
- By Susannah on 06-21-24
By: R. Eric Thomas
-
They Left Us Everything
- A Memoir
- By: Plum Johnson
- Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After almost 20 years of caring for elderly parents - first for their senile father and then for their cantankerous 93-year-old mother - author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their middle-aged knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, 23 rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought, How tough will that be? I know how to buy garbage bags. But the task turns out to be much harder and more rewarding than she ever imagined.
-
-
Thought provoking
- By Margaret on 05-02-17
By: Plum Johnson
-
Forever Home
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging—and sparks a flurry of speculation. What does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned him and his children all those years ago? Carol and Declan know their relationship is the talk of the town, but the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer.
-
-
Well done funny!
- By Peggy OConnell on 09-22-23
By: Graham Norton
-
Make Something Good Today
- By: Ben Napier, Erin Napier
- Narrated by: Erin Napier, Ben Napier
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Ben and Erin Napier, the stars of the hit HGTV show Home Town, comes Make Something Good Today, a memoir that lets us all know that great love stories are possible, big things can bloom in small towns, and there is always magic in the ordinary if you know where to look for it.
-
-
A must read for everyone who wants to see the good in life
- By Bailey Garner on 01-08-19
By: Ben Napier, and others
-
The Orphan House
- Absolutely Gripping and Heartbreaking Historical Fiction
- By: Ann Bennett
- Narrated by: Naomi Frederick
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sarah Jennings knows there’s one place she can go to find some peace and quiet during her difficult divorce. But arriving at her beloved father’s home in the countryside, she finds him unwell and hunched over boxes of files, studying the records from Cedar Hall, the crumbling orphanage in town. He says that hidden behind the wrought iron gates and overgrown ivy are secrets about their family, and he asks for her help.
-
-
The Orphan House
- By Sylvia Sue Wilson on 04-22-20
By: Ann Bennett
-
The Great Blue Hills of God
- A Story of Facing Loss, Finding Peace, and Learning the True Meaning of Home
- By: Kreis Beall
- Narrated by: Reagan Boggs
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born with the gift of hospitality, Kreis Beall helped create one of the nation’s most renowned resort destinations, Blackberry Farm, in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountain foothills. For decades, she was a fixture in the travel and entertaining world and frequently appeared in the pages of popular home and design magazines. But at the pinnacle of her success, Kreis faced a series of challenges that reframed her life, including a brain injury that permanently impaired her hearing and the conclusion of her 36-year marriage to her best friend and business partner, Sandy Beall.
-
-
Wonderful Memoir
- By B. Smith on 10-20-20
By: Kreis Beall
-
Congratulations, the Best Is Over!
- Essays
- By: R. Eric Thomas
- Narrated by: R. Eric Thomas
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After going viral “reading” the chaotic political news, having one-too-many awkward social encounters, and coming to terms with his intersecting identities, R. Eric Thomas finally knew who he was and where he was going. He was living his best life. But then everything changed. In this collection of insightful and hilarious essays, Thomas moves back to his perpetually misunderstood hometown of Baltimore (a place he never wanted to return, even to be buried) and behaving completely out of character.
-
-
so delightful, and relatable
- By Susannah on 06-21-24
By: R. Eric Thomas
-
Toil & Trouble
- A Memoir
- By: Augusten Burroughs
- Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Augusten Burroughs, Gabra Zackman, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For as long as Augusten Burroughs could remember, he knew things he shouldn't have known. He manifested things that shouldn't have come to pass. And he told exactly no one about this, save one person: his mother. His mother reassured him that it was all perfectly normal, that he was descended from a long line of witches, going back to the days of the early American colonies. And that this family tree was filled with witches. It was a bond that he and his mother shared - until the day she left him in the care of her psychiatrist to be raised in his family.
-
-
Slime Flux
- By Pamela Harvey on 10-16-19
-
House Lessons
- Renovating a Life
- By: Erica Bauermeister
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, New York Times best-selling author Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes listeners on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us. A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, this book is designed for homeowners, remodelers, and those who are simply curious about how our built environments shape who we become.
-
-
Wonderful book for anyone home shopping
- By ERICK on 09-04-20
-
Night Music
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isabel Delancey, a classical violinist, has always taken her comfortable life for granted. But when her husband dies suddenly, leaving her with a mountain of debt, she and her two children are forced to abandon their home and move to the Spanish House, a now-dilapidated manor Isabel inherited in the English countryside. With the house falling down around them, and the last of her savings disappearing fast, Isabel turns to her neighbors for help, not knowing that her mere presence there has stirred up long-standing obsessions.
-
-
This one took me a minute
- By Cialynne1 on 09-30-21
By: Jojo Moyes
-
Falling Apart in One Piece
- One Optimist's Journey Through the Hell of Divorce
- By: Stacy Morrison
- Narrated by: Stacy Morrison
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just when Stacy Morrison thought she had it all, her husband of 10 years announced that he wanted a divorce. She was left alone with a new house that needed lots of work, a new baby who needed lots of attention, and a new job in the high-pressure world of New York publishing. Morrison had never been one to believe in fairy tales. As far as she was concerned, happy endings were the product of the kind of ambition and hard work that had propelled her to the top of her profession.
-
-
so helpful
- By jessica ball on 11-10-15
By: Stacy Morrison
-
The Trauma Cleaner
- By: Sarah Krasnostein
- Narrated by: Rachael Tidd
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife... but as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less. A man who bled quietly to death in his living room. Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead - and the book she has written is equally extraordinary.
-
-
Beautiful, emotional, and perfectly narrated.
- By LitWitWineDine on 06-30-18
-
The House on Cold Hill
- Cold Hill Ghost Stories Series, Book 1
- By: Peter James
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ollie and Caro Harcourt are moving house with their 12-year-old daughter Jade. Ollie is desperate to leave the city. Caro is less sure. Then they view Cold Hill House, a dilapidated rural mansion, and fall instantly in love. It's expensive, but with its space, seclusion, and huge grounds, it seems like a brilliant idea. That is, until they arrive. It soon becomes apparent that they are not alone. A spectral woman appears on screens and walks the corridors, vanishing before she can be challenged.
-
-
Same old tired story line
- By Robin on 01-03-22
By: Peter James
-
Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds
- Living the Dream in Rural Ireland
- By: Nick Albert
- Narrated by: Andy Stevenson
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nick and Lesley Albert yearn to leave the noise, stress, and pollution of modern Britain and move to the countryside, where the living is good, the air sweet, with space for their dogs to run free. Suddenly out of work and soon to be homeless, they set off in search of a new life in Ireland, a country they had never visited. As their adventure began to unfold, not everything went according to plan. How would they cope with banks that didn’t want customers, builders who didn’t need work, or the complex issue of where to buy some chickens?
-
-
Part one
- By Stacey on 04-02-20
By: Nick Albert
-
Summer Longing
- By: Jamie Brenner
- Narrated by: Molly Parker Myers
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruth Cooperman arrives in beautiful beachside Provincetown for her retirement, renting the perfect waterfront cottage while she searches for her forever home. After years of hard work and making peace with life's compromises, Ruth is looking forward to a carefree summer of solitude. But when she finds a baby girl abandoned on her doorstep, Ruth turns to her new neighbors for help and is drawn into the drama of the close-knit community. The appearance of the mystery baby has an emotional ripple effect through the women in town.
-
-
Horrible Narration
- By Denette Russell on 05-15-20
By: Jamie Brenner
-
The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens
- A Memoir of the Beales, the Maysles Brothers, and Jacqueline Kennedy
- By: Jerry Torre, Tony Maietta, Albert Maysles - introduction
- Narrated by: Tony Maietta
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens is Jerry Torre's touching and at times haunting memoir about his teenage days as caretaker of Grey Gardens, the now-celebrated mansion chronicled in the iconic documentary Grey Gardens and two feature-length films. The book, cowritten with film historian Tony Maietta, is a behind-the-scenes look at "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" and their bizarre and reclusive life of squalor amidst the tremendous wealth of East Hampton, the family bond that developed between Jerry and them, and the day everything was turned upside down forever.
-
-
Another Perspective
- By Bradley on 04-10-24
By: Jerry Torre, and others
-
Establishing Home
- Creating Space for a Beautiful Life with Family, Faith, and Friends
- By: Jean Stoffer, September Vaudrey
- Narrated by: Jean Stoffer
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jean Stoffer’s husband announced he was quitting his extremely stressful job to look for another career, she suddenly needed to bring in a lot more of the family income. The problem was, while she had a degree in business, her part-time job paid very little and she had few obvious options for earning more anytime soon. In Establishing Home, Jean tells how necessity sparked her journey from part-time receptionist to founder of an award-winning home design company and star of the Magnolia Network’s show, The Established Home.
-
-
So Inspiring
- By TIFFANY DAVIS on 11-21-24
By: Jean Stoffer, and others
-
The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone
- By: Audrey Burges
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From her attic in the Arizona mountains, thirty-four-year-old Myra Malone blogs about a dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide. Myra’s stories have created legions of fans who breathlessly await every blog post, trade photographs of Mansion-modeled rooms, and swap theories about the enigmatic and reclusive author. Myra herself is tethered to the Mansion by mysteries she can’t understand—rooms that appear and disappear overnight, music that plays in its corridors.
-
-
Story for the sake of story
- By A. Edwards on 05-16-24
By: Audrey Burges
-
Property
- Stories Between Two Novellas
- By: Lionel Shriver
- Narrated by: Lionel Shriver
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A striking new collection of ten short stories and two novellas that explores the idea of property in every meaning of the word, from the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international best seller We Need to Talk About Kevin.
-
-
Painful and drawn out
- By JR on 06-27-18
By: Lionel Shriver