For a long time, Claire and Tom Templeton have wished in vain for a child. What they have instead is a house, a charming old Cape that is their consolation. In the gray chill of a Massachusetts autumn, the Templetons and two local handymen, loners and eccentrics, work to rebuild the ramshackle home. As the house takes on a new life, Claire begins to understand its tangled history -- and to reconcile her own past and renew her hope for the future.

For years, Claire and Tom Templeton have wished for a child--only to be consoled with a charming old Cape Cod house. As Claire works to rebuild the home, she begins to understand its tangled history. Her discovery forces her to reconcile her past and to renew her hope for the future.

The Los Angeles Times Book Review As in The Man Who Owned Vermont, his widely acclaimed first work of fiction, Bret Lott once again depicts a young couple who struggle with difficulties in their marriage....A Stranger's House lives, breathes -- and is indeed breathtakingly real.