I have always found Helen Garner to write exceptionally well, and this story didn't disappoint in its candour and insight, yet sympathy. A horrible story well told. ( )

This was honestly an excrutiating read through no fault of the author. Helen Garner's exquisite writing was the only saving grace but it wasn't enough to carry this case of unlikable characters and incredibly dull court processes. The book is about the murder trial of Robert Farquharson who drowned his 3 sons in 2005. It highlighted everything I loathe about the legal system - its punitive and performative nature and exploitation of grief and trauma. Read this if you are interested in how the court system in Australia works from a layperson's view. If you want a much much better true crime book by Helen Garner, read Joe Cinque's Consolation instead. ( )

This is an Australian work of True Crime that some have compared to In Cold Blood, though I would not go that far. Robert and Cindy married young and quickly had 3 children. They separated, at Cindy's insistence, when the youngest was not yet two. Cindy was ready to move on, and had a new boyfriend. Robert was not ready to let Cindy go.

On Father's Day 2005, Robert spent the day with the three children, ages 10,7,and 2, doing the usual things, lunch at a fast food place, a stop in a store to buy a Father's Day present. In the early evening, as Robert is driving the kids home to Cindy, his car plunges off the road into a dam. Robert escapes from the car, but the three children drown. After an investigation, Robert is charged with the murder of the three children, the allegation being that Robert drove the car off the road deliberately to punish Cindy. Overall, the question presented was whether this was a suicided attempt, an attempt to punish Cindy, or a tragic accident.

Helen Garner, a novelist and a journalist, attended the trial(s), interviewed some of those involved, and ponders these questions, as she tries to come to grips with what happened. Can there ever be any explanation of whether or why a father, who seemed to truly love his children, would murder them?

3 stars ( )

Very readable, and interesting, retelling of a tragic case and complex trial. As someone who remembered the sad deaths occurring, but didn't know how it had all been wrapped up (was overseas at the time), it was a heck of a ride. ( )

The murder trial in question being the trial(s) of Robert Farquharson for the murder of his 3 sons in September 2005. Unlike much of the "true crime" genre, there's very little doubt about what happened, some debate about how it happened, and perhaps a little more about doubt about why it happened. But overall there's very little suspense here. What Garner is more interested in is the process of the trial - and she isn't impressed. Putting herself in the position of a juror, she attends every day of the trial(s) and tries to suspend judgment and pay attention to the evidence - whilst most of her friends, and colleagues in the press box jump to early conclusions and stick rigorously to those positions. But she finds herself being ground into submission, and observes jurors and even the judge being ground into submission - by days of tediously contested technical detail which it would be impossible for an honest citizen to decipher. She learns that procedure trumps the search for truth - there are questions that counsel may not ask for reasons of procedure rather than of justice. She finds the process of cross examination gruelling - the witness is never allowed to tell a story in his or her own words, and often is simply reduced to providing yes or no answers to questions they may not see the relevance of. In the end they will agree to anything to get of the stand. In the end, she learns that a juror cannot impassively weigh the evidence; in the end they will make judgment based on perceptions of character

And overall she finds the whole thing exhausting and tortuous. This House of Grief is full of images of exhaustion, burnout, the inability to take any more. And as such its a compelling and very useful narrative of how justice actually works ( )