The Smell of Other People's Houses is a powerful and affecting book by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. Following the interconnected lives of a group of teenagers in Alaska in the 1970s, themes such as friendship, family, loss and resilience are explored with expertise and sensitivity. There's the teenage mother struggling to find acceptance for herself and her unborn child. The young girl living apart from her family and dealing with parental addictions. The would-be dancer who is too scared to follow her dream for fear of upsetting her father, and the siblings desperate to find a better life - at any cost.
All characters are rich, believable and heartbreaking in their own way. I found myself forgetting it was set in the 1970s - so many of the themes are still relevant to today! Alaska is not a place I am familiar with, but I was able to understand some of the challenges of the people and place, and would loved to have kept reading.
This is a powerful book - full of highs and lows. A great read if you want to immerse yourself in a new community but be warned - have some tissues ready!
An interesting thing that people forget that every teenager, regardless of decade or generation they are from, is that we all share the same problems with growing up - facing tough new responsibilities, learning how to fend for yourself, dealing with hormones, and realising the world isn't such a nice place to live in after all...