The House of Forgetting: A Novel

In The House of Forgetting, seven-year-old Gloria Santos is taken by Thomas Blacker from the barrio of El Paso, Texas, to Chicago. There, in the home of the respected writer and academic, Gloria is raised to be refined, educated young woman with an appreciation of literature, music, and fine cooking. For more than twenty years she is confined to Blacker's house and only occasionally allowed in the garden he so meticulously keeps. She becomes, it seems, like his flowers--lovingly tended, but utterly at his mercy.

As she reaches adulthood, Gloria grows more and more aware that her situation is in unacceptable, and she finds herself confronting her future and the man who has shaped her past. She struggles to distinguish between love and obsession, between gratitude and obligation, and, ultimately, between betrayal and self-preservation. Naive, frightened, and caught between a world she hates and one she does not know, Gloria must summon all her courage and moral strength or risk losing the life she longs for.

In the lyrical prose for which he is known, Benjamin Sàenz offers a haunting psychological drama that examines one woman's search for her identity and explores what it means to have freedom. The House of Forgetting is a riveting tale of abduction, lost innocence, and revenge--a page-turner in the truest sense, a novel that longers in memory, and one that establishes Benjamin Sàenz as one of the most versatile, insightful writers working today.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz (1954-2026) wrote poetry and prose for adults and teens. He was the first Hispanic winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a recipient of the American Book Award for his adult literature. His award-winning books for young readers include the beloved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a Printz Honor Book, Stonewall Award winner, Pura Belpré Award winner, and Lambda Literary Award winner, and its #1 New York Times bestselling sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World.