When Abigail Addison invites the whole family down to spend her sixtieth birthday in
the house that Fred, her husband of thirty-five years, built on an island off the coast of Georgia,
she finds the beautiful red brick home with white columns somewhat lacking ... lacking
paint, lacking plaster, lacking walls! But, as each member of the family arrives, they see
a different house. Fred, the dreamer, sees it for what it will be. Abigail, the realist, sees
it for the unfinished mess that it is. And their grown children, Margaret, Babs, and
Lizbeth, look at it all as a last great adventure, reminiscent of their childhood and the house
where they grew up in Atlanta.
Together, as they struggle to bring the walls of the house up, their individual walls
begin to come down, until at last, at the height of the chaos, they are forced to re-
examine themselves and each other ... and, suddenly, a house with no walls becomes a
home.
Not since Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House has a more likeable fellow set out
to build his dream home. Not since the Gift of the Magi has a wife's gift of love created
such havoc. Based on a true story, UNFINISHED DREAMS is the funny, often poignant
love story of one man's family and the house he built off the coast of Georgia.
From the GREATEST GENERATION to the BABY BOOMERS, this book will strike a chord with everyone
who has ever undertaken the task of building a home or simply adding a room. And it will touch
anyone who has waited until the prime of his life to embrace those UNFINISHED DREAMS.
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