Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block
Random House, June 2008
After twenty years as a foreign correspondent in tumultuous locales
including Rwanda, Chechnya, and Sudan, Judith Matloff is ready to put down roots and start a family. She leaves Moscow and returns to her native New York City to house-hunt for the perfect spot while her Dutch husband, John, stays behind in Russia with their dog to pack up their belongings. Intoxicated by West Harlem’s cultural diversity and, more important, its affordability, Judith impulsively buys a stately fixer-upper brownstone in the neighborhood.
Little does she know what’s in store. Judith and John discover
that their dream house was once a crack den and that “fixer
upper” is an understatement. The building is a total wreck: The
beams have been chewed to dust by termites, the staircase is separating from the wall, and the windows are smashed thanks to a recent break-in. Plus, the house—crowded with throngs of brazen drug
dealers—that forms the bustling epicenter of the cocaine trade in the Northeast, and heavily armed police regularly appear outside their door
in pursuit of the thugs and crackheads who loiter there.
Thus begins Judith and John’s odyssey to win over the neighbors,
including Salami, the menacing addict who threatens to take over their
house; Mackenzie, the literary homeless man who quotes Latin over
morning coffee; Mrs. LaDuke, the salty octogenarian and neighborhood
watchdog; and Miguel, the smooth lieutenant of the local drug crew,
with whom the couple must negotiate safe passage. It’s a far cry
from utopia, but it’s a start, and they do all they can to carve
out a comfortable life. And by the time they experience the birth of a
son, Judith and John have even come to appreciate the
neighborhood’s rough charms.
Blending her finely honed reporter’s instincts with superb
storytelling, Judith Matloff has crafted a wry, reflective, and hugely
entertaining memoir about community, home, and real estate. Home Girl
is for anyone who has ever longed to go home, however complicated the
journey.
hardcover | ISBN: 9781400065264 | Publication Date: June 2008
Reviews:
“Although I always suspected that renovating a house in New York
City would be a slightly more harrowing undertaking than dodging
bullets as a foreign correspondent, it took this charming story to
convince me it could also be more entertaining. Except for the
plumbing. That’s one adventure I couldn't survive.”
—Michelle Slatalla, author of The Town on Beaver Creek
“After years of covering wars overseas, Judith Matloff takes her
boundless courage and inimitable style to the front lines of
America’s biggest city. From her vantage point in a former crack
house in West Harlem, she brings life to a proud community held hostage
by drug dealers and forgotten by policy makers. Matloff’s sense
of humor, clear reportage, and zest for adventure never fail. Home Girl
is part gritty confessional, part love story, and totally
delightful.”
—Bob Drogin, author of Curveball
