My Readers Guide for All the Little Houses has my Quick Take, a Character List, Plot Summary, The Ending Explained and My Questions. What did I think of this twisty, catty story about a Queen Bee and her mother who aren’t happy when a new family moves to town.
Readers Guide for All the Little Houses
Table of Contents:
Jen’s Quick Take on All the Little Houses
Character List for All the Little Houses
Plot Summary with Spoilers for All the Little Houses
All the Little Houses: the Ending Explained
Jen’s Quick Take on All the Little Houses
- All the Little Houses is my first May Cobb book, though I did watch some of The Hunting Wives on Netflix
- Cobb recently did an interview in which she said that she loves women behaving badly, and this book is full of them!
- The interview also reinforced my theory that this is a VERY loose retelling of Little House on the Prairie. As a fan of 80s TV I was pretty amused to see Nellie, Laura, and Pa reimagined.
- This is a twisty, plot-driven book with short chapters and a Southern fiction vibe which should appeal to fans of books with unlikeable characters, sexcapades, and over the top shenanigans!
Character List for All the Little Houses
Setting: 1980s in Longview, Texas
The Andersen family and friends:
- Nellie Andersen:
- Charleigh Andersen: Nellie’s mother
- Alexander Andersen: Nellie’s father
- Jackson Lee Ford: Charleigh BFF, a decorator
- Dustin Reeves: Nellie’s boyfriend
The Swift Family:
- Jane Swift: new teen in town
- Ethan Swift: her father
- Abigail Swift: her mother
- Molly, Julia: Jane’s sisters
Other characters:
- Luke: Jane’s long distance boyfriend
- Blair Chambers: popular girl
- Monica Chambers: Blair’s mother
- Tommy: Blair’s boyfriend
- Ginny: works at Sullivans Bar
Plot Summary with Spoilers for All the Little Houses
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The chapters in this book are so short that I am going to combine events. If you have questions, please leave them in comments!
Killer POV: Someone watches a car sink under the water
Nellie is mad that a new girl named Jane is invited to her party. Nellie’s mom Charmaine says she’ll take care of Jane. Jane is just glad to be out of the country and living in town. Loves her Pa.
Killer POV: Watching the body float
Charmaine hears about the Swift family: a hot dad who makes furniture, and a mom who makes potions. Nellie and her father hunt together. Jane has a secret relationship of a guy named Luke.
Charmaine drives out to see the Swift house and meets Abigail and Ethan. Jane is out horseback riding and someone in a red BMW convertible (who turns out to be Nellie) spooks her horse.
Jane’s dad rescues her and Blair picks her up for a party. Ethan Swift walks into a bar and seems to be bisexual.
The girls at the party tell Jane that Nellie is dangerous
This is true: when a guy refused to kiss her she tried to kill him.
Ethan wants Jane and Abigail to charm Alexander into buying Ethan’s furniture. Jackson and Ethan get all flirty. Jane interrupts, and Abigail and Jane try to flirt with Ethan too.
Jane’s secret boyfriend Luke is staying with the Swifts for the summer, and Nellie pounces on him. Jackson and Ethan meet to skinny dip and hook up.
Nellie tries to kiss Luke but he says he’s seeing someone
Charmaine is annoyed that Abigail does love seminars with her potions. Jane is annoyed that her older sister is getting in the way
Charmaine tries to convince Luke to date Nellie, while Jane sees Abigail having sex with Alexander. Charmine plans a Fourth ofJuly party where things will obviously GO DOWN.
Nellie and Luke arrange to meet, and later Nellie catches Abigail and her father going at it. Afterward, Jackson sees an upset Nellie running into the woods, where she runs into Blair and Luke
Jackson tells Ethan that his wife is sleeping with Alexander. Ethan says if Jackson tells anyone he and Jackson slept together, he will kill Jackson.
At the swimming hole, Blair has an accident
She was diving into the water when a canoe drifted into her path, and she hit it. Charmaine, who is well aware of what Nellie is capable of, worries that Nellie was responsible. Jackson also wonders if Nellie had something to do with the accident
Charmaine flat-out bribes Luke to date Nellie. Luke says yes so that he can use the money to run off with Jane. A bartender tells Jackson that Ethan is a shady guy who uses his furniture making
Bartender says Ethan uses his furniture business to get access to people’s houses and rob them.
Luke tells Jane he took money from Charmaine and they can leave town after his date. Abigail catches them together and tells Jane that she’s not her mother: Jane is the daughter of someone Ethan slept with.
Blair wakes up and claims someone set her up. Nellie and Luke go on the date but Luke tells her he loves Jane. Jane goes to the hospital and Blair seems to be accusing her.
Ethan and Jane discuss Jane’s real mother. Jane also recalls that Julia made a popular girl who liked Luke have a car accident. He says that Jane’s real mother also died in an accident. Jane finds a snorkel mask. Was Blair accusing Julia?
Jane gets ready to leave town with Luke. Jackson tells Charmaine about his hookup with Ethan and Ethan’s scams. Jackson reveals Alexander’s cheating, and Charmaine is mad that he told her.
Nellie tries to tell Jane that Luke likes her, but Jane says that her mom paid him.
Nellie and Charmaine have a huge fight that turns physical. She chokes her mom.
All the Little Houses: the Ending Explained
Charmaine is dead. Nellie dumps her in the lake but her body doesn’t sink. She calls Luke, who refuses to help her. So she calls 911 and says that Luke and her mom had a fight.
Nellie watches Luke get arrested.
Questions About All the Little Houses
Who pushed the canoe in the water when Blair was diving?
Julia. The book also suggests that Julia has violent tendencies. And Jane finds a snorkel mask hidden in their stable, suggesting that Jane used it.
Who do you think killed Jane’s biological mom in the “awful accident”? Abigail?
Little House on the Prairie Easter Eggs:
- Nellie says her mother named her after the Nellie Oleson character
- Jane was born in Walnut Grove, Minnesota (which is actually where Laura and her family live when they meet the Olesons)
- The Swifts have three daughters just like the Ingalls family