How long does it take to read Once in a House on Fire?
Andrea Ashworth
Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth takes about 6 hours 6 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 6 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1998. 333 pages, about 91,575 words. Written for children.
13 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 10 hours 11 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 6 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 49 minutes |
The page count is the median across 7 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Andrea Ashworth, at age twenty-eight one of the youngest fellows at Oxford University, is a young woman of remarkable charm, poise, and intelligence. Her path to her present life, however, has been far from conventional, and in this striking memoir, written with courage and delicacy, she shares a story that makes her achievements all the more astonishing. Although she only vaguely remembers her Maltese father, who died when she was five, Andrea quickly becomes aware that the dark skin she inherited from him sets her apart from her English mother and the series of stepfathers who soon enter her life. Through the sharp and penetrating eyes of childhood, Andrea imparts a vivid and unforgettable portrait of a family terrorized by the explosive rage of one stepfather and then another. Sensitive and observant, the young girl watches the remorse, apologies, and repeated rampages of these men, yet she never gives in to despair. For even in a house where the noise of turning pages is reason enough for brutality, Andrea finds a haven in the work of great writers - Joyce, Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, and others - who allow her to see a world beyond her own and set her on the path toward intellectual and artistic awakening.
Subjects: Biography, Bibliotherapy, Adult child abuse victims, Social conditions, Dysfunctional families, Stepdaughters
