The See-Through House: My Father in Full Colour

About the Book

'A charming account of a daughter, a house and a fastidious dad' Sunday Times

Shelley Klein grew up in the Scottish Borders, in a house designed on a modernist open-plan grid. With colourful glass panels set against a forest of trees, it was like living in a work of art. Her father, Bernat Klein, was a textile designer whose pioneering colours and textures were a major contribution to 1960s and 70s style.

Thirty years on, Shelley moves back home to care for her father, now in his eighties: the house has not changed and neither has his uncompromising vision - or his distinctive way of looking at the world. Told with great tenderness and humour, this is Shelley's account of looking after an adored yet maddening parent and a piercing portrait of the grief that followed his death.

'A sad, funny, utterly fascinating book about families, home and how to say goodbye' Mark Haddon

'Original, moving and bracingly honest... often hilarious' Blake Morrison, Guardian

'It is strange that grief should produce such a life-affirming book, but it has. Read it for the solace it contains, or for its captivating descriptions. Either way, it's a delight' Telegraph

About the Author :
Shelley Klein was born in Scotland in 1963, the youngest daughter of textile designer Bernat and knitwear designer Margaret Klein. She left the See-Through House in 2017 and now lives in London where she works as a writer.

Review :
A sad, funny, utterly fascinating book about families, home and how to say goodbye [A] finespun, magical new grief memoir... a beautifully structured book... Klein is a witty observer, even in the case of her own sorrow, which she rifles through and puzzles over with wry candour. Desolation and humour are expertly balanced throughout... I suppose it is strange that grief should produce such a life-affirming book, but it has. Read it for the solace it contains, or for its captivating descriptions. Either way, it's a delight. A luminous book, full of light and colour, and a remarkable reflection on childhood and untold stories Original, moving and bracingly honest... often hilarious... Each room has particular memories for Klein. And her journey through them is also a psychological quest, an attempt to understand how the house shaped her personality and whether she can ever get free of her attachment Enthralling... a fascinating exploration of the influence of a domestic setting on mind and spirit, as well as of a fraught father-daughter relationship In this remarkable, moving tribute to a house and a father, Shelley Klein taps in to three universal emotions: our lifelong bond to the house we grew up in; our sense that our childhood home and our parents are intertwined; and our feelings of profound bereftness at saying goodbye to both parents and house ... beautifully illustrated ... Deeply affectionate A charming account of a daughter, a house and a fastidious dad: Secrecy is not a trait found in Klein's writing, which is at times disarmingly honest. Her openness pays off - we get a full and nuanced portrait of her life and all those in it A moving study in grief An honest, piercing account of love, death and everything in between... there is an undercurrent which makes this book special. It weaves the complexity of relationships and family into its pages. At its most compelling, it tackles psychodynamics, addressing the influence of earlier encounters and memories on future behaviour and emotions... A poignant homage to her father’s legacy The See-Through House is part of a lineage of central European history filtered through its buildings... In its curious mix of chicken soup Jewishness and Swinging Sixties creativity it also creates a very vivid picture of a minimal modernism almost overloaded with meaning