20th-century addiction adversity ambition america american american-author american-culture american-dream american-history american-literature american-society americana architecture award-winning belonging bestseller betrayal biography boston building building-materials challenges character-driven character-study class class-divide classic coming-of-age community compassion compelling conflict construction contemporary craftsmanship creativity cultural cultural-commentary culture dedication design determination domestic-life domestic-violence domesticity drama dreams dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family empathy exploration family family-dynamics family-secrets fiction forgiveness friendship hardship harvard haunted-house healthcare historic-house historic-preservation historical historical-context historical-preservation history home home-building home-construction home-design home-improvement home-ownership home-renovation homebuilding homelessness homeowner homeownership honesty hope house house-renovation housing housing-crisis housing-industry housing-market human-connection human-interest human-resilience identity in-depth-reporting influential-figures insight inspiration inspirational inspiring interior-design introspection introspective investigative-journalism investigative-reporting isolation john-irving journalism journey kidder life literary-journalism literature loss love massachusetts memoir mental-health mental-illness mentorship middle-class moving narrative narrative-nonfiction new-england non-fiction nonfiction nonfiction-bestseller nonfiction-book nonfiction-literature nonfiction-writing obsession passion patient perseverance personal personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative personal-narratives personal-struggle poverty poverty-alleviation preservation privilege psychological psychology pulitzer-prize pulitzer-prize-for-general-nonfiction pulitzer-prize-winner pulitzer-prize-winning pulitzer-prize-winning-author real-estate real-life recovery redemption reflection relationship relationships renovating renovation renovation-nightmares resilience restoration rural rural-america rural-life rural-living schizophrenia secrets self-discovery small-town social-class social-commentary social-dynamics social-history social-issues social-justice societal-issues societal-norms society sociology storytelling struggle substance-abuse suburban-life success success-story suspense sustainability teamwork tracy tragedy transformation triumph true-story urban urban-development urban-planning wealth writing