Loosely based on Porter Shreves own childhood, When the White House Was Ours is the atmospheric and captivating story of a familys struggle to stay together against great odds.Its 1976, and while the country prepares to celebrate the bicentennial, Daniel Truitts family is falling apart. His father, Pete, has been fired from yet another teaching job, and his mother, Valerie, is one step away from leaving for good. But when Pete lucks into a crumbling mansion in the nations capital, he makes a bold plan to start a school under his own roof where students and teachers will be equals. Replete with the wry humor, human insight, and cultural resonance that characterizes Shreves critically acclaimed fiction, When the White House Was Ours will be a joy to anyone whose family has lived through an idealistic time and ended up in an era of compromise.