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Book summary and reviews of Our House by Louise Candlish

Our House by Louise Candlish

Our House

by Louise Candlish

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  • Published:
  • Aug 2018
    416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From an internationally acclaimed author, a disturbing and addictive novel of domestic suspense where secrets kept hidden from spouses cause shocking surprises that hit home...

There's nothing unusual about a new family moving in at 91 Trinity Avenue. Except it's her house. And she didn't sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern coparenting arrangement: bird's nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona's children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram's not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Superb....Candlish has said that Our House, which deserves to be called a literary thriller, was inspired by a case of property fraud she read about in a London newspaper. We read on, wondering if Fi's house can be saved, if Bram is destined for prison or if a happy ending might somehow emerge. In fact, the ending Candlish has devised is devastating." - The Washington Post

"Starred Review. American fans of domestic suspense will want to see more from this talented author." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. British author Candlish (The Swimming Pool) is skilled at portraying families in critical situations and ramping up the suspense. She does both here, in an absorbing plot with surprising twists until the final page. A sure bet for fans of family drama, mystery, and suspense." - Library Journal

"In a novel concerned with connection and trust, Candlish fails to connect with readers on either level, serving up characters so wrapped in their own problems that "family" is merely a word to them." - Kirkus

"[A] masterfully plotted, compulsive page-turner." - The Guardian

"[An] addictive portrayal of how lives can unravel…Heart-in-your-mouth suspense...A compulsive story with a final flourish in the form of a delicious sting in the tale - one of this year's must-reads." - Sunday Mirror

"I loved the wonderful hook of Our House, which plays with our modern obsession with property - and the vulnerability that exposes. Louise Candlish is a great writer; she inhaled me into her nightmarish world where everything we think we know is ripped from under our feet." - Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Widow

"Candlish is an expert on the psychological flaws of these types of couples, and she doesn't shrink from posing uncomfortable questions about modern marriage. This very original storyline is a winner." - The Daily Mail

"If 2018 brings a better book than Our House I will eat my hat. Addictive, twisty, and oh so terrifyingly possible." - Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go

"A high-stakes domestic thriller that is utterly absorbing. Twists and turns abound, and Our House will have you locking your doors and checking your windows. Candlish delivers a frightening portrait of one woman's worst nightmare. Trust no one!" - Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of Not a Sound

"Absolutely brilliant. It has bestseller written all over it." - Kate Furnivall, New York Times bestselling author of The Betrayal

"Heart-stopping, toe-curling, breathtaking! It's marvelous - so tautly plotted, and you don't see the twists coming. Will be a smash hit!" - Veronica Henry, author of How to Find Love in a Bookshop

"Dark, timely and full of surprises, Our House is a truly captivating novel of domestic suspense...A true binge-read. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough." - Alison Gaylin, USA Today bestselling author of If I Die Tonight

"Twisty, warped, credible. Brilliantly plotted and compelling." - Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal

"Yesterday I missed my stop on the train because I was so absorbed in Our House. I am in awe of the twisty, clever plot and gasped out loud at the last paragraph." - Erin Kelly, author of He Said, She Said

"This book was impossible to put down and I LOVED it. Believable, brilliant and beautifully written." - Alice Feeney, author of Sometimes I Lie 

This information about Our House was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews

Our House
My house? Your house? Whose house is it?

Seeing someone moving in is no big deal in this neighborhood, but someone moving into YOUR house IS a big deal.

Fi had no idea that the morning she came back from a business trip there would be a moving van in the driveway and all of her belongings would be gone.

Where did everything go and what was going on? Another puzzling fact is that she was not able to get in touch with her husband.

We go back and forth in time and find out the circumstances leading up to the unknown sale. Bram had a shady past and secrets, but how could this have happened?

The situation was very tense, and hopefully can’t happen. Having your house sold right under your nose without signing anything or knowing anything about is frightening.

Both the house situation and what the characters were doing was truly unbelievable and hopefully not something that could be done.

Each chapter leads us to more and more about what was going on with the situation and the characters. I didn’t find one character that was likable in this book, but that didn’t take away from the excellent story line.

OUR HOUSE is one of the most creative suspense books I have read.

If you like to wonder what makes people do what they do, and you like to keep guessing at it, OUR HOUSE is a must read this summer.

OUR HOUSE is bizarre, nerve wracking, and unbelievable, but oh so good. That last line is WOW!!

Enjoy if you read this book. 5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

hamza

good book
I liked it very much.

Jennifer H. (Mishawaka, IN)

Louise Candlish delivers psychological suspense with the best!
This was one terrific read, albeit a dark one! This story of a seemingly normal family situation that spirals out of control, was an enthralling read, especially from the comfort of my own "normal" existence. There were twists and turns, situations going from bad to worse. The husband Bram was really not a bad person, but certainly a flawed individual that made some very bad decisions. This is a book filled with suspense and surprises. It does not disappoint! I love forward to reading more of Louise Candlish.

Mary O. (Boston, MA)

Twisted
A book full of twists and turns and unexpected events. It is difficult to put down and a great summmer read! I highly recommend it!

Susan T. (Bahama, NC)

Great ending
Our House is written as a story from the point of view of two different characters, one through a podcast and the other as a suicide note. That grabs your attention at the outset. I thought details such as including comments on the podcast were very creative. My attention wavered a bit in the middle of the story--I became a bit ambivalent about the plight of the characters. However, the story picks up again and the ending was unexpected and clever. It was much more satisfying than where I thought the author was headed and in keeping with the one character's propensity to create a mess out of everything he did.

Cheryl M. (Le Claire, IA)

What a tangled web we weave...
Our House by Louise Candlish is a story about how tangled our lives can become. The unexpected twists and turns in the lives of the main characters, Fi (ona) and Bram Lawson quickly keep you interested and involved. It keeps you thankful for the problems you have.

Most of us start our adult lives with wonder, excitement, and energy to achieve our lofty goals. It sometimes goes better than we could ever hope, and sometimes spirals into situations in which we have no idea what to do, especially in this electronic age.

Fi and Bram marry, have two boys, and an upscale life – a home in a sought after area, wonderful jobs, and good friends. Or do they?

It quickly dissolves when Fi catches Bram in a second round of infidelity, and decides she cannot continue being married to him. She takes the high road in separating and keeping a good quality life intact for her boys. They take turns narrating how it is going – adjustments, discussions, difficulties, and good times. Then Fi comes home one day to people moving into her adored, status-symbol home! Her furniture and possessions are all gone. Imagine sitting on a chair at a table that you have never seen before in "your" kitchen!

As Bram's story of infidelity, drinking, and driving issues unfold, it is clear that one could not have predicted the next steps, how dishonesty spirals into more than can be straightened out, and affects friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike. Are there really people like that in the world? Would they really take everything they could and run? How lack of communication makes things even worse? Could Fi have been less naïve and more aware of things a little out of place?

You will be thinking about this novel after you finish it. Wondering if only…would this have happened? A very dark novel, that is worth the read

...40 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Louise Candlish

Louise Candlish attended University College London and worked as an editor in art publishing and as a copywriter before becoming a novelist. She lives with her husband and daughter.

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