What readers think of Bring the House Down, plus links to write your own review.

Bring the House Down takes a whole new spin on the Me, Too situation and does it brilliantly. Alex, a popular theatre critic, known for his savage reviews, writes a one star review of a one woman show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Then he goes out for a meal, picks up the actor, has sex with her, all without ever telling her about his review which will show up in the newspaper the next morning. But she doesn’t just accept this. She revamps her show, exposing what he did and it’s a hit. More and more women come out of the woodwork, actors reveal how his reviews have hurt them. The man becomes a pariah.

The story is told from the perspective of Sophie, the “junior culture critic” also in attendance at the festival and sharing a flat with Alex. Through Sophie’s eyes, we are constantly reminded that there are two sides to each story. She raises some interesting points. “It’s not like with a bad review of a book or film, where the creative work is already out there in the world and done with, and the writer or the performer can just shrug it off and go onto the next thing. I can’t imagine what it must be like to get a bad review on the first night of your theatre run, and then have to get up again and keep going, putting yourself out there, knowing that people think you’re crap.”
I loved seeing Hayley, the actor, take matters into her own hands. But even she begins to wonder how everything will play out and what constitutes fairness.

The book lays out a lot of interesting points about creativity, acting and reviewing. It was a book that made me think, especially about to whom a reviewer owes their allegiance. And Alex has a point, no one wants to see a three star review. We are drawn to the dramatic. It would make for an interesting book club selection. Runcie knows whereof she speaks, having been an arts critic and columnist for The Daily Telegraph who frequently attended the Edinburgh Festival. And kudos to her for not taking the predictable way out with the ending.

I was less interested in Sophie’s personal story. She’s the typical working mom and there wasn’t much new there. It was a drag on the main plot.
My thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for an advance copy of this book.