Our House - Louise Candlish

Available to buy here

Goodread Blurb:

On a bright January morning in the London suburbs, a family moves into the house they’ve just bought in Trinity Avenue.  Nothing strange about that. Except it is your house. And you didn’t sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake.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.

My Review:

This has been at the top of  my TBR pile for a while. I saw lots of goof things about this book and it always caught my attention when picking my next read but I think I knew I wanted to be "in the right mood" for it.  Let me tell you - it was worth the wait. 

Uniquely, this story is told through a podcast (Fi's point of view), a word document/letter (Bram's point of view) and via events as they happened. Although I had to check whose viewpoint I was reading from a couple of times, I generally found this style interesting  and very creative. I did enjoy having both perspectives  rather than that of 'just' the victims or guilty party.

Bram and Fi have spent their married lives building the dream home for their family. It is  Fi's prized possession, her pride and joy and knowing it's worth a great deal of money that will act as inheritance to her children is important to her. You can imagine then how Fi feels at the start of the book when she arrives home to find another family moving in.
 

What can I say about Fi? Obviously I feel sorry for her; having a cheating husband who has lied to her numerous times, albeit by omission. We discover that Fi really doesn't know her husband as well as she actually thinks she does throughout. He is able to hide things from her very easily.  Admittedly, I found Fi rather annoying - she's quite selfish and actually quite arrogant; she appears to be fairly rational and mature in how she deals with the fall out of Bram's cheating but she was rather unemotional in my opinion. Her blind faith in her new love interest also didn't surprise me; ignoring the warning signs that couldn't have been more obvious.

Bram. He was easy to dislike from the off - cheater, liar and then, well the *accident*. His spiral into the bleak, desperate state he finds himself in is written well; although he does only have himself to blame there was almost a spark of pity at times for him. I do not for one second condone what he did at all; but amongst the aftermath and the way other people manage to manipulate him for their own gain - well it was never going to end well.

The plot is well detailed, with twists and turns throughout. At some places I did want to just give them a shake and tell them to get on with it though.  I guessed a few of the twists but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of how things played out for each of the characters involved. The story really picks up pace towards the end and there are some surprises I did not anticipate. 

This book is a slow-burner at times but I read it in a couple of days - it'll be one of my memorable reads this month. I enjoyed how Louise Candlish gives hints throughout you only realise as the story is pieced together things fell into place - mirroring Fi's inability to see what is in front of her i.e. Brams lies/problems. I doubt I will be the first person to go back and 'check' things.  

Our House kept me interested, I was keen to discover how it would end. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend to readers who enjoy a bit of drama and suspense.  This was my first Louise Candlish read and I'm certain it will not be my last.

Comfy Rating: 👍👍👍👍