Title: Our House by Louise Candlish
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 416 pages
Book Rating: C+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
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.
Review:
Our House by Louise Candlish is a fiendishly clever domestic mystery.
Fiona “Fi” Lawson and her estranged husband, Bram, have a bit of an unusual arrangement for co-parenting their two boys, Harry and Leo. Utilizing the “bird’s nest” custody arrangement, Fiona is the primary parent and she remains in the martial home with their sons. Bram lives in a nearby flat but when it’s his turn to spend time with their children, he returns to the house and Fiona stays in the flat. This approach is least disruptive for their sons and despite their impending divorce, Fiona and Bram remain cordial. Which is why Fiona is absolutely blindsided when she returns home from a short trip to discover that Bram has apparently sold their home without her knowledge or consent. Unable to contact Bram, Fi’s head is spinning as she tries to understand exactly what her soon to be ex-husband has done and most importantly, why.
After the bombshell opening, the narrative then shifts back and forth between the events occurring in the present and the time period after Fi and Bram’s separation. The story unfolds through Fi’s guest appearance on a popular podcast The Victim, Bram’s written account of the series of events that lead up to selling the house and passages from both of their perspectives. This approach to storytelling is quite innovative and interesting, but the plot soon becomes bogged down in minutiae and the initial fast pace quickly slows down to a snail’s pace.
Through Fi’s podcasts, it quickly becomes apparent that she is very naive and a little too trusting. She works part-time so the majority of childcare and household duties falls on her shoulders. She is woefully in the dark about many important issues in Bram’s life and she fails to pick up on significant details that foreshadow what is about to occur in her life. During her podcasts , Fi casts herself as the victim in the mess her life has become, but listeners are quick to question this portrayal of Fi as Bram’s hapless, innocent dupe.
Bram is a character that readers will love to hate. He is incredibly selfish, thoughtless and unbelievably irresponsible. Bram is keeping some HUGE secrets from Fi and he makes one bad decision after another. He has carefully crafted a web of deceit that gradually begins to unravel. His desperation grows as he allows himself to be forced into a situation that Bram could easily escape if he would be willing to accept responsibility for his actions.
Our House is a character driven mystery with an innovative premise. The characters are unsympathetic, unlikable and difficult to connect with. Louise Candlish immediately ensnares readers’ attention with the unusual and invention narrative but the storyline becomes repetitive and extremely slow-paced. Readers will have to suspend their disbelief for much of the novel and the shocking plot twist at the story’s conclusion is unexpected but a little unsatisfying.
