Our House by Louise Candlish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy ’cause of you
…not quite the case on Trinity Avenue where secrets and deceptions run rampant!
Our House by Louise Candlish is a taut domestic drama that follows the dual narrative of husband and wife, Bram and Fi Lawson. The book starts out with a crime, a fraud within a marriage, you know who did it, and the events leading up to that crime are then pieced together over the course of the book. Through the excellent use of mixed media you get both Fi’s perspective and Bram’s perspective. Hers is told through an extensive interview she did for a podcast called, The Victim. His is told through a ‘word document’ that is sort of a confessional manifesto.
I have mentioned before that I am absolute
TRASH
for books that incorporate mixed media sources. From Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stephen King’s Carrie, Nick Cutter’s The Troop and Marisha Pessl’s Night Film to everything in between, I just love how these different elements, be they journal entries, newspaper articles, police reports, etc., can truly bring a story to life. Is it just me? Maybe. But to me, this type of format only enhances my commitment to a storyline. In my opinion, Candlish did a really great job weaving the two perspectives together, whilst also running it along with a shorter ‘present’ events perspective. If not done well, this type of formatting can become disjointed and confusing but I never felt that here.
Now let’s talk about our two protagonists, Fi and Bram. What can I say about Fi and Bram? I didn’t like either one of them. Fi can come off a bit weak, whiny and passive aggressive, while Bram is a complete and utter coward. Did this keep me from enjoying this? Absolutely not. I am not a person who needs to like any or all of the characters in the books I read. I mean, I only like about 50% of the people I meet IRL, so how can I expect to be enamored with all the book characters I meet?
This being said, although to me personally, Fi and Bram were far from likable, I did get drawn down the rabbit hole of the lies and deceptions and absolutely wanted to know the truth behind it! I think if we can all learn a little something from this story it would be, honesty IS IN FACT the best policy.
The ending of this was fabulous! Just when I thought at least one thing was going to go the way I wanted…
Do I think you should read this book? Yes, definitely. I think this would be a great book to read around the holidays…it will make your own family life seem so much better by comparison and if that doesn’t recommend a book, I don’t know what will!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had a lot of fun with it and look forward to reading more from this author!