“Our House”
Written by Louise Candlish
Review written by Diana Iozzia
“Our House”
is a seemingly intricate and complex thriller about a married couple who has
separated. We readers are introduced to Bram and Fiona, who have agreed to a
Bird’s Nest custody arrangement. New to me: a bird’s nest custody agreement
allows the children to stay in their family home, but the parents leave intermittently,
according to the times they’ve agreed upon.
Fiona was away
for a little girls’ holiday. She returns home to:
1.
An empty house
2.
A new couple moving in
3.
Her children and her separated husband are now
missing
This book is told in three
perspectives: Bram’s, Fi’s, and a third person narrator. I was intrigued by the
premise when I received the advance reader’s copy. I am also partial to English
psychological thrillers, so I was eager for that plus point as well. In
addition, I was a bit worried that this would be a typical, “My husband’s
kidnapped my children, because he’s upset with me” thriller, and I was
incorrect.
Fi
Fi’s perspective is full of red
herrings, which progress the story in an interesting matter. Her voice and
narrative style is interesting to read. It is told through prose, but it is
structured as a podcast reading. There are also comments at the bottom of every
section of the podcast that say #VictimFi, which allows random users to comment
their thoughts on her story. I think this could have been portrayed in a better
way, because I did not enjoy the comments. I often found myself not viewing
them, because they did not add anything to the story.
To continue, we sympathize with Fi. She’s scared, she’s
confused, and she wants her beautiful home back. However, we barely see
anything of her that isn’t explaining how confused she is. We sometimes see a
bit of narrative flashback, explaining how Bram was always kind of hot-headed
and serious. She also explains a few of his previous indiscretions as we read
along.
Bram
Yes, yes. He’s
the antagonist. Can we just call him a villain? He does nothing positive or
kind in the story, ruins his family’s lives, and acts quite terribly (if you
read on, I’ll explain further in the spoiler-friendly section).
Bram’s
perspective is told as a suicide letter, written in a Microsoft Word document.
Rather than a letter, it’s basically just a third of the book, so that would be
a very long suicide letter, really. He explains why he’s done what he’s done.
We severely
despise Bram, or well, you’re supposed to. There’s no reason to sympathize with
him, other than he’s pondering suicide. So therein it lies that it’s a bit sad
because of that, but if you’re the villain of the story, are we supposed to
sympathize with you? Bram’s perspective is the only perspective that really
moves along the story line. We hear all of his crimes, mostly as they’re
committed. We also are burdened with his begs of sympathy and forgiveness.
Spoiler
– Free Conclusion
“Our House”
was longer than I imagined, and took me much longer to read it than I thought.
I personally did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would, so take that with
what you will. There are some good metaphors, some odd descriptions, (annoyingly)
repetitive mentions about the neighborhood and town, and an interesting enough
resolution. I would rate this a 3 out of 5 stars, because it did not ‘wow’ me
and it wasn’t any more exciting than other thrillers I’ve read.
SPOILERS
(Do
not read on if you are avoiding spoilers)
My goodness
gracious?? This is what he’s hiding
from? This absolute idiot of a character, Bram, decided he was upset with his
marriage. He was drunk. I personally do not understand why so many books make
alcoholics the villains. Can’t we have a nice, wholesome, recovering alcoholic
for once? Not every alcoholic commits murder.
Moving on;
Bram has a few past crimes and commits a few ones in this. During his drunken
drive, he becomes angry with road rage, running a car off the road. He is spotted,
and eventually becomes the pawn in a game of blackmail, due to one of the
passenger’s death.
Lots of
blackmail, lots of explanation on how Bram sold the house illegally to a couple
to receive the money for blackmail. Bram cheated on Fiona with basically
everyone. Jolly.
What I did
not suspect is Mike / Toby. Mike is the main blackmailer of Bram. Toby is Fiona’s
new boyfriend. Mike and Toby are revealed to be the same person. This pay-off
is not the greatest plot twist. Plot twist again; Bram cheated on Fi with Fi’s
best friend, Merle. Fi kills Mike / Toby. Merle helps her cover it up.
In the last
scene, we have a bit of an ambiguous ending. Did Bram actually kill himself?
Dunno. (Don’t really care either.)
Spoiler
Conclusion
The plot
twists were not interesting. They did not add to the story, or make me really
like the end of the book. I think this is a pretty decent thriller, but I do
not usually enjoy reading about blackmail in my thrillers. Read it if you’d
like. You’re not missing too much if you don’t.
Thank
you to Berkley Publishing Company for an advanced review copy.
