Title: The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville
Date Published: 3rd February 2022
Publisher: Zaffre
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Description:
For fans of Gillian Flynn and Tana French, a chilling story of a Northern Irish murder sixty years buried
Sara Keane's husband, Damien, has uprooted them from England and moved them to his native Northern Ireland for a "fresh start" in the wake of her nervous breakdown. Sara, who knows no one in Northern Ireland, is jobless, carless, friendless—all but a prisoner in her own house. When a blood-soaked old woman beats on the door, insisting the house is hers before being bundled back to her care facility, Sara begins to understand the house has a terrible history her husband never intended for her to discover.
Through the counterpoint voices of two women—one modern Englishwoman, one Northern Irish farm girl speaking from half a century earlier—Stuart Neville offers a chilling and gorgeous portrait of violence and resilience in this truly haunting narrative.
Review:
I want to thank Tracy Fenton for inviting me on this tour and the publisher for providing me with a copy of The House of Ashes in exchange for an honest review.
Sara moves to Ireland with her husband for a fresh start after her suicide attempt. They move to a house called The Ashes, but Sara soon discovers its terrible past after the former owner Mary comes knocking on her door. Unable to leave it alone, Sara begins to dig and her entire world unravels.
I kind of went into this book not really knowing what to expect as I've not read any of Stuart Neville's other books, but it absolutely blew me away! The story was packed full of tension, with a creeping sense of dread woven in there that kept me glued to the book.
The story was told mostly from the perspectives of Sara and Mary, going back and forth between the present day and the events that happened sixty years earlier when Mary was just a child. They were both so well written, fragile and flawed, but stronger than they knew. I really enjoyed the way Mary's perspective was told, as if she were speaking, I loved the subtle use of dialect and Irish slang.
It also hit me a lot harder emotionally than I thought it would and I will warn you it deals with some serious issues like abuse and suicide (the author handles them with care, but this is just a heads up).
The House of Ashes is a dark yet addictive read that will both shock and grip you. After reading this I will definitely be picking up more books by Stuart Neville.
About The Author:
Stuart Neville's debut novel, THE TWELVE (published in the USA as THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST), won the Mystery/Thriller category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was picked as one of the top crime novels of 2009 by both the New York Times and the LA Times. He has been shortlisted for various awards, including the Barry, Macavity, Dilys awards, as well as the Irish Book Awards Crime Novel of the Year. He has since published three critically acclaimed sequels, COLLUSION, STOLEN SOULS and THE FINAL SILENCE.
His first four novels have each been longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and RATLINES was shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.
Stuart's novels have been translated into various languages, including German, Japanese, Polish, Swedish, Greek and more. The French edition of The Ghosts of Belfast, Les Fantômes de Belfast, won Le Prix Mystère de la Critique du Meilleur Roman Étranger and Grand Prix du Roman Noir Étranger.
His fourth novel, RATLINES, about Nazis harboured by the Irish state following WWII is currently in development for television.
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