Louise Candlish

I must confess that it wasn't the publisher's blurb that got me into this one, but the stuff from the back cover.

This intriguingly structured novel requires the reader to exercise those "little grey cells" to solve all the mysteries - and there is more than one. There are several voices in this novel, so do take notice of anything that helps you distinguish one from another.

We hear most of the story from "the horse's mouth", beginning in September 2012, when a 16 year old disadvantaged boy, Kieran Watts, joins Lucas Gordon's class at Foxwell Academy, and attaches himself to Lucas like an evil limpet. From that point, in Ellen's own words, it is just one disastrous mistake after another.

And from my point of view, Ellen Saint is far from your "average mum".… (mehr)

This is a twisty, convoluted story which appears to be a story within a story called Saint or Sinner by Ellen Saint. She is taking a writer's workshop run by Felix Penny a crime novelist. This workshop is also attended by a journalist, Michaela Ross, writing Killing Time for the Sunday Times Magazine. The story weaves its web through the eyes of the characters in the book who all tell a different story. Ellen is a totally unlikeable, unreliable character who can be very annoying because of the intense anger which clouds her judgment and perspective. She is using writing as a means of grieving for the loss of her son, Lucas in a tragic accident with his friend Kieran Watt. Ellen is blinded by her grief and determination of seeking revenge for her son's death. It soon becomes apparent that she is becoming mentally unstable as her view of events differs greatly from other people. It will definitely mess with your head as it isn't clear what is fact and what is fiction. What really happened? Who is the victim?… (mehr)

The story begins with a teaser about the horrific, unexpected death of a character that is not immediately identified, and then travels back eight weeks to the events that was the reason for that death on the quiet little block of Lowland Way....a pricy, and until Darren moved in, quiet London neighborhood. This is where Ralph and his "take-charge" wife, Naomi; Ralph's less than successful brother, Finn, and his wife, Tess; the overly stressed young parents, Ant and Em, and the determined Sissy, who has turned her home into a bed-and-breakfast after her husband's departure. Into this uncertain 'Garden of Eden" arrives the unrepentant commoner Darren, who promptly turns the house he has inherited from his Aunt Jean into a “disaster zone” of a construction site, blasting away at hard rock at all ungodly hours, taking up valuable parking spaces with the used cars he sells, and generally turning the "solid, unassailable respectability” of the neighborhood upside down. Soon he and his “other half,” Jodie, have upset and turned upside down the very last nerve of everyone on the block. Every neighborhood conversation turns to a heated discussion of ways, legal and ethical...and some unethical...to get rid of them. The story soon turns from light comedy to something very much darker. While some of the turns the plot takes strain credulity, and some of the characters are much better developed than others, the author convincingly portrays the effects of pressure on this social habitat as fault lines begin to open; both within the characters and within their relationships. Although the Darren character is not, like the others, Candlish allows the reader to glimpse this complicated man behind the persona that his neighbors have created. Unless you live under a rock, the issues raised will certainly resonate with readers who live in a "nice" neighborhood and want to keep it that way.… (mehr)

Fiona (Fi) Lawson discovers strangers moving into her home. Her estranged husband and her sons are nowhere to be seen. This is only the beginning of the nightmare that will turn her life upside down. Fiona “Fi” Lawson loves her house in the posh Alder Rise neighborhood almost as much as she loves her picture-perfect family: husband Bram and rambunctious sons, Harry and Leo. As hard as the author tries for suspense and compassion with Fi, she comes up empty with this character. Her almost stubborn cluelessness about the state of her marriage...even though it is well known that Bram is a serial adulterer, among other things. Also her insistence on being a victim, she even goes so far as to go on a podcast called "The Victim". It makes her a sour protagonist at best. When Fi catches Bram having sex with someone else in the children’s garden playhouse, she throws him out but decides to try a custody arrangement known as a "bird’s nest". This allows the children to stay in the family home and the parents alternate living there as well as at a rented apartment. The setup seems great on paper, but it doesn’t take into account the depths of Bram’s lies, or the yearlong driving ban he’s hidden from Fi, which soon becomes the least of his concerns. The lengths he goes to save himself is unbelievable. The chapters are confusingly split into sections from Fi’s podcast segment, a Word document that’s allegedly Bram’s suicide note, and perspectives from both spouses, making it’s difficult to keep a firm grip on the timeline and to really care as Bram enters into an unnecessarily complicated blackmail scheme. Fi remains annoyingly oblivious to everything even when Bram disappears. I also had a bit of trouble believing that he sold the Alder Rise house without her knowledge. Wasn't her name on the deed? I'll give the story a maybe it could happen on that as things may be done differently in England. For a novel concerned with connections and trust, this one fails to connect on either level, The characters are so wrapped up in their own problems that the word or the meaning of “family” means nothing to them.… (mehr)