Review of "Our House: A Novel" by Louise Candlish

When fortyish Londoner Fiona Lawson catches her handsome husband Bram with another woman, in the children's playhouse no less, that's it! This is Bram's second offense, and divorce is the only answer.



Fiona is a modern woman, though, and proposes a 'bird's nest' custody arrangement. In this plan, the kids - Leo and Harry -remain in the family home, and the parents take turns living there.



On 'off days' the non-resident parent retires to a small apartment nearby, rented for that purpose.

Fiona is mainly concerned with the children's welfare, but that's not the whole story. The Lawsons own an elegant home on ritzy Trinity Avenue, where the houses are worth upwards of £2,000,000 -and Fiona LOVES her house: the furniture, accessories, garden, magnolia tree.....everything. Moreover, Fiona wants to retain her status, her friends, and her lifestyle. Since Fiona can't afford to buy Brad out of the property, the bird's nest plan is a good alternative.



The shared custody of the house (and boys) seems to be working well until Fiona returns from a brief getaway with her new boyfriend and observes a shocking sight. 😵 A moving van is parked in front of her abode, and workmen are carrying furniture inside.



Fiona rushes into the house to find that ALL of her possessions are gone, and a married couple she's never met, Lucy and David Vaughan, claim to be the new owners. What the hell? 😣



Fiona tries to call Bram, but there's no answer, and she can't locate him anywhere. Worse yet, when Fiona phones Leo and Harry's school, they're not there.



Before long Fiona learns that Bram has indeed sold the house. He masked the takeover from nosy neighbors by spreading the word that he was redecorating as a surprise for Fiona.....presumably in an attempt to win her back.



Fiona was away for only a short time, so Bram had to empty the entire house in a single day - to allow the Vaughans to take ownership before Fiona returned.

(I have to say this doesn't remotely ring true. I had professional movers when I relocated - who packed and moved everything - and the packing alone took a week. And my house wasn't nearly as grand as the Lawson place.)

The story is related in dual narratives, by Fiona and Bram. From their discourse, we get a glimpse of the couple's courtship, marriage, estrangement, and what happened after that.



Fiona's tale is presented (mostly) as an interview on a true crime podcast called 'The Victim', which exposes wrongdoing as a warning to the general public....in this case, real estate fraud.



The podcast is accompanied by sardonic tweets from interested listeners about Fiona's misplaced trust and naivety. Fiona was certainly inattentive and distracted - and overly besotted with her house - but I felt sympathy for her plight.



Bram's story is contained in a letter that explains his actions and what led up to them. Bram is a REAL piece of work - supremely self-centered and craven. To say more would be a spoiler.



The novel has an engaging plot, interesting characters, and surprising twists. For me, though, the story moved too slowly and the drip by drip revelations made me want to skip ahead. I didn't, however, which is a good thing because the book's ending is a corker. The word 'ironic' in the dictionary should be accompanied by the finale of this book.

Overall, I think many readers would enjoy this cautionary tale, and I'd recommend the book to fans of suspense novels.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Louise Candlish), and the publisher (Berkley) for a copy of the book.

 Rating: 3 stars