The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville
I was slightly confused as I started reading this book, thinking this elderly woman was running from a fire and seeking help in this house where Sara answered the door. Perhaps that was intentional, however, much time had passed between these events and Sara and her husband Damien now owned the old house that had once belonged to Mary.
I really enjoyed it all, in present time with Sara and her extremely controlling volatile husband and his ex-prisoner father Francie and when it back to the past and Marys childhood and the horrors that went on in that house. Mary is only a young child during this time and so she escapes the most of it, born into it she knows no other world. Whereas her Mummy Joy and Mummy Noreen were taken their as young teenagers and forced into a cruel depraved life. Daddy Ivan, Daddy Tam and Daddy George are the ones keeping them there.
So both parts had plenty of drama and shocking moments. I liked the way young Mary was written, in the way she spoke with true Northern Irish sayings and slang. I don’t think I have ever read a book set in Northern Ireland that has been written like that. Being Northern Irish myself it’s the way we talk, but to others outside, it could be confusing.
I had a soft spot for young Mary, you couldn’t not! I hoped she would one day get to see the sea and hear the ocean. The ending was ok, though too much was left up in the air and I wanted certain people to get their comeuppance.
Submitted by Stephanie
