The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse

 

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (2 May 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405935375
• ISBN-13: 978-1405935371

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Twenty-three-year-old Katy Speed has always been fascinated by the house across the street . . .

The woman who lives there, Gloria, is the most glamorous neighbour on the avenue, owning a fashionable dress shop in Bexhill-on-Sea. But who is the woman who arrives in the black car most Saturdays while Gloria is at work? Sometimes she brings women to the house, and other times the women come with children.

Hilda, Katy’s mother, disapproves of Gloria. She wonders where these mysterious visitors have come from, and what they want. Does Gloria have sinister reasons for secretly bringing strangers into the heart of the community?

Then one night, the house burns down. In the wreckage, the bodies of Gloria and her daughter are found. Katy is sure the unexplained strangers must be responsible, until her father is arrested and charged with murder.

Surely the police have arrested the wrong person?

Is the rest of the street safe?

Can Katy find the truth before it’s too late?

 

Review

The House Across the Street is Lesley Pearse’s twenty sixth novel, and marks her twenty fifth anniversary as a best selling author.  It has been quite a while since I have picked up one of Lesley’s books, but I jumped at the chance to review this and kick off the blog tour.  The House Across the Street was a pleasant surprise to me, I wasn’t expecting a thriller but that is what I got, and a brilliant one at that.  The narrative is set in the 1960’s and centres around Katy Speed who witnesses a fire at her neighbour’s house that leads to a murder investigation, and results in her father being arrested.

This book is a brilliant thriller, plenty of drama and suspense and heart raising moments to keep your undivided attention. But it is more than a thriller, it is a chronicle of 1960’s suburban life, and gives great insight to the values, criminal system and culture of that period.  This then opens up to the issues raised in the book; domestic violence,  secrets hidden, attitudes to sex and how certain issues are were taboo at that time.  Lesley Pearse wonderfully combines all these ingredients to bring the reader an emotional,  thrilling, suspenseful and compelling story.

The characterisation was insightful in that the characters really fit into that period.  Katy wants to move from her small town to London where the ‘swinging sixties’ is in full flow with its clubs, boutiques and fun atmosphere .  She is of a generation wanting to move forward after the war years, and the rebuilding, and have a different life from that of her parents.  I really enjoyed her attitude  to life, the confidence to go to London with her friend to get a job and a flat, quite a big move at that time.  However her confidence can also get her into trouble, but even then she has a positive and courageous attitude.  Katy’s mother, Hilda, is a character that intrigued me.  She was cold, snappy and sharp with not only Katy but also her brother and her father. But throughout the book she piqued my interest and I really enjoyed her personal story line as it gave great perspective of women in the 1960’s and the years before.

It goes without saying that Lesley Pearse is a masterful story teller, she has a talent to really draw you into the book and make it hard to put down.  A lot of detail and understanding is evident in both the narrative and her characters, she really captures the zeitgeist of the period her books are set in.  The House Across the Street is a superb novel in its combination of genres; thriller, historical fiction, romance, and domestic fiction. Suspenseful, heartwarming, and an emotional read, this an outstanding novel from one of Britain’s most fabulous writers.  Go on, get yourself a copy, you won’t regret it.

 

This book celebrates twenty five years of Lesley’s publishing with the Penguin group, and her twenty sixth book to be published.  If you haven’t read any of her books I strongly recommend them.  I have just purchased The Woman in the Wood after finishing this book as I enjoyed it so much.  I hope you enjoyed my review and please share, like and follow me if you can, I really appreciate your support.