Publisher – HarperCollins
Description
What if your dream house became your worst nightmare?
Jess and her husband need a new start. So when the chance to buy a rambling old house in the Suffolk countryside comes up, they leap at it.
But not everyone in Suffolk is welcoming. The locals know a secret about the Maple House, and soon, Jess realises they’ve made a huge mistake.
Something bad happened in that house. Something nobody wants to talk about.
Something to do with the people before…
About the author
Charlotte Northedge is joint Head of Books for the Guardian. She has previously written for a range of newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian, Psychologies and Cosmopolitan.
She has an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature from Birkbeck and is an alumna of the Curtis Brown Creative writing course.
The House Guest is her first novel. You can find her on Twitter: @charnorth, on Instagram: charlotte_north and on her Facebook author page: @charlottenorthedgeauthor
My thoughts
I couldn’t get enough of this creepy-as-hell book. I devoured it, taking in every word while being fully immersed in this spine-tingling novel.
I slipped into Jess’s story with ease and greedily devoured it, eager to know what was happening. I felt her isolation and the writing was so effective, I could smell the house and feel it’s coldness. That barn, those trees, and the parents at the school gate – what a lonely and claustrophobic setting for a newbie to the area.
Jess made a fabulous protagonist with her inability to settle and her secrets. The occurrences in the house left me unsettled and I truly felt for Jess and the children.
I’d say this is a great book for the bleak winter months ahead. A perfect fireside read while the wind outside howls and rain slips down the windows, but keep a candle burning. Don’t want to scare yourselves silly – haha.
I’d sum ‘The People Before’ up as having bags of mystery with the chill factor!
Thanks for reading!
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