Nuala Ellwood is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. The House on the Lake is her best book yet. I couldn't put this book down, I found it quite chilling in parts and I couldn't see how it was going to end. The book deals with abuse and mental health sensitively. A real page turner I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

For me this was a bit of a slow burner. It’s very well written with twists you don’t see coming. Just found it a bit hard to get into.

Took a long time to get going and for the two stories to come together. Interesting and unusual story with some surprising twists

It started off as a nicely written, conventional mystery. And stays that way, to a certain extend. but as is so often the case, the unravelling of the big reveal is just too obvious and implausible to have made it particularly satisfying. So while it was easy to read and kept me engrossed i did rush through the last 25% as it was getting a bit too silly

A tense thriller with a good ending (I'm so often disappointed with endings!) running through two timelines: - the story of a young woman and her son in hiding in an old house in Yorkshire is set in the present day and a girl being home educated by her controlling father is set in the 1990s which is at times brutal and abusive; I thought this was in some ways unrealistic that a young girl in the 1990s would have slipped through the net of school and society. Nevertheless, the character depictions are strong and the reader is drawn in to what is happening to them and how they will survive.
The two stories of these characters eventually weave together and there are twists and turns involving the mother and this young girl. The house itself has a dark past and the mood becomes increasingly threatening and not the safe house she expected.
Some readers will find reading about abuse disturbing and to my mind the story has some unrealistic parts but it is a gripping tale, well written and will appeal to many.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books

The House on the Lake by Nuala Ellwood is a thriller set in two timelines.
2018 Lisa has left home with her three year old son Joe and is hiding from her husband Mark. She has been given the address of a safe house which turns out to be very run down and in a remote location.
2003 an eleven year old girl lives in the house with her father who she calls Sarge.
He is an ex soldier and is bringing her up to be self sufficient and away from other people.
I enjoyed this story and read the book in one day.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Town Isle House in Yorkshire is the setting for this dramatic story set just before Christmas. Lisa is in hiding with her son Joe but is she safe? This house has a history and is dark, cold and no facilities, sited next to a lake.
Read on to find out why Lisa is in hiding and her link to Grace who used to live here before. A gripping tale about the women who have spent time at this house. Be prepared for twists and turns and enjoy.

This book did not disappoint! I read the day of the accident and loved it. I was excited to read Nualas new book.

Two stories intertwined, going between past and present. Graces past and Lisas present. Graces rough childhood, brought up in rowan Isle House, with very basic supplies by her ex soldier dad.
Lisa has escaped there in the present with her son Joe.
Gripping read, loved it. Highly recommend.
Thanks to netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The House on the Lake by Nuala Ellwood

I Loved this book. From the very first chapter I knew I was going to enjoy reading it and it did not disappoint. I could not put the book down as the story kept me on the edge of my seat.

The story is fast paced and exciting. The drama and suspense are excellent.

I have read all Nuala Ellwood’s other books and I think they are all fantastic.

All of Nuala’s book are addictive and I can’t sleep, eat or work until I have finished her book.

I would like to thank Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book with two main threads. There is Lisa & her son Joe who come to stay at a deserted house in Yorkshire. Lisa is looking for some time alone with her son & hopes that no one in the small nearby village recognises her. The other main thread runs twenty years or so in the past. Who is Grace writing the journal of her unusual lifestyle with her Father and what relevance does that have to Lisa?

This is a book that had it’s moments – both good and bad. I wasn’t quite reconciled with Lisa as a person and found her difficult to like. We learn some of her past & the things that have driven her to where she is today. I had a certain amount of sympathy but didn’t feel that she was doing the right thing.

Then there is the past story. A young girl living in an old house with just her Father. Almost running wild. I struggled with the idea that this could have happened in the 1990s when there was a whole village of people who knew about it – surely someone would have rung social services? The Vicar was buying their home grown produce & was obviously unhappy about how Grace, an 11 year old girl was living, and still he failed to contact social services or the schools authorities? This was quite a stumbling block for me – I could have believed it had it been in the 1970s but in the 1990s I’m not sure it worked.

I also struggled with the ending of this book. It seemed to all happen in a rush. All the threads seemed to tie up properly but it felt quite disjointed and not in keeping with the rest of the story.

There are some great ideas in this book but as a whole I didn’t feel that it worked for me.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

What a fantastic book, loved every word on every page, such a great story with one woman linking the two together. Superbly written, such easy reading and a brilliantly addictive page turner.

I really enjoyed The Day of the Accident from this author and this book was just as good, although a different sort of story. Well done Nuala, I can thoroughly recommend this book and I look forward to your next masterpiece.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this brilliant book.

A brutal psychological thriller involving children over two different time frames which some readers might find disturbing. I read this pretty quickly as I just had to know what was happening. Perhaps part of me felt that if I kept going, I could 'rescue ' the children from the awful house and abuse quicker. Obviously not. The events towards the end became rather disjointed and detached as if the author was unsure as how to bring the two time frames together and to a conclusion. However overall a good, if not pretty disturbing read.

The House on the Lake features two intertwined narratives. This first is set in the present day, and begins with Lisa arriving at Rowan Isle House in Yorkshire with a grumpy toddler in tow. It quickly becomes apparent that Lisa is on the run from her husband, Mark, and while the reasons for this take some time to be revealed in full, it’s clear that their relationship was not a healthy one. Rowan Isle House has been offered to her as a place of sanctuary should she ever need it, but, upon arrival, Lisa is dismayed to find it in a state of disrepair. Seeing no other option, she tries to settle in despite the house having no power, running water, or heating.

Lisa’s tale is one of desperation. On the run from a dysfunctional relationship, she is clearly terrified that Mark will somehow be able to track her down and that he will take her little boy away from her. Her fear is palpable, and she does her best to keep her head down and to avoid attracting attention. She does risk a tentative friendship with Isobel, a local woman who helps Lisa to get the stove working as well as helping her with her son who is becoming increasingly fractious. It’s very easy to feel sympathy for Lisa given the circumstances. She knows that the environment she is in isn’t healthy for her boy, and yet she has no choice, having little money available with which she could find somewhere more comfortable. Lisa becomes increasingly paranoid throughout the novel, convinced that Mark will find her, and not helped by the rumours she hears about Rowan Isle House, which has its own dark past. Ellwood captures her distress brilliantly, and I couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out for Lisa.

The second narrative is set some 16 years earlier, and features the journal of an individual known only as “Soldier” initially. Soldier lives at Rowan Isle House, and is in fact a young girl (not a spoiler, I promise!) living with her father who she refers to as “Sarge”. It’s an unusual relationship, as Soldier does not attend school, but is instead taught by her father who teaches her the usual skills such as arithmetic, but also how to hunt and how to live off the land. These sections become increasingly disturbing. Soldier can see that her father is troubled, and while she doesn't have a term for it, it’s more apparent to the reader that he is suffering from PTSD. Sarge is clearly very controlling, and the journal extracts are quite difficult to read at times as Soldier is punished, quite harshly in places, for any perceived violation of her father’s strict regime.

These two narratives gradually overlap, and there were some wonderful twists as the reader learns more about the lives of Lisa and Soldier. As with her previous novels, Ellwood, has written brilliant characters that you come to care about, despite their flaws, and I thought that she tackled various forms of dysfunctional relationships brilliantly throughout the novel. The House on the Lake is an excellent thriller, and one that I think will attract readers who may be new to Ellwood's work as well as satisfying her existing fan base.

Unputdownable is the word for the book. This is my second by the author and I devoured every single page of the book. The mystery is gripping from the start. The book has pace where you forget the concept of space and time. It has elements of mystery and suspense. Alongside it also touches the intense human emotions. As a reader, you will realize the author has done her share of research while touching the topics of PTSD and abuse. Nuala Ellwood has an innate sense of storytelling. She captivates you with her words, her characters and the setting of the story. There’s no way you can escape. The ending takes you by complete surprise and its fair ending.

The central theme is abuse. The abuse relates to a child to a married woman. The book shows how abuse affects not only the abused but also people in the periphery of the abused. There’s also subtext on PTSD.

The chapters shuttle between the past and the present. Rowan Isle House is the connecting link between them. The author narrates the chapters in past by an 11-year-old girl and in present by Lisa. Well-developed with a small pool of characters. The author portrays them with remarkable details.

The house on the lake is a ravishing book with intense mystery leaving you mesmerized.

A highly recommended for all crime fiction fans. You will feel exhilarated once you finish the book. And for the people who did not read The Day of the Accident, you owe yourselves both the books.

My ratings for the book are 4.5 stars.

I loved The Day of the Accident and was really pleased to receive an ARC of Nuala Ellwood's latest novel to review. The House on the Lake is a disturbing read with details of child abuse which many will find hard to read. There are two story lines, one set in the present where we have a woman turning up at a deserted house in the middle of the night with a very grumpy toddler. She is clearly fleeing an abusive relationship but there are concerning things too about her relationship with her son. The other strand is set in the past in the same house and is about a young girl of eleven being brought up by her father, Sarge as she calls him. He is mentally ill, traumatised by his time in the first Gulf war and she endures much abuse at his hands, both physical and psychological.

I thought I would love this novel but actually I didn't much like it. The abuse was too graphic for me and while it raised important issues of control and mental illness I didn't find it credible that no one would report their concerns to social services. I also found certain scenes very difficult to believe especially towards the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was gripped from the first page as this book has secrets, tension and a believable storyline that I didn’t want to stop reading. It has 2 stories that are told throughout the book that are 20 years apart and I was intrigued how they would come together. All in all a great tense read that I would recommend.

This is a book that grabs your attention from the beginning to the end. Lisa is on the run from her husband and takes her young son with her. A friend has offered her a safe place to stay which is an abandoned house by a lake. The house has no electricity or running water and is filthy. However Lisa is befriended by a local lady Isobel who helps to make the place more habitable. Alternating with Lisa's story we hear about Grace a thirteen year old girl living in the same house twenty years earlier. Grace, known as Soldier by her father Sarge, doesn't attend school and has a very hard life being trained to be a soldier by her father who is obviously suffering from PTSD. The only other person she sees is Isobel, daughter of the local vicar. There are quite a few secrets to be revealed as the story progresses and I didn't guess any of them. Another great read from Nuala Ellwood.

A gripping fast paced story that had me hooked from the first page. Packed full of tension, secrets and danger. Fantastic characters, great storyline. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone.

Two stories intertwined. This is a good read. It is a bit slow in places but well written with a few shocks thrown in,

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of The House on the Lake by Nuala Ellwood, coming March 2020.

The book follows the story of Lisa, who is on the run from London to Yorkshire with her little boy Joe, and ends up staying in quite possibly the creepiest house in the history of the world. We also follow the story of Grace, a thirteen-year-old who grew up in that very same house several years before with her father. She was completely cut off from the rest of the world and tells us her strange and compelling story through the form of a diary.

The first thing I loved about this book is the presence of the two strong female leads, who are so different to one another, but completely determined to fight back against the men who control them and get what they want and deserve. I found myself desperate to learn what the link was between these two women, and when it was finally revealed, I was shocked. I did not see the plot twist coming. At all.

Despite these amazing female characters, I want to point out is this isn't one of those books where all the men are evil. There are some really positive male characters in the book so please don't be put off by the comment about the controlling men.

The House on the Lake epitomises the phrase "page-turner" and the alternating perspectives coupled with short and snappy chapters was the reason I've lost a LOT of sleep over the past three days. It's creepy. It's chilling. I've never checked my locks so many times as I did last night. The House on the Lake will give you a creeping sense of unease and if you love a thriller, you will not be disappointed.

I was really pleased to find a copy of My Sister's Bones by Nuala on my bookshelf, which has fast-tracked its way very near to the top of my TBR pile. Don't you just love finding a new favourite author?