Pacey, tense and thrilling, I enjoyed this book from the first page. It had a great sense of place, interesting - and well thought out characters - and good writing.

Thank you to Faber and Faber and NetGalley for the free e-copy.

Overall I liked The House Uptown but I would not say it was brilliant. I enjoyed the literary fiction style of writing and the New Orleans summer setting – I do love the atmosphere of long heavy summer days. Having not read many books set in New Orleans I liked being introduced to the city and the references to Hurricane Katrina provided context and insight into the mindset of the city and characters. However I suspect if I had already read more books set in New Orleans then I may have found the descriptions in this book lacking. I liked the characters; each one different, each one flawed in their own way but likeable to varying degrees.

However I don’t think this book knows what type of novel it wants to be and that ultimately is its downfall. The NetGalley description gave me the impression that the story would be more about the house itself, that it had some power of its own that it held over the characters; perhaps even some paranormal aspects, but it did not. I feel like the house was supposed to be another character but this didn’t particularly come across to me until the final paragraphs. Whilst reading it I was surprised to learn it had been labeled a thriller/mystery; it is more literary fiction and less about building up suspense than the typical thriller. This was a saving grace really as I often find the writing and formulaic story telling of most thrillers kind of dull. It’s more a character book than plot driven despite it being dubbed a thriller but I would have expected more build up than this story provided and the dramatic ending almost came out of nowhere. Finally, I found the sex scene kind of gratuitous. This is how the book went: not sexy, not sexy, not sexy, SEXY, not sexy, not sexy. If the sexy chapter had been removed then the story would not have been affected.

This had me at ‘mysterious house in New Orleans’. When Ava loses her mother, she’s whisked off on the train to stay with her grandmother, Lane, an obsessive artist who’s starting to lose her memory. Ava (or ‘Iowa’, as her Grandmother’s assistant calls her) goes from karate lessons, home-cooked squash pasta and report cards pinned on the fridge to dusty mansion with a guardian who doesn’t even look up from painting to say hello.

The House Uptown is hard to pin down. It’s not quite the thriller billed, but still a brilliant, well-written read. There’s a mystery running through it, but it’s driven by characters rather than getting to the bottom of what happened. This is a book for fans of The Goldfinch, which has similar themes of loss, grief and art.

Thank you to Faber and Faber and NetGalley for the ARC.

Reading The House Uptown made for a frustrating experience: it was SO CLOSE to being great but fell short as both a literary exploration of art, grief, and family, and as a thriller. The New Orleans setting felt strangely lacking in vibrancy (which, given that the city functions as a character in its own right in the best NOLA fiction, was especially disappointing) and the final, supposedly shocking, events left me cold as I'd never been convinced to truly care about, or believe in, the characters. A 3 star read for me, as it was entertaining enough but could have been so much more.

This is a superb book, one that lives up to the teasers I have read - in the most part.

The novel begins by focusing on Lane (why not Laine, or Layne - I think this name choice would have been better!). One night, her lover, Bertrand, appears in her house with a blood-covered boy - Artie - who turns out to be his son. All is not well, seemingly, and to make matters worse, Louise, Lane’s daughter, witnesses the whole event.

Many years later, Lane is living as a work-obsessed artist in her rambling New Orleans home. She has Oliver to support her, a fairly flamboyant gay man who seems to have Lane’s best interests at heart - for one thing, he supplies her with marijuana, something that they both enjoy smoking a lot of. When Ava arrives from Iowa City (Louise’s daughter - now an orphan due to her mother’s sudden death), Lane is tasked with the responsibility of being Ava’s surrogate mother, something she is not really keen to do, or aware of, mainly because she seems to be suffering from some form of memory loss/dementia. It isn’t clear if this is a result of the constant pot-smoking or something else.

One of the things I love about Ginsburg’s book is the way she doesn’t tell us about the characters’ appearances. We don’t know how old Lane is - is she in her 50s, or 70s? In many ways, if doesn’t matter - it’s what they do and how they behave that is key.

The story takes a twist when it becomes clear that Oliver is stealing from Lane in huge quantities - Ava discovers this, Lane is clueless, but this adds further to the frustration for Ava. Furthermore, Oliver knows that something happened years ago due to Lane mentioning things about a blood-covered boy. Without saying too much, the story almost goes full circle with history definitely repeating itself to a considerable degree.

There are some implausible elements to this book - without spoiling the plot, one would think that gunshots wouldn’t go unnoticed, which they do. So, it’s a case of suspending disbelief to an extent, but that’s fine where a quality story has been written for readers’ pleasure.

‘The House Uptown’ is a cleverly-written story, one with dark secrets at its heart. One can’t help but feel sorry for Ava, moved from pillar to post and back again. It just leaves me wondering if what happens will come back to haunt her again - I suspect it might..

Although Ava is from Iowa, she is moved cross country to New Orleans following the death of her mother, and the story is very grounded in the city. it is telling a story of unconventional family dynamics, It is about art and ageing and the precariousness of trust.

Hurricane Katrina is part of the encore, appearing as an ominous side character throughout the short chapters. There are references to ‘the Katrina season, the city pre and post destruction, as a background force not to be forgotten, the residents of this city are all marked by it, so it provides texture to ostensibly a family drama

Slightly more thriller Esque than burnt sugar, but playing on those complex familial ties, quieter than a crime book, more literary than Tracsendent kingdom but feels similar in some respects to them all. I haven’t seen this unusual book shouted about yet, so if you are a literary plot lover, give it a go.

This novel is utterly unique and compelling. The prose are incredibly layered and elegant. I loved the portrayal of intergenerational relationships and the sensuality of loss.

2.5 stars

Good start,good ending.
Loved the character of Lane.
The rest was just a bit too slow for me.