An enjoyable read that sometimes stretches the imagination a little too much. However, a great story with some complex characters.

“The house keeps us safe,” she says. “There’s nothing left for us outside.”
Esther is safe in the house. For sixteen years, she and her mother have lived off the grid, protected from the dangers of the outside world. For sixteen years, Esther has never seen another single soul.
Until today.
Today there’s a man outside the house. A man who knows Esther’s name, and who proves that her mother’s claims about the outside world are false. A man who is telling Esther that she’s been living a lie.
Is her mother keeping Esther safe – or keeping her prisoner?

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own hone\st voluntary review.

I can’t wait to read more by Louise. This was intriguing, engaging and thrilling. The plot was cleverly unravelled as the story progressed.

From an early age, Esther has lived with her mother in The House, with no contact with the outside world.
Esther’s mother leaves the house once a year, in a protective suit and breathing mask for food and supplies. Esther believes, because her mother has told her, that the air outside is poisonous and will kill her if she leaves the house.
When a stranger arrives on the one day a year her mother leaves for supplies, Esther is forced to confront the fact that maybe her mother has been keeping her a prisoner, rather than keeping her safe.
A compelling read, not so much a psychological thriller as an exploration of mental illness, I really enjoyed it. The characters are well thought out, the story is well written and moved on at a perfect pace. This is the second of Louise Mumford’s books that I’ve read and enjoyed, recommended.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Esther has lived in The House for most of her life and it's kept her safe. Or has it? Best described maybe as a gentle thriller this is an interesting premise turned into an enjoyable book. At times I wanted it to deliver more on its promise but on the whole it was a decent read. (Copy received via Netgalley in return for an honest review).

This is a great psychological thriller treading the same terrain as Emma Donoghue’s novel Room, in which a mother and her five-year-old son are being held captive. The differences between both equally accomplished novels lie in the fact that the captive in this novel, Esther, is female and a lot older than Jack, and the captivity she endures has been forced on her not by a man, but by the person who should love her most and who is sheltering with her: her own mother. For many years, asthmatic Emma has believed her mother’s stories that the outside environment is too dangerous for Emma, but a chance moment sets in motion a series of awakenings for her….
A superbly plotted novel that really conveys the claustrophobic atmosphere and the obsessive parenting at the heart of fictional Esther’s plight.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for the free ARC I received in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.

This was an original and captivating novel about a mother and daughter basically living almost self sufficiently in a bunker to protect the daughter who has a rare and complex medical condition. But where does this 24/7 isolation eventually lead us as the daughter turns 21 and is ready to venture out, find out what happened to her father and discover who the strange man is who has turned up on their doorstep looking for her?

Not what I was expecting when I got this but enjoyed it all the same !!! I won’t say to much as don’t want to spoil it ! But once you start it’s hard to put down as the story unfolds !!! A thriller that keeps you on the fence of your seat and invested to the end !!! Thanks for the chance to read !

A family suspense drama, explores mental health and the impact upon a child growing up with an overly anxious parent.
Esther has grown up, protected, sheltered from the world. Just her...and mother.
But gradually Esther is beginning to realise that her safe house is actually her prison.

Thank you to Netgalley for this book in return for a review.

An exciting story about a 21 year old woman, trapped in a bunker with a Mum who wants to protect her from the world. When someone comes to the house the story she’s been told starts to unravel and she learns she has a world to discover.

I quite enjoyed this story and thought it well written and it interested me enought to stay with it to find out what happened to all the main characters but did find the scenario somewhat stretching my belief as to how realistic this could possibly be.

A thriller, not really. A somewhat far fetched study in how a disturbed mind in a controlling person can impact on others, well maybe!

Esther has been safe in her house for sixteen years they moved in when she was five her mother built this house for her to keep her safe it’s off grid and protected from the dangers of the outside world a man shows shows up with a letter from her father and tells her everything her mother said about outside is a lie
Thank you netgalley I really enjoyed this book I couldn’t put it down I had to keep reading to find out what happens
Thank you Louise Mumford and HQ
I just reviewed The Safe House by Louise Mumford. #TheSafeHouse #NetGalley

This book is quite a roller coaster. I couldn’t put it down & kept holding my breath to discover what was going to happen. Thoroughly recommend

Free courtesy of Netgalley

I did enjoy this book but didn't feel that it was a psychological thriller, it felt more like a story about mental health and how that can affect families and the consequences of not dealing with it.

After a traumatic experience for Esther's parents when she was 5, her mother went into a tailspin. Esther was diagnosed with Asthma, and her mother does lots of research and believes in her mind the only way she can protect her daughter having another near fatal attack, is to remove her from the world. After inheriting a large sum of money, she goes in to buy a plot of land that has a bunker that will be shut off from the world. She uses the money to make the bunker liveable with good air filtration for Esther. She keeps all this secret from her husband, and one day when there is an explosion in the nearby plant, she uses the opportunity to leave with Esther, whilst her husband has gone to help.

She tells Esther that her dad has died and the new house will keep them safe and she has no reason to go out. Fast forward 16 years and Esther is now 21, one day when her mother has gone to do the yearly restock, she sees a man stood outside the house, and everything changes. Has her mother been keeping her safe or keeping her prisoner.

Reads like the mother and daughter are living in a dystopian world.
Full of quiet menace,secrets and lies.
A compelling read

I loved this book. The storyline may have been done before (haven't they all?!) but the author's take on it was original and clever, the emotions and relationships layered and well developed, the dilemmas that Esther faces easy to imagine. The humorous touches throughout via Mr Wiffles brought some lightness to a tale that at times was uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but always gripping. Would recommend.

This was a little bit along the same lines as other stories I've read, but still enjoyable. A little predictable at times, but it was well written and an enjoyable story.

Thanks so much for the chance to read The Safe House. An absolutely captivating, creepy and original thriller.

The first chapter was so unsettling, I had so many questions and just had to keep reading.
Creepy but heartbreaking.

The first I’ve read by Louise Mumford, but Sleepless is definitely now on my list!

The. Safe House by Louise Mumford is disturbing psychological drama about a young girl, Esther with asthma and how her mother, Hannah copes with her minor illness. It shows how mental illness isn’t always dealt with before it escalates into crisis.Hannah believes Ned, her husband isn’t taking their daughter’s health seriously and takes matters into her own hands.
She has inherited money that she kept secret from Ned and uses the money to fund the secret purchase of a bunker that she has redeveloped into a safe house for Esther and herself. She leaves one night when the works that Ned manages is alight with people at risk and he has gone to help. She tells Esther her father is dead and they need to live elsewhere where they will be safe.
It all comes to a climax years later when Esther is 21 and other people come to find her.
A bitter sweet storyline of a love turned into obsession and how life changing it can be.
Highly recommended

Esther Albright is living with her mother Hannah, off the grid in a Cold War bunker. Her mother’s says it’s not safe outside. She has been sheltered from people.
She meets a man outside her home who is caught in a trap. She helps in get out of the trap. Tom is the first new person she has met in 16 years. Esther has asthma, and being outdoors can bring an attack on at any moment according to her mother, so she keeps an inhaler close.
Tom knows who Esther is, and he tells her that her mother is lying to her. He starts introducing her to some things, which make Esther question her mother’s motives.
This novel goes back 16 years with Hannah’s point of view. She purchases the land outright, but the deal with the owner keeps her name from being published. She has her reasons. What could they be? How safe are they? Are they hiding from someone? Does she enjoy manipulating her child or is she saving her from something or someone?
Soon Esther sees a letter from her father…Her mother has always said he died. Who is telling the truth?