The night of London’s grandest ball, a bold group of women downstairs launch a daring revenge heist against Mayfair society in this dazzling historical novel about power, gender and class.

I loved this historical fiction with a heist twist. A bad ass group of strong female characters and an amazing idea for a story.

This was gripping from the first few chapters and I raced through it on the edge of my seat.

A gripping, girl power filled romp. I loved this.

A historical heist novel with a difference, The Housekeepers offers a riveting glimpse into the lives of those who live below stairs, where appearances can be deceiving and the past never truly stays buried. Alex Hay keeps readers guessing as to the outcome and intricacies of the daring caper plotted by Mrs King and her cronies, although they’re bound to end up rooting for the perennially put upon servants to finally get one over on their supposed betters, who have their own secrets and lies to contend with.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, although I did find it a little overwritten. Good fun, though. A recommended read.

I read and listened to this book. I enjoyed the ebook version more although I found the change in character names difficult to follow on the audiobook. Mrs Bone and Mrs King become Winnie and Dinah which was sometimes hard to follow who was who. At first, there were strong parallels with Sarah Waters 'Fingersmith' but, there a few twists along the way. 'The Housekeepers' tells of the revenge against the De Vries household now that Mr De Vries is no longer here. But is the name all it seems and what truths will the women uncover? Truly, there is nothing worse than a woman scorned as the housekeepers and women staff do their best to get what they are owed.

Ah, this is great!

A heist engineered by a group of ladies - the housekeepers of the title - to ransack a posh Mayfair establishment of literally all its furniture and fittings, during a society ball... what could be the set up for a better story!?

Fast paced, and full of exciting characters, this is brilliant, loved it!

It’s 1905 and The Housekeepers is bringing readers a mashup of Gosford Park and Oceans Eight – I am here for that! This is a glorious piece of historical crime fiction, grand in its ambition and delivering some engaging subplots and distractions which all threaten to derail the characters from the successful execution of their ambitious plans.

A word of caution though, this book starts with a bit of a slow burn while characters are introduced (there were a few and I frequently mixed them up) while backgrounds are established and while territories are determined. Keep going! Once the slow burn fully ignites the main event there is plenty of sizzle to enjoy.

In one of London’s exclusive family homes there’s a period of mourning underway. The master of the house, a self-made man who had shaken up London society has passed away. But the new lady of this manor (Miss de Vries) isn’t following conventions – she decides she must host an elaborate party, a grand ball and she wants the guest list to be filled with the great and good (and rich) of the town. Naturally there’s a shocked and scandalised reaction that Miss de Vries would even consider such an event during the official mourning period she is expected to observe.

Below the stairs there’s a very different scandal when Mrs King, the housekeeper, is fired from her post for being with a man. Mrs King isn’t one to retreat and lick her wounds – she’s on a mission to extract revenge and to do this she’s going to need some very special people to help her.

And so begins Mrs King’s recruitment and planning challenge. She wants to rob the house, strip it right down and leave Miss de Vries with nothing. It’s wonderfully excessive and she knows she’s facing huge challenges but the grand party will provide the cover she needs.

With the date set and the plan revealed in stages for readers it’s fun to follow this story and see how the various players in this elaborate heist fit into their respective roles. We see them find places of employment in the house, recruit the brute strength needed to move heavy furniture and arrange costumes, drivers and equipment to make sure they have the tools they need.

Unfortunately for Mrs King there are too many random variables which are out of her control and this is where the fun and thrills will creep in. Her team will keep secrets from her, the staff in the house unwittingly thwart ideas, there are more secrets in the household that Mrs King can’t know and Miss de Vries is an astute and observant lady – she’s hard to distract.

The Housekeepers offers readers a highly entertaining period thriller. The social history elements of the book feel nicely balanced with that gloriously extravagant crime which is being planned. There are several key characters to follow and you’ll likely enjoy some more than others but you’ll also find yourself sympathetic to these characters too – everyone has their own burden to shoulder.

All in, this was a fun read. Definitely not one I took too seriously but with lots of nice touches and some fascinating characters that I was willing to see succeed.

The Housekeepers
Historical Fiction
Alex Hay
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was a little disappointed with this book. While I liked the writing style itself, I found the pacing slow, as well as the plot progression. It felt like it took quite some time to actually get going.

I like multiple POVs but there were so many characters to remember that I did find it confusing at times.

The plot twists were slightly predictable so I wasn't really surprised.

I did like the world building. The descriptions and details were developed, enough that I almost felt like I was there, but without any info dumps.

Overall, this was an ok read. I wouldn't read it again but I'm sure that other readers of the genre would enjoy it.

*Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC. This is my own opinion and an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily*

4.5 stars
I really enjoyed the pace of this book and the non-linear narrative style. I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next and was on edge for all character. Each woman had her own agenda but somehow you wanted them all to succeed whilst also expecting the worst for them all.

I think there were a few loose ends not resolved at the end (hence the 4.5 stars). At the beginning, I didn’t quite like how many characters there were because it became a bit confusing but I think that added to the fast pace and the chaos of it all!

Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Really good enjoyable book. Think Downton Abbey but with a twist of the downstairs staffing trying to get the upper hand. I really enjoyed this and at times did think this plan no matter how good it is can still go horribly wrong. A lot of twists and turns happen along the way with lots of secrets undisclosed.

I LOVED this! It's Ocean's 13 for a different age - so clever, with heroines you will cheer on to victory, yet each with their own frailties and troubles, trusting nobody but needing each other to achieve something that couldn't possibly be imagined. Very clever, lots of fun, a eye-opener to a time when women had no power other than that they stole and one you will push late into the night to complete.

Thanks for giving me the chance to read in advance. I did enjoy it but found parts quite “busy”. Lots of twists and turns so would definitely recommend

I was so looking forward to reading this book, it sounded perfect for me, but unfortunately it did not live up to its promise. It is a very slow- moving narrative, and takes way too long to get to the actual heist, which is the whole point of the book.
There are so many POVs, which I find distracting, it pulls me out of the storyline, and a long list of characters.
Not for me, unfortunately. I’m sure many readers will enjoy it, just not this one.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

If like me you love books, set in big houses then this is the book for you. Because whilst we are not really concentrating too much with the upstairs characters, we are concentrating on the downtrodden downstairs characters who have a plan up their sleeve.

The sleeves are all women and Mrs King is in charge, recently dismissed from the house she seeks the ultimate revenge. A burglary on a massive scale on the night of the ball.

The setting: London, Park Lane, 1905.

Gathering her gang, Mrs King looks towards some interesting female characters. Some have been on the inside, Winnie used to do the job of Mrs King as the housekeeper, Alice is the current sewing maid who has a close bond with the lady of the house. Mrs Bone, who has the money and runs her own criminal network which seems to ripple through London. We have a washed up actress and two trapeze artists known as Jane One and Jane Two. What skills can a trapeze artist possibly bring to the crime of the century – you would be surprised!

This book is about not just the robbery, but the injustices that are at work in the house, in society and a reflection of the way life was like at the turn of the twentieth century, remembering the next place for great social change was going to be the First World War some ten years in the future.

Mrs King and her cohorts are wanting to bring about change now.

Told from a number of different character perspectives and building up to the climax of the book, we learn exactly what everyone’s story is, what their role will be and what injustices they may have suffered. It didn’t have the big impressive climax that I was expecting, and upon reflection this was probably due to the back story, which was the more subtle and thus more important to understand the finale.

A debut novel, which without a doubt would transfer to screen and be a huge success and I am looking forward to seeing what Alex Hay might create next.

The Housekeepers

Mrs King, housekeeper to the wealthy De Fries family of swanky Park Lane, has just been fired from her prestigious job. She was seen entering the ‘gentlemen’s quarters’ of footmen’s quarters, presumably for an assignation by the butler Mr Shepherd. Nothing more to be said.
But although she appears to go quietly, the costume ball that has been announced for 26th June 1905 is the start of her cunning plan. For she has grand plans for revenge on her employers, the De Fries family, that go far beyond taking a few silver spoons. She intends to leave nothing behind. And after the death of the father of the house, Mr D Vries, it didn’t take much to persuade his vain daughter to hold the ball.
Mrs King wasn’t always the respectable woman that she now appears to be. She comes from the other side of the tracks from a world of surviving on your wits and talents whatever they may be. And it’s now that she calls upon her friends from that world to help her. A group of women all with their own motives and talents. An actress looking for the part that will bring her fame, a seamstress looking for a better life, the Baroness of the black market with scores to settle and Mrs King’s predecessor who wants her own revenge. Together they are unstoppable. But as events get underway and those kept downstairs begin to have the upper hand, the dark secret of the De Vries household is about to be revealed…..
This book has been described as Ocean’s Eleven meets Downton Abbey and so it sounded like a historical heist which was intriguing. Especially the premise of the entire contents of the seven floor mansion being stolen on the night of the grand ball. The con is on as they say.
I liked the gathering of the women each with her own reasons for joining in. They all merited a story of their own. The level of planning, finding the right people with the right skills; Hepzibah the actress who plays a duchess to perfection, the two Janes, Mrs King’s sister, Alice who wants a better life and Mrs Bone a pawnshop owner with many sidelines.
I loved this book especially the scenes at the ball as the guests tuck in and drink up while the gang’s employees or thieves steal everything from under their noses. There are hiccups, but not even Princess Victoria arriving unexpectedly can stop them until the downfall of the house of De Vries is complete. It is audacious and daring and the ultimate revenge of those who kept these huge mansions afloat while being seen and not heard. Some of the scenes were very cinematic especially with the Egyptian pyramid coming along Park Lane and the thieves going about their business.
I found the characters engaging and the plot entertaining. However, I did find that there were a couple of subplots that could have been dispensed with as they felt tacked on and not really adding much to the main storyline. But a good debut novel and I look forward to the author’s next.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc.

when I first started this I was thinking hmm this isn’t for me. Then you met each individual character and I was hooked. It’s such a fun twisty read and Mrs King & Mrs Bone are fierce

Such a great concept for a story, a historical heist! However after a promising start the book lost its fizz. The story became a tad too complicated and long. There is such a thing as too many twists and turns. It was an enjoyable read but the enjoyment was just tinged with a feeling the book should have been finished by now.

Thank you Netgalley

Set in Edwardian London this novel follows the fortunes of Mrs King as she assembles a group of women in an attempt to pull off an audacious robbery of a large house in Park Lane in which she was previously employed as housekeeper. I’ve seen this book on several occasions likened to Downton Abbey meets Ocean 8, and this was certainly brought to mind as I read. The author brings London to life both above and below stairs and it is refreshing to have such a strong cast of women who are firmly in control . As the novel progresses, dark secrets and crimes are revealed. and the reasons for the heist are seen more clearly. I thoroughly enjoyed this book not only in its written form but would also highly recommend the audiobook as the narrator Jasmine Blackborow was exceptional in her reading and characterisation . A very impressive debut and I will be certain to look for more from this author. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book but it was a DNF at 15%
Too much descriptive writing re smells,everything had a smell and the characters were annoying rather than engaging,I guess the writing style was not for me

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

Some described this as oceans 11 mixed with Downtown Abbey. How could I resist!

This book is based on Mrs King, a housekeeper who has been thrown out on the streets. But she plans her revenge by pulling off a heist during a ball.

This book has me gripped! Great band of characters and the vivid descriptions in book really brought London and the heist really brought it to life.

Overall a highly entertaining and fun read.

Thank you to @randomthingstours for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Perfectly planned ventures are always the best plans, but there’s always the possibility that something can go wrong. Mrs King has everything planned, Mrs Bone thinks they’ll be something that they’ve overlooked but we’ll see…

The ladies are all connected by one place, the grand house on Park Lane that they have all worked at during some stage of their lives. There are secrets connecting them all too, Mrs King tries to keep hers buried but secrets always have a way of coming to the surface.

I love the timeline counting down to the ball, and building the suspense as it nears the time. I really liked the writing style of this one, I’m definitely going to look for more by this author in the future.