WOW! My first book by Stacey Halls and her others have not been put on my to be read pile.

This was such a good read, it was historical and felt factual, I felt that the author had done her research about the times that she was writing about. The characters all felt credible and I loved how the story developed around it's characters. The story dealt with the lives of "fallen women" in such a sympathetic way, all were considered as victims and I really liked that detail about each character's past was included. By doing this, the author made you feel that she was drawing you into their lives.

I would recommend this book without hesitation and have already recommended it to a number of friends.

This is a well researched and beautifully written historical novel based in London in 1847. It provides a glimpse of different social classes, the challenges that each face with some interesting dynamics when these different worlds meet. The main characters are well developed and the story has a strong start with a good balance of suspense and intrigue.

My only minor criticism is that the closing chapters felt a bit rushed and some key questions were left unanswered.

I enjoyed this compelling historical novel from the author of Mrs England. At first I found it difficult to get into, because there were so many characters and I wasn't sure what the hook of the story was. As I read more, I became interested in the story, although I felt that there should have been fewer characters to allow them to be better developed.

The story is based on a real situation, Urania Cottage, a home for 'fallen women' founded by the author Charles Dickens and financed by the heiress Angela Burdett-Coutts. The idea is that the women come to the cottage from prison and are trained for eventual careers in domestic service in the colonies. We follow the fate of the inmates and the matron who is employed to look after them. The different elements of the plot include the heiress' stalker, the missing sister of one inmate, and the separation of two women who were lovers in prison. The author's attention to detail is excellent and I could imagine the novel as a costume drama on TV, so clear were the events and settings in my mind. If you enjoy historical fiction with a focus on women, set in Victorian times, this is definitely one for your wishlist.

[Review will be on my blog, 3rd April]

While Stacey Halls has managed to create another set of characters that endear themselves to you and capture your heart, I found this book quite hard to get into… it felt a bit disjointed, with a lot going on but not much happening…and until 75% in, things don’t start to really come together and be woven together. While the ending is good, it feels a bit rushed and like quite a few things are just left to fizzle out… so, while I enjoyed it, it did not quite meet the high standards I’ve come to expect from her books

I was a huge fan of the previous books by this author but I found this one slower and less interesting.
I actually really enjoyed the final 25% as I felt more happened in thus portion of the story than the rest of it.
I also preferred the parts set at the house over the side stories.
A bit disappointing to be honest as I had high hopes for it.

I really enjoyed this one! It took me a bit to get into it due to the amount of characters and then I was super invested. A bunch of strong women doing their best despite their circumstances in Dickens times. I didn't know a thing about that side of Dickens, helping women to reform themselves to find a better life by placing them at The Household. It is very atmospheric and mysterious, really good historical fiction. I have to say, I enjoyed this book more than The Familiars and The Foundling!

The Household by Stacey Halls

It’s Dickensian London, where Angela Coutts, Society Lady, together with members of a committee of do-gooders,set up Urania Cottage, a refuge for so called fallen women. Here they are taught new skills and rehabilitation back into a meaningful life probably in the Colonies. An unlikely array of characters, rich, poor, kind and shady, shaped by their backstories, find their worlds intertwine across a canvas covering absolute poverty to almost unimaginable opulence.

There is an afternoon tea style pacing to this novel, which picks up speed towards the end, reminiscent of Pip’s exploits at the climax of “Great Expectations”. By the end, I had an affection for many of the protagonists and wondered what the future held for them.

Stacey Halls is one of my all time favourite, go to authors, and this is not a disappointment! As always she paints a thoroughly intriguing and hard to put down story. I was engrossed with it all, not knowing how it was going to turn out, but I loved every second.
I was ecstatic to receive an e-arc.

Thank you to the author, publishers and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

When young ladies are not doing as they are told, they might well need rescuing and sending to “The Household”. Here they will learn how to run a house and their behaviour will be improved. Sadly, the household itself is not exactly as it seems and the very people supposed to be the role models are not what they seem.

I did wonder at the start of this book how the story would come together but, once again, Stacey Halls does not disappoint. The strong female characters in this novel make it a pleasing read and the fact that any rescuing is done only by other women adds to the positivity of the story. I definitely enjoyed this novel and I would recommend it. If you haven’t read anything by Stacey Halls, go and read them all now!

Great 'spinoff ' tale around one of Charles Dickens' social experiments - a home for the redemption of fallen women founded by Angela Burdett-Coutts in the 1840s. (Google her, she sounds amazing!) Wonderful characters, background stories, friendships, relationships along with poverty, hunger, overcrowding and desperation. Kindness is a theme that features a lot.
It's not just the 'fallen women' who have the problems either. Known as the 'richest heiress in England' at the time, Angela Coutts, in this story has a long-standing and dangerous stalker - very believable from the amount of coverage she got in the press then.
I loved this book, I felt some of the characters thought in a bit of a 'modern' way (e.g. comparing stealing stockings to stealing the colonies - I don't think people felt that way in those days, particularly those of minimal education - but I could be wrong - perhaps they got this view from the education they were recieving at the house!)
The 'girls', the housekeeper and Angela herself all need callouts for being super characters - a wonderful story!

I had never read historical fiction before I read The Familiars and I absolutely loved it and since then I have read all of Stacey Halls books so you can imagine my excitement when I was approved to read her new book The Household. Not going to lie I didn’t enjoy this as much as her previous books but I did still really enjoy it. This book is set in the late 1840s in the outskirts ofLondon and is about a group of fallen women who get the opportunity to get a second chance at life in Urania Cottage. This brings a mixture of women from thieves to prostitutes and the destitute. One of the benefactors is a millionairess who has just found out that her stalker has been released from prison and another is the author Charles Dickens. This book brings together women who would normally never cross paths but it brings their stories and how their experiences collide. As expected this was beautifully written and the characters are on the whole extremely likeable. There are some sad points and it is in keeping with the era. Overall a good book.

I love Stacey Halls so much; her attention to detail and her ability to transport the reader back in time is unparalleled. I perhaps didn't enjoy this as much as I did her previous work, especially Mrs England, but I think that's because I'm a sucker for books set in and near my home town while The Household is based in London. This is obviously just personal preference though and not something that effects every reader.

I love Stacey Halls’ books and this was no exception! It did take a little while for me to get into but then every clicked and it was a great story. I love historical fiction for what you learn about different time periods and I felt I learnt a lot from this well researched novel. A good read I would recommend.

Set in 1847, Stacey Halls has adapted the real life event of Charles Dickens and the wealthy benefactress, Angela Burdett-Coutts, establishing Urania Cottage, a home for so-called ‘fallen’ Victorian women. This is clearly a meticulously researched and fascinating insight into social reform of the time, combined with Stacey Halls riveting writing style. I was gripped from start to finish and it reminded me in parts of Sarah Waters ‘Fingersmith’, which is one of my all time favourite reads. I’m now inspired to find out more about Urania Cottage (while I wait for Stacey Halls next fabulous slice of historical fiction to be published)..

Thank you to Netgalley and Manilla Press for my advance review copy.

I love Stacey Halls. She is just a brilliant Historical Fiction writer. She find stories to tell and tells them with such passion. This book was no mean feat. There were so many characters and angles of the story to tell and Halls did it perfectly with strong writing style. The characters were well developed despite there being quite a few.
The story itself is a heartwarming one. A venture set up by a committee of benefactors to rehome and re-educate young women who have fallen on hard times and have recently got out of prison. One such benefactors is Charles Dickens, the great writer, who isn't prominent in the book by plays a certain part. The main benefactor, Miss Burdett-Coutts is a kind-hearted but lonely woman, who in her 30s and despite her large wealth, has noone to share it with but close family friends and help Dr and Mrs Brown. Throughout the novel, she is plagued by a stalker who had made life hard for decades because she refuses to marry him. His obsession ends up effecting the girls at Urania Cottage, whose lives and outlook drastically change due to the love and care or Mrs Holdsworth (the matron), her son Frank and Mrs Burdett Coutts herself.
The girls were also wel developed, focusing mainly on two of them whose choices effect everyone.
A scandal ensues and its up to everyone to protect the girls at Urania Cottage before they embark on a life changing adventure to foreign lands to work and start fresh.

I find Hall's books easy to read so I had no problem going back to it. The ending felt a bit rushed and was tidied up a bit too quickly for me. I would have liked to delve into the stalker a bit more and would have liked to read about a more pronounced comeuppance.

That being said, I'm a Stacey Hall's fan and will always be reaching for her new books when they arrive.

I've read Stacey Halls previous book with varied enjoyment.
This one just didn't grab me. It was slow going, the characters lacked depth and the social injustices of the time were not explored in any meaningful way.
The ending was nicely tied up but it didn't leave me wanting to find out what happened next for the characters.

I knew nothing of the history of Urania Cottage before reading this book. It seems to be a great warning against people trying to make the world better for others but having absolutely no idea how to do this. I had great sympathy for Angela Coutts and the stalking that she suffered in Victorian Britain. I’m not sure why I imagined that to be a modern problem when it clearly isn’t. Overall, I enjoyed this but didn’t love it. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.

A thoroughly good read, beautifully written and with a cast of interesting and endearing characters - an absolute joy, even the villain of the piece has redeeming qualities! Based on the philanthropic attempts of a high born, rich lady and her friend Charles Dickens, to rescue and reeducate fallen women, they establish a house just outside London for this purpose. There will inevitably be dramas, friendships won and lost, unrequited love and unwanted romantic attentions. The journey is bumpy, but not without humour and very clever, beautiful storytelling. I want to read it again.

Firstly, thank you Netgalley for the advance copy. Secondly, thank you Stacey Hall for your exquisite, engrossing prose once again.

I really enjoyed this, as I've enjoyed all Stacey Hall novels, although I didn't find it quite as tense or atmospheric as its predecessors.
I did love the characters, their friendships, and loyalty to one another, and was glad of the  (**SPOILER ALERT**) happy ending.

Definitely worth a pre-order!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Manilla Press, for the opportunity to read The Household by Stacey Halls before published. Stacey Halls is one of my favourite authors, having read all of her books and having the pleasure to say this is now the third book I have had the opportunity to read in advance. I cannot express my love for this book enough. It started off slow at first but I now understand that Stacey Halls had to really delve into each characters story to make it unique and personal. I felt really moved by the characters and I wish we could find out more from Josephine, Martha & Emily now they are in Australia. The book ended off in a nice resolved manner but I still want more from the characters as I felt so moved by their story. Stacey has a brilliant way of connecting factual information to fiction which I absolutely love, you can really tell she does her research and puts her all into her books and it shows. Thank you again for this opportunity, I can't wait for the book to be published so I can have my copy and also so others can read this spectacular book!