This book has everything you’ll ever need from a classic Victorian novel. Mistaken identity, opium dens, thievery, debauchery and a group of women trying their best to forge their way in life. The streets of London are so vivid in this novel you’ll feel like you’re striding the pavements too. All of the characters have something different to offer and it kept me hooked from chapter one. Urania House was a place of wonder, as were its inhabitants. I’ve been a Stacey Has fan right from The Familiars and this hasn’t let the side down at all.

Stacey Halls has done it again! Her classic style of combining real events with fiction never disappoints, and The Households presents a host of beautifully fleshed out characters living against the backdrop of late 1800s London. A must read for any lovers of period dramas. It is a beautiful story of friendship, sisterhood and new beginnings.
With many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, who provided an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

A Victorian philanthropic initiative sees young ‘fallen’ women who are considered worth saving, shipped out to the rural Urania Cottage away from temptation, to be retrained and hopefully given a fresh start in Australia, Canada or South Africa. But these women have pasts, families and complications.

I have loved and enthused over all of Stacey Halls’ books, and this one is every bit as good as the rest. Her characters are so alive and so wonderful. I think one of the things I really appreciate is that there are no unimportant or filler characters, even the slightest of them has a backstory and a reason for being there. This might be why they feel so realistic. I particularly loved Martha, desperate to find her younger sister who has disappeared, and Frank, a young policeman with morals and a determination to do his job.

The Household is based on fact, and I looked it up because I had no idea about this particular initiative involving no less a person than Charles Dickens. To the modern eye it perhaps feels a little condescending, but in Victorian times the idea of giving these women a new beginning must have been groundbreaking. The extras that Dickens insisted on – reading, playing the piano and colourful clothes, must have seemed very unusual at the time, and that is reflected in the novel. The matron definitely feels that it is a waste of money!

I would not say that there was a happy ending, but perhaps a hopeful one, which is all you can ask for sometimes.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Household, I will buy it when it’s released and add it to my shelf of Stacey Halls books to reread in the future.

The Household by Stacey Halls

It feels like we've waited a long time for her next novel to be published , but 10 times over , it's been worth it .
The Household has everything you wish for in a good read , a great plot to keep you turning the pages , strong characters and left feeling bereft when it comes to the last page.

Brilliant , brilliant , brilliant .

Stacey Halls has written an epic and very readable novel about the fate of women in Victorian London. "The Household" is set in around 1850, when Shepherd's Bush was in the countryside. There are a smattering of real historical figures, including Charles Dickens, who was known for reporting on the less well off and campaigning for better conditions for them. The household of the title is what would now be known as a half-way house for women (mostly ex-prisoners), which provides a safe environment for the learning of new skills. The aim is ultimately for these women to emigrate to the colonies, and become the wives of settlers.

The women of the household had become criminals out of necessity and are not used to being treated as individual human beings with wills of their own. As they settle in new friendships are made and mutual support is provided. At the other end of the spectrum we find Miss Coutts, who is very rich but single, and therefore able to be more of a free agent. However, this does not mean that she is free of stress and she is troubled by a persistent stalker.

The tales of the various female characters are complex and interwoven to provide a wonderful glimpse of life at this time. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

I absolutely loved The Household, the fourth novel from Stacey Halls. Her books - while set in differing historical eras and places - share some key themes in common: poverty and working class life before the existence of any social safety net (and how support systems based purely on the beneficence of the rich are inherently unstable); female friendship; the restrictions and risks faced by wealthy women who push the boundaries of 'polite' society.

The Household is based on a true story in mid-19th Century London, and about a woman I knew nothing before picking up the book. Angela Burdett-Coutts was one of the richest women in England and a keen campaigner for social justice who, in the late 1840s established Urania Cottage - a home for fallen women - with her close friend Charles Dickens. While Dickens appears only as a background character in The Household (and not a blameless one: the detail about him regularly visiting the girls at the cottage to probe them about their lives, taking copious notes - the implication being that he will mine their lived experience for his books - is troubling), Angela is one of a four main characters who we follow through the novel, alongside two of the girls, Martha and Josephine, and the matron, Mrs Holdsworth.

The problems of a paternalistic philanthropy which assumes that wealthy and educated men can presume to know what is 'best' for the fallen women, is deftly handled and the thriller aspect to the story - as Angela attempts to escape the attentions of a man who has stalked her for years - is well done. I devoured the book in a day: highly recommended

Before reading this I believed Stacey Halls could write no wrong and after reading this, my opinion is confirmed. I wish I hadn’t read it so quickly…This story has a fascinating ensemble of characters, flawed and developed. It even has Charles Dickens flitting about in the background! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This is yet another stunning and well-researched historical novel by Stacey Halls, and a great read. The novel is set in Victorian London, and features numerous strong, well-drawn fictional characters, and historical characters including Charles Dickens and millionaire Angela Burdett-Coutts who together set up Urania Cottage, a home for fallen women, in Shepherd’s Bush in the mid-nineteenth century. The plot follows the lives of several women before and during their time in Urania House, and involves several mysteries, a lot of crime, and a hint of what their future will hold. In common with other books by the author, the prose is excellent and the book reads very well.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I've read and enjoyed a couple of books by this author now. I thought this one was a little slow going at first and wasn't sure which direction it was going to take. It picked up though, and I definitely didn't see the twist coming. It was interesting to read about the house as I had no idea until reading this that Charles Dickens had even helped set this place up.

I have read and enjoyed all of the author’s previous books so I was excited to read this one.

I found it quite slow going to begin with, but it did pick up during the second half. If you haven’t read any of the author’s work before, I would recommend you start with one of her previous books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers.

Many people’s worlds collide at Urania Cottage, a home for fallen women in The Household by Stacey Hall.

The cottage is remote and its residents are initially unknown to one another. However, they have one thing in common, each is desperate to change their life.

Angela Burdett-Coutts, a wealthy heiress is a benefactor of this unique venture. She is no stranger to feeling a lack of freedom in life, having been stalked for the last decade.

Among others, Josephine and Martha take refuge and work in the countryside home. They soon become friends in their quest for rehabilitation. However, they’re both looking for someone and the temptation to escape the confinements of the cottage appeals to many.

Mrs Holdsworth manages the home, trying to keep the women content and safe.

As their lives become entwined, the cost of freedom is high and each woman must navigate her circumstances.

The Household by Stacey Halls is a wonderful novel focusing on female characters in Victorian England.

Told from multiple perspectives, the novel slowly explores these main characters and their differing personalities and troubles.

It illustrates contrasts between the social classes and the female experience and is inspired by Dickens’ House for Fallen Women. It features the famed novelist in a cameo alongside the reimagined Angela Burdett-Coutts. It’s fascinating how Halls brings these inspired and complex characters to life.

Among other things, it explores poverty, prison and prostitution and ultimately, the desperation for freedom.

This novel draws you in with interesting female leads and well-researched historical fiction. You cannot help but empathise with these characters’ tumultuous lives and personal woes.

I thought this was a fascinating take on the lives of very different women in 19th century England. One woman - the most privileged in the story - has to deal with a persistent (unhinged) stalker while managing her fortune, maintaining her position as an unmarried society woman and negotiating her love for an older man who won't marry her. The other characters are all engaging in their own way, although some are more finely drawn than others. The ending feels a little rushed, as if there were too many strands to tie off all at once, but I greatly enjoyed the book as a whole and, in particular, its loving portrayal of women's experiences at a time when many of them had very few opportunities in life..

I have enjoyed Stacey Halls previous novels and this one was no exception. Taking its inspiration from real historical events and figures, andded another level to my enjoyment.

This novel set in London 1847, lets the reader glimpse how life was in those times Centred around Urania House, a home set up by Charles Dickens for a group of fallen women .. It was a place of second chances, where its residents learnt skills which would enrich their lives in preparation for a new life overseas.

Angela is one of the wealthy benefactors who on the surface has a charmed life but in reality is struggling with unwanted attention from a stalker. Her relationship with the woman in the home shows her compassion and I was hoping for not only a happy ending for all the wonderful woman in the novel but for her as well.

I loved getting to know the fallen woman each with their own unique backstory. The resilience they demonstrated in a time when our modern day liberates were unheard of was astounding.

This novel kept me page turning, entertained and educated. I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

Her best yet! I love Stacey Hall’s books and this is my favourite so far. I particularly like the way this is another novel based on a little known real story. Urania cottage for fallen women really did exist and was set up by its famous benefactors. For me this makes the novel even more fascinating. I was gripped from page one and became totally engrossed in this book. This is going to be another hugely popular book by this author.

A fabulous historical novel set in Dickensian London, indeed featuring the great man himself.
We are introduced to the “fallen women” who have been given a second chance to learn household skills and manners at the charitable Urania Cottage before emigrating to Australia for a better life. However all doesn’t run smoothly as each character, both inhabitants of the cottage and those who fund their reintroduction and education, arrive with complicated and sometimes treacherous pasts.
As well as being an excellent read, this took me down a rabbit hole of reading about Urania Cottage as I’d not heard of it before. Great stuff.

As with all Stacey Halls books I found the beginning quite slow and hard to get through, however the last 30% was fantastic! The time taken to build the setting and characters makes you connect with all of them and I was so invested in what would happen to each person. I’m still relatively new to historic fiction but I did really enjoy the last section of the book. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

The first novel I ever reviewed on NetGalley was Mrs England by Stacey Halls and I loved it. And this is no different I've read all her previous novels and consider myself a fan. Halls writes historical fiction that centres in the lives of women in all their messy, complicated glory. Character and plot drive her novels but the writing is also superb.

Reading this over three days was a joy, I looked forward to being able to get back to it at the end of a busy day. And now I can't wait for the next!

Just a superb novel, highly recommend

I enjoyed this right from the start and read it very quickly. The author captures the London of the times so well it's like being there, the characters are well-drawn and believable. I found it a little confusing towards the end, with who did what and found the ending a little abrupt - not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the book, it was a great read.

Stacey Hall does it again and this time I didn’t even read the blurb on the back before getting stuck in. This time she tells the story of Urania house, a house for “fallen women” set up by Charles Dickens. I became invested in the lives of Martha and Josephine. I do feel that the story ended rather abruptly though with some unanswered questions. A really good read that I will definitely be recommending to others .

I have listened to all of Stacey Halls' books and found them excellent so I was excited to get a copy of this.

Set in the late 1800s Urania House is set up as a place for women who have been in prison or institutions to be given a chance of a better life. They learn skills under the tutelage of Mrs Holdsworth and with the financial backing of a wealthy benefactor. Decisions about the household are taken by a committee which includes Charles Dickens.

Overall I found it a bit dull and struggled to engage with it. I read it on my kindle rather than listening and I think that probably affected my enjoyment. It took me a long time to get into the book and even contemplated not finishing it but I am glad I did.

I will continue to listen to every book Stacey Halls writes as she is a fabulous author