Hardback: 372 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Manilla Press 2024
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentences: Martha is quite alone in the house. Another girl, Mrs Holdsworth said at breakfast, will arrive before supper.
Review Quote: 'Absorbing . . . Halls weaves together the elements of her story with great skill' Sunday Times
My Opinion:
I have been reading Stacey Halls' novels since her debut was published in 2020 and with this latest, have now read and enjoyed all four.
In 1847 the author Charles Dickens helped his friend Angela Burnett-Coutts of the banking family set up Urania Cottage. It was a social experiment to give homes to young women living, for whatever reason, on the fringes of society. The idea was to give them a basic education and life skills before helping them emigrate to the colonies. This brilliant novel tells us the story of these young women and their benefactor Angela. A rich cast of characters whose lives unfold into an authentic feeling period novel, with plenty of intrigue.
In my opinion 'The Household' uses historical facts and real people to weave a compelling tale. Highly Recommended.
Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:
From the Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the Women's Prize Futures Award, the captivating, highly anticipated new novel, inspired by real historical figures and events.
In a quiet house in the countryside outside London, the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty thieves and the destitute, Urania Cottage is a second chance at life - but how badly do they want it?
Meanwhile, a few miles away in a Piccadilly mansion, millionairess Angela Burdett-Coutts, one of the benefactors of Urania Cottage, makes a discovery that leaves her her stalker of 10 years has been released from prison . . .
As the women's worlds collide in ways they could never have expected, they will discover that freedom always comes at a price . . .
The Household is the new novel from the award-winning, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars , The Foundling and Mrs England. Set against Charles Dicken's home for fallen women and inspired by real figures from history, it is Stacey Halls' most ambitious and compelling novel yet.
Links to my reviews of her previous novels:
The Familiars The Foundling. Mrs England
Stacey Halls was born in 1989 and grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and has written for publications including the Guardian, Stylist, Psychologies, The Independent, The Sun and Fabulous.
Her first book The Familiars was the bestselling debut novel of 2019.
Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:
Goodreads Author Profile Instagram Account Twitter Profile Author Website
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