A review by thebooktrail88
The House on the Lake, by Nuala Ellwood
3.0
Author writes about the best books set in Yorkshire here:
Visit Nuala Ellwoods favourite Yorkshire reads
Melancolic and deeply troubling. This is a stark and raw read. Two women abused by the men in their lives in various different ways. There's a runaway mother whose husband has abused her and so put their son's life at risk. She flees to a cottage in the middle of nowhere for ...what she doesn't know but she hopes it's safety of some sort.
The house where she flees to is called Rowan House and it's in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales, A house meant for sanctuary and salvation but also one which has not been lived in for some time. The second story however shows another couple living near here - Two soldiers - a girl and her father hiding out in the forest like survivalists. There are clearly issues of control here, a mind which has been injured, PTSD and so much more. They mistrust the locals and hide away from the world.. The story switches from these two stories with ease.
And all the while, this house is the setting which links the two. And what a setting. It's remote, claustrophobic,lonely and unsafe. It's just enough for both women at different times - they both need the protection if not the dirt and decrepit state its in.
The main character however is that of Control. The control is the one who determines how each woman in the story has to act, feel and do what they need to do to survive. The house protects them in different ways but their struggles are at times painful to read. You just know these men are not going to give up.
There's a lot of pain and yet hope in this novel.It's a slow burning read, like a slow motion chinese burn of a read.You feel the pain and the anguish and the anticipation of both and it hurts in different degrees. The reader is inside the heads of these characters from the off. Powerful stuff.
A lot of pain wrapped up here - but a stark reminder of what absolute power and control can do and how women can fight back.
Visit Nuala Ellwoods favourite Yorkshire reads
Melancolic and deeply troubling. This is a stark and raw read. Two women abused by the men in their lives in various different ways. There's a runaway mother whose husband has abused her and so put their son's life at risk. She flees to a cottage in the middle of nowhere for ...what she doesn't know but she hopes it's safety of some sort.
The house where she flees to is called Rowan House and it's in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales, A house meant for sanctuary and salvation but also one which has not been lived in for some time. The second story however shows another couple living near here - Two soldiers - a girl and her father hiding out in the forest like survivalists. There are clearly issues of control here, a mind which has been injured, PTSD and so much more. They mistrust the locals and hide away from the world.. The story switches from these two stories with ease.
And all the while, this house is the setting which links the two. And what a setting. It's remote, claustrophobic,lonely and unsafe. It's just enough for both women at different times - they both need the protection if not the dirt and decrepit state its in.
The main character however is that of Control. The control is the one who determines how each woman in the story has to act, feel and do what they need to do to survive. The house protects them in different ways but their struggles are at times painful to read. You just know these men are not going to give up.
There's a lot of pain and yet hope in this novel.It's a slow burning read, like a slow motion chinese burn of a read.You feel the pain and the anguish and the anticipation of both and it hurts in different degrees. The reader is inside the heads of these characters from the off. Powerful stuff.
A lot of pain wrapped up here - but a stark reminder of what absolute power and control can do and how women can fight back.