My monthly newsletter book reviews can be found on my Reviews of what I’m reading page. But as I read more than one book a month, I leave other reviews here on my blog. They also get posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
A thoroughly enjoyable read to take you through a rainy day. It starts with the all too common but much-loved trope of a young woman, Kate, being left a house in her grandmother’s will and finding this the perfect chance to drag her mind away from pining after the self-centred bastard who broke her heart. All well and good.
But then Wilde throws us a few curveballs, and the tale turns unpredictable. There’s a cast of rich characters, including the deceased grandmother who comes alive to us through her old friend who in turn befriends Kate. I felt truly sorry that Kate and her grandmother had been kept apart by family feuding, with faults on both sides.
Kate turns the house into an airb’n’b to keep herself financially afloat. Alongside Kate’s own story and the exploration of her other new friend, the local solicitor (with some surprising non-solicitor type behaviours), we are treated to the tales of the various guests. Hence the title, The House of Many Lives. I wasn’t 100% sure about these little tableaux and how they impacted Kate’s own story – apart from lessons in what not to do, most likely – but they are certainly entertaining and satisfyingly human.
Find The House of Many Lives here
Through all this, Kate must face up to what she really feels for the bastard boyfriend and where her heart, and her life, are going to be best served. There were times I wanted to shake her, an excellent sign I was heavily involved!
Highly recommended.