The Home by Sarah Stovell @OrendaBooks @sarahlovescrime @annecater

Book Description:

A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller centring around three troubled girls in a children’s home, by the bestselling author of Exquisite

When the body of pregnant, fifteen-year-old Hope Lacey is discovered in a churchyard on Christmas morning, the community is shocked, but unsurprised. For Hope lived in The Home, the residence of three young girls, whose violent and disturbing pasts have seen them cloistered away…

As a police investigation gets underway, the lives of Hope, Lara and Annie are examined, and the staff who work at the home are interviewed, leading to shocking and distressing revelations … and clear evidence that someone is seeking revenge.

A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller, The Home is also an emotive drama and a piercing look at the underbelly of society, where children learn what they live … if they are allowed to live at all.

My Thoughts:

I loved the authors debut novel so this has been one of my most anticipated reads for a while, it didn’t disappoint either.

The story mainly focuses on Hope and Annie where we find out more about their pasts as well as their relationship when they meet in the children’s home. Lara seems to hover more in the background but she is by no means any less intriguing.

It’s obvious these girls have all had troubled backgrounds. Sadly they haven’t had the lifestyles that most children should have in a loving environment. Whilst Hope’s life at home was bad enough, I have to say Annie’s story is the one that got to me the most.

Whilst this is a psychological thriller, as there is a lot of suspense and mystery surrounding the death, it is so much more. The story deals with difficult subjects like, manipulation, abuse, drugs, mental health to name but a few. It makes for a dark read that’s for sure.

Home is a dark, at times disturbing, read which fully absorbed me. What I especially love about this authors books are they are quietly brilliant. The authors writing gently draws you in and before you know it you are held captive. It took over my world as I was gripped to every page. A heartbreaking, emotional yet deeply dark and gripping read. Loved it.

My thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

The Home is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an Amazon Affiliate link).

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart. She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University. Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, was called ‘the book of the summer’ by Sunday Times.