We all dream of the perfect family – children running and playing in the garden, neighbours popping round for special occasions, and mum in the centre, overseeing it all. Lorelei Bird has managed just that. With her husband Colin and their four children, settled ina chocolate box cottage in the Cotswolds which Lorelei decorates with their every painting and creation, they seem the picture of familial happiness.
But no family is ever that perfect.
The House We Grew Up In is an engrossing, fascinating and heart-breaking family saga which explores everything from extra-marital affairs and sibling rivalry to mental illness and suicide.
Jewell carefully weaves a path through family trauma as, brought back together by their mother’s death, Lorelei’s family must return to the once perfect home in which they grew up and discover the truth about themselves and the terrible things which happened there one Easter Sunday many years ago.
Jewell is a fantastic writer. There are many complex stories and characters in this novel, and yet the narrative is so engaging, and each character so beautifully constructed, that you can race through it like a beach read. I turned pages as if it were a thriller, but the overall effect was far more emotional and affecting than any ‘who dunnit’.
My only gripe with this novel is the ending. For a family with such complex issues and so many traumas to overcome, it felt a little simplistic and I found it hard to believe such fractured relationships could be so readily resolved.
Still, while the critic in me was unconvinced, I have to admit I welled up at the end of this novel and it quickly got me out of a major reading slump. Whether you’re a major bookworm, or an occasional reader, you can always rely on Lisa Jewell a great story.
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