Read January 2020.
Three young girls with violent and disturbing backgrounds have been sent to live at The Home, a children's home in the Lake District. The theory being that Hope, Annie and Lara can be reahabilited by living in a remote rural idyll.
But it takes more that the countryside to help these girls get over the tragic hand that life has dealt them, and funds are now running low at The Home. So low that there are plans to close it permanently and send the three girls to new placements, far away from each other and the complicated relationships that have formed between the trio.
When the body of Hope is found in the local churchyard, on Christmas morning, with a weeping Annie by her side, the police begin an investigation into the goings on at The Home. What were the girls doing out on the freezing lake on Christmas Eve? Has Hope been the victim of some twisted revenge campaign? And who was the father of the fifteen-year-old's baby?
Will the truth ever be uncovered amid the tangle of shocking revelations, secrets and lies that abound in the lives of Hope, Annie and Lara?
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I have yet to read an Orenda book that has not grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and ripped out my bloody, broken heart! The splendid authors that Orenda publish have an uncanny knack of confronting the dark and twisted side of human nature, and spinning cracking tales of tragedy that carry you along an a poisonous tide to the bitter, screaming end - and The Home by Sarah Stovell is no exception! I love them!
This is a story of three girls with the most heartbreaking, violent backgrounds, who find themselves thrown together by the impossible logic of the social care system. Hope, Annie and Lara are hard cases, formed by their horrendous experiences into brittle and broken girls who see little reason to go on living.
Hope's narrative tells of life with her junkie, prostitute mother, and charts her inexorable fall into child prostitution at the hands of her mother's pimp, Ace; Annie's part details a childhood coping at the hands of a bitter mother, who descends into madness; and Lara's tale recounts the history of a family strained to a murderous breaking point. Three girls horribly let down by a society that did not take the time to care enough about what was going on behind closed doors, even though the signs were there for all to see.
Once their fates become linked, we can see that there is not going to be a happy ending for any of them, although the manger of The Home does the best she can to help them with the limited resources she has available.
I loved the way that Sarah Stovell reveals the horrific stories behind how our girls find themselves residents at The Home ever so slowly over the course of the book, until the shocking truth is finally revealed. I particularly enjoyed how she did this in different ways for each of the girls - Hope recounting her tale to Annie; Annie not just confiding in Hope, but recording her history in diary form; and poor, mute Lara, musing on her past in her own isolated little world. But the real truth behind their stories is saved for us, the readers, and believe me when I say that you will have no idea what the truth is until you get the the gloriously sublime ending.
If you enjoy a thrilling story about the dark side of life - one that is going to punch you in the gut before the end is nigh - then this is one for you...and while you're at it, go check out the rest of the wonderful Orenda range - satisfaction guaranteed!
The Home is available to buy in e-book format now, and in paperback from 16th January 2020, from your favourite book retailer. Amazon link here.
Thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for The Home, and to Sarah Stovell and Orenda Books for my gifted copy - in return for an honest review.
From the cover of the book:
THE HOME | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £8.99 | ORENDA BOOKS
A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller centring around three troubled girls in a children’s home, by the bestselling author of Exquisite
‘I was immediately ensnared into the devastating and dark world of The Home and devoured it in one day … A triumph’ Holly Seddon
‘Gripping, sinister and utterly heartbreaking … I absolutely loved it’ Lisa Hall
One more little secret … one more little lie…
When the body of a pregnant fifteen-year-old 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.
About the author:
Follow Sarah on Twitter: @sarahlovescrime.
About Orenda Books:
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016.
In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers.
Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
www.orendabooks.co.uk
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