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The Household cover art

The Household

By: Stacey Halls
Narrated by: Tuppence Middleton, Stacey Halls, Sophia Money-Coutts
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Summary

THE CAPTIVATING NEW NOVEL, SET AGAINST CHARLES DICKENS' HOME FOR FALLEN WOMEN

'Absorbing . . . Halls weaves together the elements of her story with great skill' Sunday Times
'Acutely observed and beautifully written' Daily Mail
'Compelling and richly detailed' Good Housekeeping
'Captivating' Woman
'Meticulously researched and compelling' Red
'Keeps the reader enthralled' Prima
'Exquisitely written . . . full of heart and hope' Fabulous

NOT ALL WHO ARE FALLEN WANT TO BE SAVED

London, 1847. In a quiet house in the countryside outside London, the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in common: they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty thieves and the destitute, Urania Cottage is a second chance at life - but how badly do they want it?

Meanwhile, a few miles away in a Piccadilly mansion, millionairess Angela Burdett-Coutts, one of the benefactors of Urania Cottage, makes a discovery that leaves her cold. Her stalker of ten years has been released from prison, and she knows it's only a matter of time before their nightmarish game resumes once more.

As the women's worlds collide in ways they could never have expected, they will discover that freedom always comes at a price . . .

The Household is the new novel from the award-winning, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars, The Foundling and Mrs England. Set against Charles Dickens' home for fallen women and inspired by real figures from history, it is Stacey Halls' most ambitious and captivating novel yet.

*Sunday Times bestselling author of MRS ENGLAND June 2021 and January 2022*
*Winner of the Women's Prize Futures Award 2022*

©2024 Stacey Halls (P)2024 Bonnier Books UK

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Disappointing

I was eagerly awaiting this book as I loved Stacey Hall's previous books. However, the style of this one was different. I loved the first person narrator in previous books, which worked fantastically on audiobook. They were also more relatable and gave fascinating insights into the history of the time. However, this book was a series of characters in third person. It felt more disjointed and impersonal. There were some interesting themes but these didn't develop quite as I'd like and bordered on sentimentalism. I felt it would have been so much more interesting and deeper in the style of the previous novels. I felt it was all diluted a but by the number of characters it was following. I also really wasn't impressed with the ending.
In all, it wasn't a bad historical fiction read, but it was so full of promise that it just didn't live up to.

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Very good fictionalised version of the Dickens “experiment”

Characters were well drawn and lots of the iniquities of Victorian London regarding women are explored. I felt that the story was a little unevenly told and one of the problems of Audible is that you can’t move about to check details. I didn’t like the narration - lots of strange emphases.

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Fabulous narration and story.

Hated putting this down. Brilliant characters and story line particularly as it’s based on truth although all characters are fictional.

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Another fabulous read

Another great book! Stacey has enormous skill at creating her characters and giving them enormous depth. This ensures that right from the start you have favourites, people to root for, feel sympathy for and of course those you love to hate. I have loved all of Stacey's books and this was no different. I also enjoyed the chat/interview with Sophia at the end, opened up some more of the real family history.

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Meandering

Love her historical fiction. But with this book, whilst there was lots of character development and immersement in victorian London, it seemed to lack purpose and a constant thread sufficient to hold my interest.

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Interesting and engaging

Well read, pace good. Easy listen. Having read Stacey Hall’s previous books it was enjoyable to listen to her new book.

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Great story

love the way Stacey writes & this book didn't dissapoint. The story line gripped me from the start. I'm hoping her next book will follow the main characters.

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love that's uts seeped in history

lived thw characters. felt really in touch and present with them all xx clever story line x exactly what you'd expect from Stacey Hall

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The Household

Fabulous! I devoured this in one sitting! I was hooked from the beginning with this story of women’s very different but intertwining lives. Stacy Halls brings the Victorian age to life with rich descriptions, an intriguing storyline, and a brilliant narration from Tuppence Middleton.

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Another great listen

I found this audiobook harder to get into unlike with Stacey’s previous 3 masterpieces. Once I was there however I found it difficult to pause and I found the narrators brought it all so brilliantly to life. The plot was different and it’s a really good touch to know that some of the story as well as Urania Cottage were from reality. Some good twists as usual as well as some clever surprises.

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1 person found this helpful