This is written beautifully - but what a weird, bizarre novella without any real meaning this is! Maybe it is for the best not to try to look for any message here - maybe the authoress just wanted to play with things stranger than reality?

A cleverly pieced together bit of business that finally clicks into place in the final act; the path to get there, however, was just not my cup of tea. It is shrill, to say the least, and the ongoing chaos grated on my nerves. Not a recommend, sadly, even though I admire Muriel Spark's other works.

I'm a big fan of Muriel Spark and I think she writes beautifully. This book was no different. It felt a bit nightmarish and bipolar at times, but I think it is because it is rooted in madness, secrecy and memories of war. Though sometimes slightly disjointed, it is a nice short read to put things in perspective.

THE HOTHOUSE BY THE EAST RIVER BY mURIEL SPARK

i really enjoyed this novel. Haunting!

Thank you to Net Galley, Muriel Spark and the Publisher for providing me with a digital copy for a fair and honest review.

I found this rather weird and unsettling so I didn't finish it. However, I read some of Muriel Spark's other novels when I was younger.The

The two main protagonists of this strange short novel are a married couple whose relationship is dysfunctional to say the least. As is their relationship with their two children. This dysfunctionality seems to stem from the fact that quite possibly one of them is dead. Or maybe both are dead. Killed during WWII. Which means that their children never existed. Which means….well, I’m not too sure what it means. Or what any of this bizarre book means. Now I’m used to some weirdness in Muriel Spark’s books. You don’t read her for everyday reality on the whole. But this one is definitely weirder than most. Compellingly readable though, for sure, especially as the slow reveal keeps you guessing all the way through as you are constantly forced to question your assumptions about….well, about everything. Intriguing, quite funny at times, with some sharp dialogue, it’s maybe not the best choice for a novice Spark reader but definitely one worth reading. If you like weird.

My thanks to NetGalley and Open Road for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

The blurb hooked me.

"In 1970s New York, Paul and Elsa are like many other well-off middle-aged couples, worrying over their apartment and psychoanalyst bills by day, and meeting friends at restaurants by night. But this is not an ordinary couple with ordinary neuroses, as becomes clear when Paul convinces himself that Elsa’s shadow always points in the wrong direction. As Paul and Elsa’s involvement in World War II espionage begins to surface, the glitz and glamor of their lives is revealed to be nothing more than illusion."

The "shadow pointing in the wrong direction" SHOULD have tipped me off that this is both surreal and has an unreliable narrator, however I missed that part of the blurb. I do not care for surreal or unreliable narration and this book has book.

NOT the book, it is completely me, as I know others enjoy those things. If you are one of those people, you will like this book. I do not, so did not enjoy it. I got to page 21, then decided to skip to the back to see if it cleared things up or not. It did not. I read the reviews of others and got some spoilers.

Not a spoiler, but things don't tie together until about 85-95% of the way into the book. That is too long for me and the twist wasn't worth it for me to read the entire thing.

Again, not my kind of book, but if this is your thing, then I recommend it. If it's not your type of book, I recommend avoiding it.

One star, because I didn't like it at all. This book has the dubious honor of being my first DNF of 2017.

Hi! I didn't notice this book was unavailable for kindle. I'm traveling and don't currently have a device that can read epub format. Please consider making available for kindle!