I struggled at first to get into this book, but I am glad I persevered. It was a really intriguing story and very well written.

I never repeat the blurb. A quick read devoured in less than a day. Interesting premise and written during two time periods from two perspectives, this was a harrowing but satisfying tale.

I just love ms Ellwood's books, and once again I wasn't disappointed! This was a brilliant offering by a very talented author. This book dealt with a difficult subject, with two different woman and in two different timelines in such a skilled manner, the reader doesn't even realize it! Well done, please keep them coming.

The House on the Lake is essential two stories in one novel that cross over perfectly. On one hand you have Lisa. She and her son Joe are on the run. Her friends house in the wilds of Yorkshire seems to be the perfect place. No one knows her but is she as safe as she believes. The other story belongs to Grace. This book will keep you entertained to the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

Oh my oh my!! Have just finished this and I just couldn’t put it down, other than the fact one character has my name (yay!!).

It has such an in depth story and background that it’s hard not to sympathise with all the characters on different levels.

I feel for Lisa, everything she has had to endure with her husband, she believes she is doing the right thing.

Isobel is a gentle character, but she holds a huge secret.

Grace, she is a little girl in a big girls body.

I feel for each character on different levels and love how they intertwine together.

A definitely page turner.

Having loved Nuala Ellwood’s previous book, I was looking forward to setting down and reading this. The story hooks you in from the start with Lisa who has fled with her young son to a house on the lake previously home to Grace who is living a primitive existence with her protective and militant father. Told across the two main character’s timelines, the story shows similarities between them - particularly the dominant men in their lives and the involvement of the helpful Isobel- childhood friend of Grace and Good Samaritan to Lisa. Although I enjoyed the book, I felt that it was rushed towards the end and the final scenes too quickly explained.

I received an ARC copy of this book via net galley in return for an honest review. I feel I am in a group of one where the review of this book is concerned. I struggled to get through the book. The narrative was disconnected and hard to get into. The characters were unlikeable. The outcome was totally predictable - i think I knew who did what from about page 50. The premise is unbelievable Here we have someone hiding in an environment totally alien to her and who then does everything within that setting that will surely lead to her being noticed and discovered.

I am sorry it did nothing for me at all

A good basic thriller intriguing and full of twists that you won’t see coming. I felt more time should have been spent on the past story to flesh it out, the denouement was a bit hasty.

This gripping, compelling thriller is told from two perspectives. Lisa and her son are escaping an abusive relationship, and father and daughter living in harsh, deprived conditions. The only connection between them appears to be the house Lisa escapes to and two people who were previous inhabitants.

The main story is about Lisa and Joe (her son) arriving at Rowan Isle House, which is in an awful, neglected state, her son demanding to go back to his father. There is also a subsequent plot running through about a girl called ‘Soldier’ and her violent, abusive father. This is a pacy story which draws you in, wanting you to find out the connection and events leading up to the present day.

The theme for the story is abusive, controlling behaviour, and as the story unfolds you feel that certain events are being kept hidden. Why is Lisa staying in such a creepy, derelict house? What really happened to Soldier’s mother? Characters are well written and developed by the writer, with several twists and turns. You become engrossed in this graphic, well written book, which I found hard to put down until I had discovered what really happened.

Nuala Ellwood is a master of writing dark, compelling thrillers, and I recommend this book.

I loved Nuala's Ellwoods The Day of the Accident and this book does not disappoint, Lisa needs to disappear and quick with her son and they find themselves in a run-down cottage miles away from home.
But what Lisa does not realise the house has many secrets and what happens when her past finally catches up on her,

The book is gripping and kept me up many days way past my bedtime. The book keeps you on edge and days after finishing the book I was still thinking about it.

Thanks once again for letting me read this amazing book highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller.

Lisa has fled her husband with her son Joe, but what secrets does her friends house hold? What really happened to Grace in the past and what part does Isobel play?

I loved the beginning of this book and it really hooked me in. However I was a little disappointed in the ending and felt the explanation of Grace's story was weak.

Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe.

But when a woman from the local village comes to visit them, Lisa realizes that she and Joe aren't as safe as she thought.
What secrets have Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years?
And what will Lisa have to do to survive, when her past finally catches up with her?

This is such a gripping book, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the page in case I missed something and when I had to put the book down I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters!!

Full of twists and secrets, just when I thought I knew what was happening the story veers in a different direction. The tension builds slowly as we start to learn about Grace and Lisa’s secrets.

The setting is gorgeous yet claustrophobic, the writing perfectly paced and descriptive and the whole novel has a beautifully melancholy feel that plays well into the story being told.

Definitely recommend this thrilling book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK For an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review

Once again, a terrific read! I very much enjoyed Nuela Ellwood's debut novel, My Sister's Bones as well as her second one, The Day of The Accident, and she's done it again, she scores a hattrick in books with this new novel!

The House on the Lake is a novel about abuse and control, being controlled as well as taking control. Even though there are two completely different stories told in this novel it's not hard to see these similarities and to hope for a positive outcome for both of them.

One of the narratives follows Lisa and her three year-old son arriving at Rowan House, a very dark and creepy house. The same house in fact where a few decades ago a young girl lived with her father. The girl is known as Soldier and she calls her father Sarge. She started receiving training since her 11th birthday and while she doesn't know any better and talks about what she's going through as if it's the most normal thing in the world, I really hurt for her. It isn't a normal life and her father's mindset is far from fine, yet nobody in the village does anything about it. I became totally engrossed in what happened to her, and my heart filled with fear a couple of times, but I was also very interested to know why Lisa's little boy didn't want his mommy, or why she was hiding there of all places. 

I had no idea where these storylines were going to lead, and it was very strange to see a character from the past pop up suddenly in the present. Without an apparent link, I had no idea the storylines would become more intertwined and that long buried secrets would eventually find their way out in a masterfully plotted conclusion. 

The House on the Lake is a brilliant page-turner and perfect for readers who love a brutal assault on the heart, as in The Marsh King's Daughter and Resin.

We know that something has gone wrong - badly wrong - when the woman who was alone in the house is taken away by the police, but it's going to be a while before we learn exactly what has happened.

In December 2018 Lisa has taken Joe and she is running away from Joe's father, Mark. Joe might be only four years old but he's very clear about what he wants. He wants Daddy and he's prepared to attack Lisa physically and verbally to get what he wants. Lisa is driving to a house loaned to her by a friend. It's called Rowan Isle House and it's by the lake and whilst we don't know exactly what Lisa was expecting it's fair to say that it wasn't what she found. The house is damp, without running water or electricity and if it wasn't for Isobel, the vicar's daughter, Lisa doesn't know how she'd cope. It's better than going back to Mark though - but try as she might she can't stop his criticisms from running through her mind.

There's a history to Rowan Isle House. We go back to 2002 and meet Soldier. She's an eleven-year-old girl and it will be a long time before we discover her name. Soldier is living in the house with her father: he's called Sarge. Sarge is a war veteran and he holds Soldier a virtual prisoner in the house. Today we might suggest that he was suffering from PTSD: back then he was first thought to be eccentric then became known as 'the local nutjob', 'the freak and his brown-skinned daughter'. No one seemed to be worried about the life Soldier - 'the dirty raghead' - was living.

I read this book with a constant feeling of unease: I was mentally looking over my shoulder the whole time. Nuala Ellwood neatly mirrors the relationship which Lisa has with Mark and Soldier has with Sarge. Both men are controlling in the extreme and you're never quite certain of just how far they will go.

The House on the Lake is a story of grief at the loss of a parent, of the bond between mother and child and of finding out who you really are, which isn't down to parentage. It touched a deep nerve in me, as I suspect it would with anyone who has had a troubled relationship with a parent. I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

Too much of this book doesn't really ring true.

Lisa runs away with her three year old son to a remote house in Yorkshire. A house that hasn't been inhabited for at least ten years. Sorry, but if I had been brought up with all the home comforts of modern life, moving in to a cold, damp and dirty house with no water, heating or electricity wouldn't happen. Where did the wood come from to light the stove, one that hadn't been used for years.
Joe is a pretty mardy child, and while I have no experience of children this age, seems to be a very disturbed child.
The house's previous occupants had been a father and daughter, Grace. Grace was being trained as an elite soldier by her father, a Gulf war veteran. It is soon obvious that he is suffering from PTSD. In the 90s this was well known about and it defies belief that they weren't on the radar of the social services or even the police as they seemed to go around with guns. Guns need a licence and that would have been checked on.
While parts of the story were quite gripping, the rest was quite tedious and missing some of the back story.
The ending just seemed to happen in a rush as though the author just needed to finish the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was chilling from the outset. A host of characters with histories of dark deeds that can’t be guessed at. I almost felt as if I wanted to read it in daylight as it seemed so powerfully scary when night fell!
I was caught out when the plots were finally unravelled. They had been cleverly woven into the threads of the story and I hadn’t seen them coming.
This is definitely a dark and chilling read and will keep you on tenterhooks.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the second book I have read by Nuala Ellwood and it did not disappoint.

The book follows 2 stories one set in 2003 and one in the present day. Both have the undertone of abuse although different ways one is control over a child by a father clearly suffering from PTSD and one is domestic abuse. The modern story follows a mother who has ran away with her 3 year old son to a remote house on a lake. The other story is set in the same location some years before when Grace is being raised by her father as a solider she is made to live like she is in the army and she is tortured if she fails to do anything to his high standards. We gradually learn how both stories play out with a dramatic conclusion. This book was a gripping read but it is a fairly slow burner it does however show the positive ways abused women can be strong and take back control. Highly recommend.

I loved reading The House on the Lake and the five stars are in acknowledgement this was a brilliant read. As the title suggests, the story is set in an old house and is the connection between the female narrators. There's a great twist when it's revealed how they are connected. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is how the past and present start to come together, and the way the start and ending was joined up worked really well. There's plenty of suspense and the sense of fear and creepiness really builds up as the reader finds out more about Lisa's situation. Highly recommended for fans of unputdownable psychological thrillers.

Fascinating! Plenty of twists and turns with super “real” characters that you can believe in. An unusual storyline.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You can run but you can't hide and your past will catch up with you.
Cracking thriller with multiple twists along the way as two apparently seperate stories merge together.
Great read, thanks again