This is the first book I’ve read from this author and it won’t be the last.
I really enjoyed the story, it gripped me from the start and kept me guessing throughout.
Recommended to any psychological thriller fans.

I was fortunate to be able to review The Day of the Accident by the same author, which was a great read, so I was looking forward to this.

Sadly I didn’t feel this was as good as the earlier book. It was ok, don’t get me wrong, it was a quick read and the story had enough in it to keep you interested. But it was no means an easy read.

The book tells the very sad stories of Lisa and Grace. The Lisa story I found easier to read at the beginning. Lisa has run away from London and her husband, with her 3 year old son Joe. Lisa is being mentally abused my Mark and this is her bid to escape. However you learn that there is more to this than appears in the first instance. Grace’s story was a lot harder to read and to make sense of, certainly in the first instance, all a little bizarre and I struggled to get through her early chapters. Grace’s story is back in 2003/4 when she was a young girl living with her father, an ex solider who served in the first Gulf war, who clearly has severe mental scars. This has lead to him treating his daughter like a recruit he is trying to train up. This leaves her a very confused and disturbed young girl.

The two stories were very dark, but I found them a struggle. I didn’t dislike it, but I can’t say I liked it either. Although this was about two lonely characters, this is also a story about friendship, but not really a friendship that any reader is likely to be able to relate to. I didn’t warm to any of the characters in the book. The author struggled with her use of time in some of the chapters, one minute it was midday and what only felt like could have been an hour or two, suddenly it was evening or late evening.

I wasn’t quite sure on a rating for this, but I have settled on 3.5/5 rounding it down to 3/5. Thank you to NetGalley for my free copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

Lisa, with young son Joe, arrives at Rowan Isle House, hoping to hide away from her husband. But the house isn’t what she was expecting - a rundown property with no water or electricity is not a place for children. She’s befriended by vicar’s daughter Isabel, but what secrets is she hiding? The story alternates between Lisa’s story now and events from 15 years previously, when 11 year old Grace lived at Rowan Isle with her dad, a former army officer who’s training Grace in survival skills rather than schooling.

I couldn’t get into this book at all - whilst Lisa’s story was understandable and believable, I struggled with the early times. I found it especially difficult to believe that the local vicar would be more concerned with threatening her father with poaching laws (in 2004) rather than caring that his daughter was essentially feral with no formal schooling at all. It just didn’t ring true and each entry of her story seemed more and more unlikely.

Sorry, not a story I enjoyed,

Really liked the book and the ending was a bit of a shocker too. Really well written and enjoyable and would love to read more from this author.

I enjoyed this twisty turny thriller although I did find it creepy, dark and chilling but also found it hard to put it down. I was hooked from the start and couldn't wait to find out what had happened in this intriguing dual timeline story. I found both parts of the story equally interesting and couldn't wait to find out how the storylines would come together. Well paced with a satisfying conclusion. I recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

This book really wasn’t what I was expecting - not quite sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t it! It’s dark, chilling, gripping and in places quite uncomfortable to read. Written from two perspectives, the story twists and turns to an unexpected conclusion. Wouldn’t say I actually enjoyed it but I certainly couldn’t put it down!

Rowan Isle House, a single house on a remote lake in the Yorkshire Dales, worn and tired twenty years ago, and even more so now.

Twenty years ago, the house on the lake was inhabited by a man and his daughter. The man has been to war and clearly suffers from severe PTSD, he seems incapable of raising his daughter like any other girl, and has created a kind of army-like environment, treating her like a soldier in training. They live in seclusion, they don’t go to work or school and they live off the land. For the longest time the daughter thinks this is normal, but then she hits puberty and while she doesn’t mind all the soldier stuff – after all it’s what she’s used to – she also wants to do normal teenage things, strike up a friendship, swim in the lake, but her dad can’t deal with that… This part of the story to has a vibe similar to The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne, and it hit it me right in the feels. I felt for the little soldier girl, but also for her father. To me it seems crystal clear that he loves her deeply and he wants her to be safe and happy but his mind is so warped that he doesn’t know how to do that in a normal fatherly manner.

In 2018, Lisa and her three-year-old boy arrive at the house on the lake. Lisa is obviously troubled, running away from something or someone and the relationship with her son is obviously strained. It doesn’t help that the house is in a much worse state than she thought it would be, there’s no electricity, no running water, no heating, and the townsfolk seem to be hiding things from her. This part of the story was very intriguing, however much we find out about Lisa, there always seems to be a part that remains hidden. How did she even know about Rowan Isle House, and what happened to its previous inhabitants?

Jumping back and forth between these two storylines, The House on the Lake captivated me from the shocking prologue to the highly satisfying finale, keeping me on my toes throughout. Once again, Nuala Ellwood has crafted a beautiful, gripping tale that tickled my spidey senses but also hit me in the feels. A story about losing control and taking control, about suppressed anger finding a way out, about friendship, about love, about coming home. Recommended!

The House on the Lake is out on 20 February!

Thanks to Penguin Books and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

This book was ok, it was quite slow paced which left the ending rushed in my opinion. I enjoyed the story and how you had current day and the past story intertwined.

I found the two strands of the story interesting and could relate to some of the characters but couldn't understand why a woman would let a small child hit her quite frequently. However, I was quite disappointed with the ending that didn't seem much of a twist

Past and present were interweave in the story which involved 3 women who were stuck in unattenuable circumstances.

The book started with two parallel stories of Lisa in the present and a child who was called Soldier No1 by her father, suffering from PTSD, in 2004. The dual timelines were filled with intrigue and pathos until tiny lines started overlapping slowly.

My second book by author Nuala Ellwood, the parallel stories were deliberately kept blurred with one character in common to both stories. My emotions were evoked for both the women in the dual timelines. Their lives seemed to fly in directions with no clarity about the destination.

I loved how the author slowly streamlined the stories, tying the threads, weaving them into the subplots, showing me the inter connections. There was a bit of clever writing when the author used the Rowan House as the backdrop for both the stories, a place which had bad vibes and was dank and quite horrific. That added to the entire atmosphere of the suspense.

The reveals were unexpected, the suspense slightly lower than what I wished, but the characters kept me tightly wrapped into the story. Quite an entertaining read.

A psychological drama that is eminently readable (I coursed through it in 2 days)...however, as much as the suspense ratcheted up page by page, I felt a little let down at the end.

Quite a sad story tbh in parts but full of suspense and kept me intrigued the whole way through
Strong characters and a good easy writing style made for a great book

Almost gothic, the house by the lake should be tranquil and picturesque, but it isn't.
A powerful prologue sees a woman being arrested in a crime scene containing a lot of blood. The rest of the book has the story of two females who stayed at the house ten years apart. They both have suffered from living with controlling men - one a husband and one a father - and the house at the side of a lake seems like a refuge but actually feeds the sense of isolation.

The house, like the women, has no power. No running water, gas or electricity leaves the place cold and dark. The telling of the tales is eerie, creepy, atmospheric and chilling with heightened paranoia well expressed by the first person point of view narratives.

It becomes apparent that the narrators may not be reliable. There are a number of potential hallucinations, voices, shadows and blackouts. Both characters appear to be caring and decent human beings but there are indications that this is not the case. The suspense, at times, is tense with an irritable toddler to heighten the tension.

​Easy to read, this is a haunting thriller. The themes deal with taking control and how people become products of their past. The ending is a bit disappointing but it is a gripping journey to there.

I just couldn’t connect to the characters in this book. There were two stories here, that of Lisa and Grace, although there are links between them. I know Lisa was desperate but what mother would take her young child to a house like that? She was very ill prepared for running away and hadn’t seem to think things through properly. Both Grace and Lisa had very traumatic lives. There were a few unexpected events towards the end. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I haven’t read any books by Nuala Ellwood before so I was looking forward to reading her recently published suspense novel “The House on the Lake”.
There are two threads to this story, the present day with Lisa and her three year old son Joe, who are running from her controlling husband Marc. They take refuge at Rowan House in the Yorkshire Dales. The other timeline is set in 2003 at Rowan House and is told from the viewpoint of an eleven year old girl who is being brought up by her ex soldier father to be self sufficient and live by military rules. She calls him Sarge and is treated like a cadet, kept from other children and adults, being told that everyone is the enemy and are all evil.
This whole premise was highly unrealistic and totally unbelievable but I was engrossed and found I couldn’t put it down. I did find it very hard to accept that a mother would keep her child and such a young one as Joe in a house that had no running water, gas or electricity and which hadn’t been lived in for many years. Saying that, I appreciated that Lisa was exceptionally frightened and feared for her and Joe’s safety, so who knows what extremes you’d go to to protect your child.
Most of the characters were very strange and the atmosphere was weird and twisted from the start. If you can suspend disbelief and you enjoy slow moving
psychological suspense stories you’ll enjoy this one. There’s a ghostly feel to this haunting story and the denouement was tense but emotional.
I will read Nuala’s previous books and I will follow her in the future and wish her well with this enjoyable mystery thriller.

4 stars

I raced through this intriguing and dark storyline, set in the Yorkshire Dales. Using the popular dual timeline style, The House on the Lake follows the past and the present inhabitants of this ramshackle dwelling ; once home to Sarge and his young soldier, now a temporary refuge for Lisa and her toddler son Joe.
The dilapidated state of the house lends an eerie,haunting feel to both narratives and provides a focal point for events that unfold. Within its walls there lurks harshness and brutality and deep sadness. Initially I preferred hearing Sarge and soldier’s story, which is unsettling and strange to say the least. In Lisa’s story, this location seems a strange place to bring a small child, isolated and far from homely but Lisa is desperate to escape her controlling husband and desperation can make you do strange things. I did find her character rather annoying to begin with but as the story unfolds it becomes much easier to empathise with her and understand her current situation. Her confidence as a mother and her self worth are at rock bottom which makes sense given her backstory up to this point in time.However as is often the case there may be more to Lisa than meets the eye...
This is a storyline that I found incredibly engrossing and effortless to read, enjoying the author’s love of nature to capture the surroundings and bring events to life. It’s easy to understand what’s really going on behind closed doors with Sarge and soldier with these scenes making me feel immensely sad for both of them. Clearly there is a connection between past and present which is tantalisingly exposed and a clever way to keep the reader glued to the pages. Coupled with a good few twists along the way, I thought this was an excellent psychological thriller. There are some serious themes tackled in this novel; namely the effect of trauma on the psyche, the loss of childhood, the often bizarre nature of love and controlling behaviours. I can highly recommend The House on the Lake to fellow readers for its gripping storyline and sense of place. I honestly can’t think of anything negative to say about this piece of fiction.
Having not read any previous work by this author I will now eagerly search her back catalogue!
My thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

An ominous feeling pervades this book, a feeling of evil. Things might not be what they seem, people might be different to what they appear to be.
My sympathies swapped around from character to character, I didn’t guess what was coming.
Extremely atmospheric and haunting ...brilliant!

This was an intriguing read, on the one part we have the narrative of an 11 year old girl and her life growing up with her father who previously served in Iraq and quite clearly suffers from PTSD, she refers to him as Sarge and him to her as “soldier”. They live off the grid in Rowan Isle House and hunt and keep themselves to themselves for the most part.

The second is the narrative of Lisa who has run away from her ex with their 3 year old son, Joe to Rowan Isle House where she has been told by her friend that she will find sanctuary. The house appears uninhabitable, no running water, electricity etc. but she has no choice now but to make do, given she has little money and it being so close to Christmas.

I found this to be an interesting read, psychological of nature with a few twists I didn’t foresee.

Having read & enjoyed previous books by Nuala Ellwod I was looking forward to this one. Sadly this was a disappointment. This book deals with Lisa, a woman desperate to escape her domineering husband takes off with her small son to a friend's abandoned cottage. It also deals with a young girl being brought up away from society by her father who treats her like a raw army recruit. 20% in and I'm afraid I gave up as I failed to form a connection with any of the characters & wasn't really intrigued enough to find out what happened!Life's too short to read something you don't enjoy so I'm giving up.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me try & read this book. I'm sure it will appeal to many readers but it is just not for me.

Lisa and her three year old son, Joe arrive at a house beside a lake. The house is dark and creepy. Theres no electric or running water. But Lisa is on the run. She has no place else to go.

We also,follow Grace's story. She was thirteen when she lived in the same house with her father. Cut off from the villagers, her story is told in the form of a diary.

The two women in this story are completely different from each other. The common denominator between them is they both had men who wanted to control,them. It's also told 8n two timelines, 2018 and 2003. How were they connected? Where was this story going? The pace is slow allowing the story to build, layer by layer. I did find it a it weird in places. This story covers PTSD, abuse and the effects it can have on people. This is quite a thought provoking story.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and the author Nuala Ellwood for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.