This book made me do something I have never done before. Let me explain, I know a book is amazing when at the end I don't immediately pick up another book because I want to stay in the world of that book a bit longer. When I finished #TheHouseofBrokenBricks by Fiona Williams, I sat for a few minutes in devistation that it was over and then I started reading at the beginning again! I stayed up half the night re-reading a book I had just finished. It was even more amazing the second time. The prose and lyrical writing, especially of the character Sonny, is magical.
I believe this book is one where the less you know about the story the more impact it will have so I encourage you to not seek out the plot. Some reviews are giving spoilers because things happen early in the story but the unspoken secrets are the magic to the book. Do you know what you think you know? Did you really read that correctly?
I look forward to reading everything Fiona Williams ever writes. I will be purchasing this book because I wanted to highlight so many incredible lines.

Thank you to #netgalley and #henryholt for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for my ARC!

Such a beautifully written story about a Black woman living in England with her white husband and 10-year-old twin boys Max and Sonny. Sonny's skin color is like his mother's while Max's is like his father's. It explores the racism and judgments people hold. It had a twist I was not expecting. I didn't realize how much just reading about food could make me hungry until Fiona Williams described it in such mouthwatering detail. Definitely recommend!

A poignant story of a mixed nationality couple, the wife Jamaican, the husband British. They settle in the husband's ancestral small town where the wife is the only woman of color. They have twin boys, one dark-skinned like mom, the other, fair and blue-eyed like Dad. Even though the boys do not resemble each other and are considered an oddity, the family manages to find their place in the community. The boys become a unit unto themselves and don't need outside friends. Mom withdraws and has few friends. Dad operates a small truck farm and gradually the couple grows apart. Tragedy strikes the family shattering what unity they had.
The writing is beautiful and lyrical, almost dream-like drawing the reader in and never letting go until the satisfying ending.

"Ain't nothing wrong with being broken. Nothing at all. You hear?
You're like these houses, not a whole brick in 'em and look how strong they are. Been 'ere hundreds of years and nothing's destroyed them, not floods, not war, not people, nothing."
Goodness this novel pulled at my heartstrings. Each chapter is perfectly short/precise and is through the perspective of each family member as they individually deal with heartbreaking grief. Without giving too much away there is a point in the book where you are made aware of the terrible tragedy and it makes you want to go back and re-read everything leading up to that point. The descriptions throughout the book of the English countryside, the cottage, and the gardens are delicious and lush, I felt like I weathered the four seasons with this family in more ways than one. The ending of the book was a delightful surprise which ties in nicely to the cover design. I am incredibly grateful for Fiona Williams for constructing this masterpiece and for NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for providing me with an ARC ebook. I look forward to the hardcover release in April 2024 and to discuss this deeply emotional book with others.

Thank you NetGalley, Henry Holt publishing and Fiona Williams for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, can we talk about the cover? I feel like this is the perfect choice for the book and is absolutely breathtaking.

This book feels like contemporary writing met middle ages lyrical almost and I loved it! The short chapters were nice and the multiple viewpoints from the family members gave you great insight as to how each of them saw what was going on. It allowed for great perspective and added depth to the story. I loved reading about Tess, her family during what was a very trying it. I feel like I know Tess and should go have a coffee with her.

Well done on a fantastic debut novel!

Marriage can be a challenge even for the couples who don’t encounter sadness. In this novel we follow a family who has suffered a great loss as they navigate through seasons. Well written with a haunting touch of gothic atmospheric feel.

Wow, I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did! Thank you to Netgalley, Henry Holt and Company, and Fiona Williams, for this advanced copy.

It’s incredibly well written and very unique. Reading from each character's perspective kept me intrigued and I came to love this fractured family

Amazing debut by Fiona Williams .

This story is about a family that has gone through a great tragedy but the family has picked up a “we don’t talk about it” about the situation. All of the characters expect for the father is written in first person. I felt like it wasn’t an accident. I see it as the father being unable to bear the truth of the situation and his perspective as being an outsider perspective and it is more detached from the rest of the family

This story was written beautiful in a lyrical prose matter and I found it really enjoying to read. Sometimes through out the story I did feel it to be a bit wordy but otherwise I enjoyed reading it. I would come back to it with a different mindset next time and try reading it again

Thank you Net Gallery and the publisher for giving me a chance to read this story.

Thank you to Netgalley, Henry Holt and Company, and Fiona Williams, for this advanced reader copy. This is the first book I’ve read by this author.. The first couple chapters kind of reminded me of a poem for a poetic piece of work. The words were strong, the details, heavy, yet the story for each character, detailed how they were living. This, undoubtedly is a story of healing. Everything around the house of bricks was crumbling yet the family was trying to figure a way to make it through. The different viewpoints of each family member keep you wondering what is happening and how each are handling it.. Give this book a chance and maybe you are can uncover and understand why the house had broken bricks.

First, thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for providing me with an eARC of The House of Broken Bricks. Secondly, thank you directly to Fiona Williams for writing a book that manages to capture grief in its various forms, discuss race tastefully and tactfully, and keep its core story about a family in healing. This book is beautiful, written so poetically that it becomes lyrical at many points. The points of view shifting between members of the family add so much context to the story at hand, and the use of a small town where fitting in when you stand out is difficult as the main setting creates a feeling that is easy to get immersed within. I loved every second of this book and the last 20 pages or so had me reading through tears in a very unexpected way. I am so excited for anyone who picks this book up and gives it a chance.

A multiracial family living in rural England struggles to come to terms with the death of Sonny. Max and Sonny are fraternal twins. Sonny takes after his mother who is dark skinned amd Max takes after his fad who has light skin. The book is told from multiple points of view. Richard, the father, is the only character told in third person. Perhaps this is a way to show how he distanced himself from his family after his son's death. Tessa, the mother, shows all signs of depression. She lives in routine to survive the grief. Max, the twin, lives as if his other half never left him. They are each broken and together they make a family surviving after a tragic loss. Then, there is Sonny, the twin who died, an outsider watching his family grieve pointing out the life still stirring in his home.

This story is written in beautiful prose amd overall is well written. Williams depicts how people react differently to loss and the multiple viewpoints showcased this. The part I struggled the most with is how unclear Sonny's death is until halfway through the story. The first half of the story Williams as if Sonny is still alive. Then, after Christmas she makes it obvious that Sonny is dead. It threw me and took me out of the story; I struggled for a while after to get back into the story.

Tess is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants- building a life with her European partner and two children in a remote community where the only person who looks like her is one of her twin sons. The story picks up in the thick of loss. Tess is moving joylessly through her life. The narration switches between the perspectives of her two sons and her husband as they grapple with the all consuming nature of grief.

Written in lyrical prose, the House of Broken Bricks is a heavy read, punctuated by beauty, specifically natural beauty. The author has much to share about the nature of grief and how the process of grieving is grounded in both the natural world and other worldly experiences.

I enjoyed the concept of an open secret. As a reader, you will very quickly understand what tragedy has happened to this family, but the characters will continue to speak and exist around the truth. “We don’t talk about it” is such a human response to loss and one that only serves to create more pain. The story unfolds around this void, sharing a beautiful and raw depiction of healing.

This is not a joyful story but there are glimmers of beauty. This story will speak most strongly to readers who have experienced loss, the kind of all consuming loss that leaves you fumbling to pick up the pieces and make sense of the act of continued on existing. It meanders a bit for my preference and some of the narration is a little too deep and vivid, bordering on saccharine- but that seems intentional.

Thank you Net Galley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC for review.

A story about family. A broken family. This title had me intrigued. Three stars. A bit lengthy at times and wordy for my taste. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I might revisit this one again.