I wasn't a fan of this authors voice and it was a struggle to finish reading it. I think the story was interesting enough, but I dont think I'll read anything else by this writer

Compulsive read. I was unable to put this book down, absolutely gripping.

Helen Garner briefly tells us about the crime and the whole book is about the court proceedings, which she recounts masterfully. Somehow Garner's account fo the court is rich but without too many quotes, insightful but without inserting herself, beautifully written but not flowery, solemn without being melancholy.
Every true crime book focus on the crime, the criminal, the background, with a chapter on the fallout. Garner flips it, showing us all of this through a trial.

Thank you so much to the publisher for this incredible read.

This House of Grief
The Story of a Murder Trial
Helen Garner
The setting was Australia, September 4, 2005, around 7pm, Father’s Day. Robert and Cindy Farquharson were separated. Robert was returning his three sons to their mother. His car veered across the Princes Highway between Winchelsea and Geelong, in Victoria. It crashed through a fence and came to rest in a farm dam. The vehicle filled with water and submerged. The three boys could not free themselves and drowned. Robert managed to escape and had another driver take him to Winchelsea. Police drivers recovered the bodies of the boys the next day. The boys were inside the vehicle and were not restrained by seatbelts.
Would a father actually drown his three sons, ten, seven, and two to get revenge on his?
Robert’s defense was losing consciousness due to a coughing fit. He was arrested and placed on trial. There was a total of 49 witnesses. On October 5, 2007, Robert Farquharson was found guilty and was sentenced to three terms of life imprisonment without parole. The court of appeals overturned the judgement, and he was retried. On July 22, 2010, the jury returned with a verdict of guilt. Robert Farquharson was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 33 years.
What can I say? My heart breaks for those three boys and their family.
This book was written by the author Helen Garner. She was there and witnessed the trials of Robert Farquharson. This story is told from her point of view. She shares her thoughts, and interpretations as well as the evidence presented. MS Garner did an excellent job writing this book. She conveyed the anguish, agony, unease, damage, sentiments, and material successfully.

I'm excited for this book to release. A great addition to the true crime genre by an author who really does justice to an interesting story. Thank you to the publisher for early access.

For the future, would prefer if titles could be deployed in a format that worked better for kindle - the formatting was very off.

This House of Grief by Helen Garner is an enthralling true-crime read. And this was a brilliantly written story.
I thought the writing was exquisite and Garner captivated me within the third page.
I was pleasantly surprised by his book if I’m being honest. I didn’t know what to expect going in but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I truly did.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Pantheon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

If you are one who enjoys true crime books, this one is for you. It's easy to read and fun. This is one everyone will enjoy.

This covers the tragic & intriguing case involving Rob Farquharson, which I had not known about. Helen Garner, followed and attended the trials in Australia.

Rob Farquharson was divorced from Cindy Gambino’s, who later married Stephen Moules. Moules was a contractor who did work for the family. Farquharson moved to his father's place a few blocks away after their separation. On the evening of Father’s Day, 2005, Rob was driving to his ex-wife Cindy's house to take their 3 boys (Jai, Tyler, Bailey) back to her. The car runs off a bridge, Rob survives, while the boys die. Rob claims he had an episode of coughing syncope (considered very rare) which caused him to lose consciousness momentarily and he found himself in water.

Rob is charged with killing his boys on purpose as revenge against his wife. The trial and a subsequent retrial involve witnesses and experts providing opinions based on his conduct, interaction with others and evidence on the scene.

Being a true crime story, I suppose many have heard of or known about the case (I did not though). Despite there being a good amount of public information, I will avoid discussing the evidence and verdict as that would a spoiler for those who do not know about it. I was a little surprised by the verdict considering the evidence presented.

The book does well to outline all key testimonies and evidence. The case itself is fascinating, though of course, extremely tragic. I found the narration to be very dry and felt the writing could have been better. Other than that, it would have been good to include some other perspectives on what common people and experts thought of the case and the verdict.

My rating: 3.5 / 5.

I don’t always love true crime that focuses so heavily on the trial(s) because it can be so dry but the author did a great job of making you feel like you were there and adding color and personality to the situation.

I really felt like I knew those involved, even the more tangentially involved like the snoozing brother-in-law.

Solid journalism and compellingly written

This was a mind-bending horror story that’s all too true. An Australian father and his three boys go off the road on their way home and land in a dam. The father escapes, but his three boys drown. Written to keep you enmeshed in the story and the court cases. It has you trying to decide if this was a tragic accident or murder. Lots of suspense and surprises.

A brilliant look at a horrible sickening crime.A father driving his car into a damn drowning his three sons .Helen Garner brings the trial the father separated from their mother the boy’s family the towns people all into view.There is so many emotional moments so much to cringe at think about you willnot be able to forget this tragedy#netgalley #knopfvintagebooks.

This House of Grief by H. Garner, published by Penguin Randomhouse is a true crime pageturner of its finest.
Robert is driving his three sons back home to their mother when an accident happens and all boys have lost their lives.
An accident or bloody revenge from the divprced father?
A court case follws and one year later Robert stands trial for three murder charges.
I started reading and while I don't take a peek at the end, all I wanted to know was what's the verdict.
Robert is an annoying person, aggravating at his best, not a fav character.
With minutae love to detail the author describes the trial, a true-crime-classic that grips you and doesn't let go anymore.

This House of Grief is unlike any other true crime book I've read--it is so much more! It tells the story of an incident that received wide attention in Australia--a father drove a car with his three young children into a dam, resulting in their deaths, while he escaped. Helen Garner attended the father's subsequent murder trial (and retrial) and describes her experiences here in stunning prose. I didn't realize that she is also a novelist, but it became clear through reading the book that she has a remarkable way with words and of creating atmosphere. She vividly describes the trial participants and delves into the father's background in particular. This seems like an inexplicable event--the father apparently made no attempt to save his children and behaved oddly afterwards. Garner examines his story with a clear eye, allowing the reader to make their own determination about what really happened. This is a tragic story, brought to life by a gifted storyteller.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Another brilliant work from this legendary author. The subject matter is sensitively handled but no painful detail is spared. Deep analysis and insights into the crime and the people involved are skilfully offered in this true crime masterpiece.

Really interesting story I had not heard of. Happy it was realized to the US. This really was just a play by play of the court case but I thought it was interesting but a little slow.

The formatting on the Kindle is way off so hopefully that will be fixed before official release.

Gritty crime story of domestic homicide, Well written, if the story elements are not original. Will captivate readers who are partial to this genre. Takes place in Australia.

Fathers’ Day September 4, 2005 will be remembered by many in Australia as a tragic day. Robert Farquharson was returning his three sons to his estranged wife Cindy Gambino when his car left the road and plunged into water. Robert escaped, but Jai, Tyler, and Bailey did not.

This book describes Robert’s arrest for murder and the subsequent trials. The author attended the trials and the narrative is written in first person. Unfortunately, the writing style did not appeal to me. Despite this, I wanted to know what the result of the court proceedings would be.

The author shares her opinions and observations of the people and evidence presented. There is a large amount of information related to various aspects of the accident reconstruction as well as from various medical experts. Other threads running through the narrative include devastation, loss, grief, anxiety, distress, effects of marriage breakups, and much more.

Overall, the story is emotional, heartbreaking, and informative. Those who enjoy reading true crime books will likely greatly appreciate this one.

Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor – Pantheon and Helen Garner provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for October 10, 2023.

On Father’s Day, 2005, estranged husband Robert Farquharson, on his way to returning his 3 small children to their mother after a visit, suddenly veers off the road into a dam. Robert was able to escape, but the three kids drowned. This House of Grief chronicles the subsequent trial, as Robert was arrested and charged with murder in a story that captivated Australia. The author attended the trial and appeals exhaustively, and the book is a retelling of the testimony of all involved. Although the case had people choosing sides, it appeared the evidence was overwhelming, and Robert’s story so flimsy, that it seems surprising this case garnered the enormous attention it did, although the horrificness of the act may be the reason. While the author does an admirable job of processing and relaying the court testimony to the reader, the book fails to have the emotional impact on the reader that you would expect, as the court testimony tended to be dry and repetitious. Overall, it’s still a must-read for true crime fans. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: October 10, 2023
On September 4, 2005 (Father’s Day in Australia), the car Robert Farquharson was driving ran off the road and plunged into a dam- sending Robert and his three young sons into its murky depths. When only Robert emerged, claiming his children had died, speculation began instantly that Robert had purposely driven his car over the edge, in order to spite his ex-wife (the boys’ mother) who had just divorced him and started dating someone else. Robert claims it was a medical emergency that made him lose control, a medical condition so rare it is barely recognized in medical circles, but the general public were quick to throw stones at the young father who did not “react reasonably” at the scene of the accident and afterward.
Helen Garner, a reputable Australian non-fiction author, decided to taker her obsession with the case and turn it into her newest publication, “This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial”. Garner followed the case from beginning to end and “Grief” outlines her observations while sitting in on the multi-month trial, including not only the initial trial but also the second trial that occurred after the Defense argued that errors led to a “miscarriage in justice”. I am not familiar with any of Garner’s other works, although she is award-winning and recognized nationally in Australia, but after reading “Grief” I can whole-heartedly say that Garner certainly commits to a case, and gives it her all.
Garner shares her opinions on the witnesses and shares what she believes the outcome should be, but she makes it very clear that these are her opinions only. She very honestly depicts the details of the trial, and all of its participants, which serves to let the reader make their own decisions. The reader is able to respect Garner’s opinions and yet not be swayed by them, which is a remarkable feat for a non-fiction true crime novelist.
I was not familiar with this story, likely because of the location, but I was intrigued by the idea that a parent (any parent, regardless of gender) could murder their children, and I needed to know, if Farquharson had indeed committed such an act, HOW and WHY and all the nitty gritty details in between. Garner did not leave me lacking. “Grief” was empathetic to both the victims and to Farquharson while providing non-biased information and detail on both the event itself and the proceeding court case.
Garner is a true crime, non-fiction writer for not only diehard true crime readers but for those, like myself, who occasionally dabble in the genre. Emotional, respectful and informative, Garner’s “This House of Grief” is a powerful read!

Helen Garner is an Australian journalist who has chronicled the 2005 case of a father who drove his car off the highway and into deep water, drowning his three young sons. Robert Farquharson claims that he had such a severe coughing attack that he blacked out, causing the tragedy.
However, Farquharson did not attempt to save his boys that night: he swam to shore and refused offers of help to rescue them. He did accept a ride to his ex wife's home to inform her of the 'accident.'
The author does a wonderful job of covering the trial and retrial of this father, and examines the emotions and actions of the families involved.

For such an interesting true crime event, this book really bored me. It's not structured like other true crime novels and instead is basically just a play-by-play of the trial. I like a court drama as much as the next person, but it would be a lot more interesting if there were actually the slightest possibility that the defendant wasn't guilty. I mean, really. Everything he did right after drowning his kids made it perfectly clear that it was all on purpose. None of the arguments convinced me that he didn't do it maliciously. Maybe if the argument had been insanity, I might have gone for that, but nothing else. To read page after page after page talking about whether or not he did it on purpose was just boring AF when it was so clear there was no alternative. There might be something interesting in the why he did it, but it seems so obvious that I don't need an entire book to tell me the ins and outs of his thoughts. There was not a single piece of evidence that made me consider, even for a second, that the drownings weren't 100% his intention.

This book has been highly praised in the years since it came out and I cannot figure out why. Unless you really want to feel like you're sitting in a courtroom yawning along with the jurors, I'd skip this. Maybe I am biased because my dad is an attorney and I've spent my entire life in and out of courtrooms, watching court dramas on TV, and hearing stories about trials, but I simply cannot see the appeal in a book like this. There's no mystery at all. There's no question, beyond the first few pages, of whether the guy is guilty. There's no interesting manhunt or search for witnesses or anything that makes this case intriguing. It's just a sad sad case of a man throwing a tantrum because he isn't getting what he wants.

There was so much detail that didn't add anything to the narrative--what people were wearing in the courtroom, their facial expressions, who was fighting yawns during certain testimonies (besides me), all teeny tiny minutae about increasingly boring expert witnesses--that I think if this book were about half the length, it might have been entertaining. But instead it just dragged and dragged.

I found the first person POV odd for such a book and some of her commentary really bothered me. She had so many opinions that didn't make sense. In a way, it was like she was trying to convert the reader to a particular thought, but it came across as preachy. And why on earth did she have a 16 year old playmate with her in such a horrific trial? Just to have someone to talk to so she could add dialogue to the book? So much about this book made zero sense to me. Definitely not one of my favorites.

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.