This was both beautiful and heartbreaking! I loved the narration. LOVED it so much. This is a wonderful book about family and loss.

The story deals with a broken family living together, dealing with the cracks of their own relationships and the lemons that society throws at them in silence. The story is narrated from multiple PoV capturing each person's perspective to navigate through the events of their lives. The book did address the disparities of colour discrimination in a prominent way.

The lack of communication amongst the two adults in the book however was making me clench my fists tight. Unfortunately, the multiple PoV was also not working for me as most of the conversations were happening inside their head. I am all in for in-depth conversations but, the severity of the situation just did not reflect the same actions of many members of the house.

I felt the narrative cast did their best with what they were given and tried to puncture emotions into a very numb storyline. The book did turn out very different from my expectations.

Thank you @netgalley @dreamscape_media for the Audio ARC
Genre: #literaryfiction #multicultural
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

The House of Broken Bricks by Fiona Williams and narrated by Ben Allen; Lee Braithwaite; Jessica Hayles is a stunning experience. It is more than an audiobook, more than a novel, it is truly an experience to listen to

Jess, her husband Richard and twin boys Sonny and Max move away from Jess' Jamaican family in London to Richards home in the countryside (referencing the Quantocks, I would imagine Somerset area) The audiobook is told from multiple povs and explores each family member's perspective. This is hugely simplified because in all honesty, I was gobsmacked

The twin boys are fraternal, but one presents as Black and the other white. There is a section whereby the story of the publicity of their rare birth is reported in the papers and throughout, there is a seam of tension between the parents about the difference between the two and how they are perceived in public

There is also tension between Jess and Richard because Jess misses the London life and feels isolated, whereas Richard finds solace in his work on the vegetable crops and this threatens to dissolve the marriage, until a tragedy strikes that affects them all. At no point is it specified what the tragedy is (although I have an idea) but as in the style of writing, it is about the human experience as opposed to the minutae of details

Williams writes in such a beautiful, natural way, with extensive knowledge of flora and flora that is reflected in the boys wonder at their world. I was utterly entranced by the writing style

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Meida, the author Fiona Williams and the narrators for this incredible ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

The House of Broken Bricks is a stirring, deeply moving novel, blending character driven literary fiction with family drama. This character study of a multiracial family (white dad, Black mom, and non-identical twins - one Black and one white) explores racism, loss, assimilation, and family dysfunction. I really appreciate the multiple perspectives and the unique way it was organized by season. The full cast narration was excellent, and I'm so glad I chose this format. 5 star performances across the board.
Overall rating: 4.25 stars. 💕 Thank you Dreamscape for my gifted ALC.

This is a beautifully written book with multiple POV’s. This is a very character driven story that focuses mostly on character development. This story is a beautifully haunting display of how grief can weave its way through a family and how it can change each person differently. This book discusses a lot of heavy topics but does so very well. The chapters are short which I always like.

The audio was a little hard to follow, especially the passage of time but all of the narrators were great. On audio the POV switching was a little confusing at first but got easier to follow as the story went along. I did want a little more from the ending but overall this was still a great read.

I look forward to seeing what Williams writes in the future after this great debut! This is a great book to pick up if you like literary fiction, lyrical writing and character driven stories.

A family drama from all four members POV, the writing is as a true ode to nature and place, I could have read the descriptions of the landscapes and food and feelings over and over.

As a mother I appreciated the kind of sadness and existential crisis that Tess is facing in her life and how her sons and husband are all orbiting this shift and grappling with it in their own way. It felt melancholy and the feelings often reflected the turning of the weather, the garden, the town, this deep sense of connected intricacies. It was poetic and rich prose gave such a sense of surrounding.

With each season this family cycles through their pain and something anew is shifting them, I really loved the idea of how sometimes even families go through seasons of respite or healing, beginnings and endings. Williams did a beautiful job at showing how resilient the human spirit is and how family alters and protects us.

and Richard are married. Tess is originally from London but her and Richard now live in the English Countryside now, As with most people from the city you may love the the countryside but you still yearn for the city. Richard loves farming and is a bit obsessive compulsive with his crops. He also doesn't know how to communicate every well especially with his wife. Richard and Tess have 10 year old twin boys but people in town have had a hard time believing they are twins. Sonny has a darker skin tone as he takes after her mother who is Jamaican. Max is lighter and takes after his father. Max gets into trouble often and Sonny is very ethereal. From the beginning of the book the reader knows there has been a loss that has affected Tess and Richard significantly. Each of the family members deal with this loss differently. Because of this Tess and Richard have struggles to communicate with each other. The story is told from four point of views, Richard, Tess, Sonny and Max. As the seasons change does the story which fills with grief, heartbreak, loss, and love as all of this is abound in this story. About two-thirds through the book the reader finally finds out what was loss and now the reader will start to understand why they are the way they are. Eventually life begins again. Tess and Richard begin to communicate with each other, learn to love again and heal, They find the love they have for their sons and their home they learn to embrace again. I will not give away the ending but it is wonderful. Your emotions and heart will be working a bit of overtime with this one,

This is a beautiful telling the story of the most difficult year in the life of a family alongside the changing seasons of their home next to a river. The interior heartbreak in each family member draws them steadily away from each other until we see slowly healing revealed in each individual and in the family as a whole. The book is told by the views of each family member. This novel examines themes of loss, tragedy, love and friendships. The books is beautifully written.

This book broke my heart and put it back together again. We see what apathy and complacency can do to a relationship and that children are much more perspective than we give them credit.

Tess and Richard bruise and scar each other in different ways as they move through the motions of their lives. Sonny and Max, though twins, experience life in wildly different ways and are treated very differently by the small-minded community around them.

This book continues a poignant conversation about racism and classism in the UK that is relevant worldwide. Will absolutely demand that my friends read this.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this beautifully-written book by Fiona Williams, perfectly narrated by Ben Allen, Lee Braithwaite, and Jessica Hayles - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Just like their house in the English countryside is made of broken bricks, so is the family of Tess and Richard. They have "rainbow twins" - one appearing White and the other Black. Tess longs for the city life in London, where she wasn't the only Black person, while Richard thrives in the outdoors. Told over 4 seasons, we hear from each family member.

This is such a wonderfully, atmospheric story with beautiful writing - you'll be able to see the birds and the crops, taste the food, feel the weather. But where the story shines is in its character building - each member tells the story from their viewpoint, letting the reader figure things out, and seeing if they will be able to come together and move forward. You'll feel Tess' isolation and her yearning to be among more familiar people and setting; you'll see Richard step back inside himself, trying to figure out how to process; and how each of the boys, different in temperament and appearance, navigate all that's around them. Took me a bit to resettle after the twist, but it was so well done. The ending was perfect - hopeful. High recommended!

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

A story of a biracial family that moves from London to the English Countryside, THE HOUSE OF BROKEN BRICKS is told from all four POVs of the family members. Tess and Richard have fraternal twins - but Max presents as white and Sonny presents as Black. This impacts their family dynamic greatly.

I really enjoyed having all of the family viewpoints in this story because they all provided an important perspective. While this was a unique read, I did find it fairly slow-moving.

"The House of Broken Bricks" is the debut novel by Fiona Williams. It is a family character study over the course of a year. It is told in turns by the points of view of all four members of the family; mother Tess, father Richard, son Max, and son Sonny. The boys are fraternal twins who are different colors. Sonny looks like his Jamaican black mother. Max looks like his English white father. People don't believe they are brothers, let alone twins, nor do they believe Tess is the mother of her white son, Max.

The best part of this book is the beautiful lyrical prose. The descriptions are so well written that you really feel you're there with them.

It is set in Somerset, a rural countryside area of England. Tess feels out of place here as the only person of color. They live in a 300 year old brick house on the edge of a river, which floods annually. Richard, the father, is a vegetable farmer, constantly trying to get everything planted and harvested and sold.

There are several narrators, one for the twins and one for each the mother and the father. Ben Allen, Lee Braithwaite, and Jessica Hayles are the narrators, and they each did an excellent job!

Characters - 5/5
Writing - 5/5
Plot - 3/5
Pacing - 4/5
Unputdownability - 2/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Narration - 5/5
Cover - 4/5

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and author Fiona Williams, for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A moving debut about a British interracial couple and their twin sons. Touching and heartfelt, this story is told in alternating POVs as we get to know each member of the family and their various problems living in a small town and two of them being among the only BIPOC people of the community.

This was good on audio but at times I got confused about the timeline of the story as certain points seem to reference a loss in the family while that person is also still giving voice and it is never explicitly mentioned (that I could tell) what actually happens to them.

A great look at the complicated dynamics between a married couple struggling to communicate and connect, unexpected surprises, family relationships and loss. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for an ARC of this novel.

Fiona Williams has made a magnificent literary debut with this heart-wrenching family story. At the start of their relationship, Tess and Richard Hembry, as he remembers it, were the sort of couple who took on everything ‘shoulder to shoulder,’ whether life decisions or preparing the Sunday roast. After a dozen or so years of married life, while working hard on their small vegetable farm in the Somerset marshlands, they have turned into the sort of stereotypical conventional couple who rarely see things in common. Their tension affects their growing boys, who have reached the lifestage that would see them question meanings of identity and belonging regardless of their circumstances.

In this case, the twins Max and Sonny face particular struggles. Their parents come from very different backgrounds that young love had temporarily reconciled, but that now threaten their relationship and the family dynamics. Richard is white and his family ‘belongs:’ as Sonny notes, the proof is three generations of Hembrys in the community graveyard. Tess is Black, London born and raised. She had an architecture degree and a scholarship for advanced studies that were shelved when she married Richard. She is from a family of Jamaican immigrants with greater ambitions for their children than what Tess embraced.

There’s already much potential for tension in the mixed race and mixed background, the ‘native-born’ and ‘foreign’ elements, the entitlement of belonging and the fear of never belonging anywhere. But this is worsened by the boys’ uncommon appearance. Although twins, Sonny is black and Max is white. And it is Max, who ostensibly fits in more with his white neighbours—his mother is the only Black person in the village—who is most sensitive to the stares and questions of strangers and the taunts and teasing of other children. Tess’s own displacement and depression are worsened by her inability to protect him or to persuade Richard that they must return to the relative multicultural anonymity of London. She even fantasizes about escaping to Jamaica, which she visited only briefly as a child. Even the turning of the seasons, with the changes in weather, daylight and farm routine, never lift her much above the sense of cold and dark and unending rain that she feels within.

The story is also told through four perspectives for each season, that of both adults and both children. Each character’s voice comes through clearly as they describe events, but mostly how they see and feel what happens around them. Richard Hembry’s is the only POV that is related in the third person, suggesting his own isolation, detachment, and lack of emotional connection to Tess and their sons. In this audiobook, each narrator brings a particular tone to the characters, while the two boys, despite their different perspectives, tend to sound similar— as twins would.

Max wants to be Sonny, the more confident and popular brother. Sonny loves Max but tires of the attention he gets because his mother is so protective of him and his father goes out of his way to ‘relate’ to him because he is fragile and closed-in. For Tess, Richard is increasingly failing at being both husband and father. And Richard knows it but looks away.

The writing is beautiful, filled with the sort of descriptive senses you want to write down. The four season-four perspective structure is neat and concise, setting up a rhythmic interplay of people and nature, adult and child. Like many, this family doesn’t disintegrate because of a major blow. But slowly, ever so slowly, circumstance and memory erode the most solid of bonds. When the author reveals what triggered their growing dysfunction, the swirling pieces click together and make sense. But the story ends with the hope that even the many broken bits can reasonably be put back together, if not in the same way.