Not my first book by this author, but definitely in a more modern setting than I'm used to from her. Still a darn good read!

Katy Speed, at 23, still lives at home with her parents as was pretty much the norm at the time. Interested in what goes on around her, Katy is fascinated by the visitors to the house across the street, and often wonders what is going on there. When that house is ablaze in the middle of the night, it sets off a chain of events which are to impact deeply on the Speed family.

Katy is a very likeable character; she loves her family but has a desire to have more excitement in her life than Bexhill-on-Sea has to offer. The fire in the house opposite sets off a chain of events which no-one could predict. A bit of a family saga, with friendship, romance and a good dollop of mystery thrown in along with secrets to be discovered, this one demanded my attention from first to last. Creative, interesting characters and smoothly flowing writing brings the various story strands together in a compelling and realistic read and certainly one true to the period it's set in. As a child of the sixties, I always find it strange when books set around that time are described as 'historical'. I enjoyed this one and whilst I couldn't find fault with it, I somehow find that I enjoy the author's books set in an earlier time that bit more.

My thanks to publishers Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin UK, for providing my copy via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

Twenty three year old Katy Speed is fascinated by the house across the street. Gloria, the woman who lives there, owns a fashionable dress shop in Bexhill-On-Sea. But who is the woman who arrives in a black car most Saturday's while Gloria is at work.

This book is set in 1965. Katy Speed lives with her mother, father and brother. Her mother is never happy and always critizes everything Katy tries to do. So Katy and her best friend Jilly, decide to find themselves jobs and get a flat in London. Before she leaves the house across the street burns down and kills the two women who were inside at the times. Katy's dad has been arrested and and charged with arson and murder. Katy knows her dad is innocent and she has to try and clear his name. This story also covers women who are beaten by their husbands, some within an inch of their lives. Katy's path will cross with this issue in her search to prove her fathers innocence .

Once again Lesley Pearse has written a gripping, true to the era, hard to put down page turning read. There is some awful descriptions of violence that might upset some readers. Then we get the heartbreaking backstory to why Katy's mum is the way that she is. I just love Lesley Pearse. She has a real talent and style in her writing. I have never known one of her books to disappoint. She always does her research into whatever the topic is that she is writing about. I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HQ and the author Lesley Pearse for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lesley Pearce never disappoints and this book is no exception.
As with all her books she takes you straight to an era in history and draws you in. But this book is a little different because it also teaches you some social history.
Set in the 1960’s the story centres around the character Katy Speed a twenty something growing up in the swinging sixties.
A time especially when women found independence in so many ways whilst also trying to rid themselves of the old adage of the Edwardian era of the dominance of men over women.
But hidden during this time was the horrors some women experienced in the marital home and the damage that it did to not only the women but the children who witnessed it. Domestic violence in this era was seen as a private issue between man and wife even though women and children could be battered to within an inch of their lives. It was a very brave person who offered these people a place of sanctuary,but this is what Glady’s the women who lived in the house across the street from Katy did which resulted in grave consequences for all concerned.
A beautiful book which grabs you from the very first page.

Although this is the first book from Lesley Pearce I have read and from the burb of this book and I knew was going to like House Across the street. I am so glad I got the opportunity to read it.
It’s 1965, in the Suburbs of Bexhill. Katy Speed with lives her brother, her dad and her mother who is never happy and always criticizes what she does. She dreams of going to live in London where everything happens, with her best friend Jilly. The only excitement she gets what happens to a house across the street. It’s owned by Gloria, whose popular and who owns a clothes shop. But the neighbours notice that there are weird things going on. A black Humber keeps coming with women who Katy’s mother think are women that have just left prison or even prostitutes.
Then one morning The Speeds wake up to find that the house across the street is on fire. The fire fighters tackle the blaze. But there is a shock in store, when two bodies are brought out from the burnt wreck of the house. Katy leaves for London so she can look for work and find a place to live. When she discovers that her father is arrested for Gloria and her daughters murder. Katy starts her own detective work to find out who really murdered Gloria. When she gets abducted by someone unknown to herself.
I have heard so many great things about Lesley Pearse and I wasn’t disappointed. I liked her style of writing and how the characters in this story developed. I love period dramas and I loved how the author brought the times of the 1960’s alive. Where people where more carefree in them days. But this wasn’t the usual story it also had a darker side which made the story more intriguing and gripped me throughout. I will look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for a copy of this book.

This author always guarantees an easy to get into, gripping read. In The House Across the Street, I slid effortlessly into the 1960s with this story of 2 young women wanting to break away from small-town life and forge a new future in the swinging city of London.

I found this to be more tense with lots of mystery than some of her previous books and this added a wonderful element of fear and page-turning intensity.

Katy lives with her adored Dad and difficult, aloof Mum in a small seaside town in the 1960s. She has a decent job as a typist in a solicitors practise, but her family life is so boring and her hometown so dull she longs to break away. As she and her lifelong best friend Jilly, shorten their skirts to the new mini length, shop in Woolworths for makeup and go to the local Palais to dance, they make plans to go to London and try to find jobs and get a little flat together.

The only thing of interest which happens regularly in sleepy Bexhill-on-Sea is, going son at the house over the road from Katy's home, where glamorous Gloria, fashionable boutique owner lives and cars often turn up, bringing strange girls and women to stay there even in the dead of night.

When a fire breaks out there one night it's going to burn more than the occupants, the flames will begin to lick at Katy's feet and rock the comfortable world she has always known. Her beloved dad is arrested, they say he set the fire, deliberately.

There are loads of multi-layered mysteries, as one is peeled away another beneath is revealed and Katy ends up in deep water because of her discoveries.

There is a lovely nostalgic looking back at the 60s theme, some truly dark and awful subjects are covered and the delightfully engaging prose can't cover up the nastiness which lies at the very core.

There is some awful violence, especially against women, but at the heart of this story is the mystery surrounding Katy's family history which was a real OMG moment for me and a lovely budding romance. I loved Katy and her friend Jilly and I'd really like to read Jilly's story in more detail.

A wonderfully enjoyable read if slightly more sanitised for easy consumption than some books I've read covering similar violent events, it will shock and thrill but not offend and that has to make it a great read for all ages and sensibilities.

Wow yet another fantastic read from Lesley. Set in the sixties it tells the story of Katy Speed a young girl living in Bexhill dreaming of moving to London to work with her best friend Jilly. Just as they move tragedy strikes across the road and Albert Speed gets arrested for the murder of their neighbour and her daughter. Knowing that her Dad couldn’t possibly be to blame Katy turns detective with terrible consequences. Lots of twists and turns along the way make this a highly recommended read.

The year is 1965 and Katy Speed lives in a leafy suburb of Bexhill and enjoys looking out the window and watching all the comings and goings on her street, particularly at Gloria's house across the street. One night she is woken by her mother as Gloria's house is on fire and the blaze has completely enveloped the house. This one event will change Katy's life so dramatically.
This excellent saga looks at the very difficult topic of violence in the home. In the 60's this was not considered anything more than a 'domestic' between husband and wife, even if the wife swore out a complaint, more often than not, the husband would be returned to the home within a day or so. This story shares the secrets of the women and men who made it their life's work to help those in need no matter the risk to themselves.
Lesley Pearse has a wonderful ease to her writing that draws you in from the start and keeps you enthralled to the end. The House Across the Street is yet another wonderful novel by this writer and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. A winning read by a wonderful writer , highly recommend it.

This is the first book by this author and i enjoyed it,the charactors and story pull it together and i am sure others will love reading it.worth 5*

Lesley Pearse deploys her usual skill and expertise in evoking the past vibrantly, full of atmosphere and the period's culture and social norms. In this, her latest offering, we have Pearse's requisite strong women at the centre of a story set in the Britain of the 1960s. 23 year old Katy Speed lives with her family, her father, Albert, and her moody unhappy, problematic mother, Hilda, who makes life hard for them, and her brother. Katy finds herself entranced and mesmerised by the house across the street, where the gregarious, glamorous and friendly neighbour, Gloria, lives, although her mother frowns on and is disapproving of their neighbour. Gloria runs a dress shop in Bexhill on Sea, and often on Saturdays whilst Gloria is at work, Katy notices that women, often with children, arrive at the house in a black car. This mystery sets tongues wagging in the area, and people wonder who exactly is being bought into their community, often thinking the worst.

Then horror of horrors, the house is set on fire, and the bodies of Gloria and her daughter are found. Katy has to put her own plans on hold when the police arrest her father for their deaths after what they find in his shed. Despite the danger and the obstacles she faces, Katy is determined to uncover the truth behind the house across the street, stumbling across dark community secrets. Pearse's characterisation is authentic and stellar, with indomitable and brave women trapped in desperate situations, willing to lend a hand to others suffering in similar positions. We get an inside look at the position of women in that period of time, and the attitudes towards women that, frankly, leave a lot to be desired. This is a gripping tale that is full of suspense and tension, and the darkness that often lay behind the facades of marriages and families at the time. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

Katy doesn't have a very happy home life. Her miserable Mum takes her moods out on Katy, her Dad and Brother. Gloria lives across the street, she owns her own dress shop and is glamourous and popular. Katy sees women visiting and staying at Gloria's house, but doesn't know why. One night Katy wakes to find Gloria's house ablaze. This is the start of problems for Katy and her family and for the reader it's the start of a cleverly written tale.
Without giving the plot away, I have read a few books with a similar theme. Unlike some books I have read by other authors, this one doesn't drag on endlessly. In my opinion Lesley Pearse never writes a bad book and this one is filled with all of her usual treats, a gripping storyline and a satisfying ending.

I absolutely love Lesley Pearse's novels, I always get excited when a new one is released and no matter how big my to be read pile is, I have to read it straight away. So after waiting eagerly for Lesley to bring us her next book, I was thrilled to be able to read an early copy of The House Across the Street.

Lesley has done a wonderful job of creating believable, relatable characters that we take right into our hearts. This is an emotional, gripping story full of suspense, drama and mystery. It gripped me right from the beginning, I became emotionally involved as always, and couldn’t put it down.
I can’t wait for more from Lesley, highly recommended!

Twenty-three year old Katy Speed is fascinated by the house across the street. The woman who lives there, Gloria, is the most glamorous neighbour on the avenue, owning a fashionable dress shop in Bexhill-on-Sea. But who is the woman who arrives in the black car most Saturdays while Gloria is at work? Sometimes she brings women to the house, other times they have children.

Katy hasn't had the best of childhoods with a mother who is always making everyone around her unhappy, a Father who allows it. Just when Katy finiallys gets her chance to grab life and move away to a wonderful new job and spread her wings her life falls apart when her Dad is arrested........ and then secrets come out from some manys past and present. But how does Katy's Dad fit into this?
A book that made me free at ease and gave me a gribbing storyline.

The way in which Lesley Pearse brings to life decades and centuries past is one of the main reason I adore her style of writing, whether it be a journey across America during the gold rush in Never Look Back, or a voyage across the sea in Remember Me, you truly get a fascinating viewpoint from her strong female protagonists. With her latest offering, The House Across the Street she doesn't disappoint. It's full of mystery and vivid detail of life in the 1960's, she deals well with difficult subject matter and it won't disappont any fans of her work. A great read.

I was looking forward to reading Lesley Pearse’s new book, “The House Across the Street,” and it didn’t disappoint.

Katy likes to watch the house across the street. Gloria, the owner, has women visiting night and day and Katy is intrigued to know who they are and why they are there. Katy likes Gloria; she owns a local boutique and is friendly with everyone. Katy doesn’t have a happy home life. Her mum is sharp and constantly critical of her family. Sometimes, Katy wonders why her mum can’t be a bit more like Gloria.

When Gloria’s house is burnt to the ground and Gloria and her daughter are killed, Katy’s dad is arrested for their murder. However, Katy knows he was set up, so she sets out to find who is responsible for the fire.

An excellent well written book, with a suspenseful plot which kept me reading through the night.

Really good book. Story is full of intrigue which makes it hard to put down. I have really enjoyed all of Lesley Pearse’s books.

I absolutely loved this book at first for me by Lesley, although I do have others on my tbr pile which I definitely need to bump up.
A story which shows how events can shape ur life. Was gripped the whole way through.

Stated it but didn’t engage with any of the characters so gave up. Not really my sort of book. But no doubt others will like it.

Katy doesn't have a happy home life, her mum is constantly criticising her, her dad and brother. Her mother is never happy. Why can't her mum be more like Gloria the lady who lives across the road, Gloria is friendly and popular and owns her own clothes shop.

But Katy is intrigued by the visitors that come to Gloria's house at all times of the day and night.

And then suddenly there is a fire and Gloria and her daughter are killed, and Katy's dad is arrested as the prime suspect.

Kate must find out at any cost why her dad has been framed for the murders and also find out who the women are that come to the house.

Well written fast paced storyline.

Loved this book from Lesley found it interesting from the first page enjoyed the characters and the story line as I was holidaying in Eastbourne and Brighton at the time seemed quite fitting a 5🌟 read from me

It took me a while to get into The House Across the Street I felt it wasn't quite as good as her other books but I did persist with it and it was an enjoyable read