I enjoy an in-depth character driven immersion in the rich details of people’s complex lives but I found this work to be sadly disappointing. The premise which I won’t detail because of spoilers is that I’d a miserable central character and their impact over time on those around them. This can work well but in the present case I didn’t find the central character interesting or likeable or admirable just a sad and unfortunate woman. The plot is pretty thin and I’m getting tired of books that present the story (and not even a particular engaging one) from different time perspectives to no particular purpose. This is far too common a trope and formulaically applied. One star for me I’m afraid.

This is an engrossing, complex book. The family secrets are slowly drawn out. I loved the setting too, in one of my favourite parts of Scotland.

It took me quite a while to get into this book but once I did I enjoyed it.
Set in current times and in the fifties it follows the lives of the Macmillan family around the picturesque Loch Doon and tragic events that impacted them.
I liked the relationship between Carson and her grandfather Walter and the uncovering of the story around his marriage to Jean.
A little slow in places I would give this 3 Stars.

A beautiful historic read that transported me, I loved it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review

This novel moves backwards and forwards in time, and tells the story of Walter Macmillan and his wife, the fragile and beautiful Jean. Over the course of 40 years we follow their stories, mainly via their grandchildren. A long-hidden skeleton comes tumbling out of the cupboard. Full of family tension and grief, this is a slow-burner of a novel which really grips.

I think I was expecting a lot more of this novel to be set in the past and, although a good portion of it is, the primary focus is the present day and the MacMillan family: grandfather,Walter; his son and daughter, Patrick and Fiona; their respective partners, Elinor and Roland; and Walter's grandchildren, Pete, Carson and Iona. A lot of the story is seen from the point of view of Carson and I particularly liked the strong bond she has with her grandfather and her willingness to embrace exciting opportunities.

I enjoyed the sections of the book looking back at the development of the relationship between Walter and his late wife, Jean, from their initial meeting, their courtship and marriage to starting a family. However, behind the scenes there are tensions including Jean's domineering father, her troubled mother and the long hours Jean spends alone in their house on the remote, if picturesque, Loch Doon. How these tensions manifest themselves in Jean's behaviour, and the impact of this behaviour on Walter and their children is heartbreaking. Even more so, when the full story becomes known.

As for the story set in the present day, it becomes gradually apparent that history may be repeating itself. Loch Doon may be a place of beauty but it has also been the scene of tragic events, including one witnessed by Walter as a young boy, and will be again.

In her afterword, the author writes, "This novel means a great deal to me. It expresses my love of Scotland and the power it holds over me, and it also expresses the complexity of what family is and the way that it remakes itself endlessly." The author's love of Scotland definitely comes through in the wonderful descriptions of the loch and the surrounding Galloway hills.

The House by the Loch is an emotional, well-crafted story of a family dealing with change, guilt and loss, and how - together - they must come to terms with secrets of the past and face up to the future.

A wonderfully atmospheric and evocative book, I was transported to Loch Doon and the surrounding area of Ayrshire.

Extremely well researched, the novel follows the life of Walter Macmillian, moving between the 1950's where he meets Jean Thompson and present day as his family, now consisting of a son, daughter and grandchildren, meet at their wonderful second homes by The Loch.

Back in time we learn of how Walter meets Jean and learn of her upbringing and parents, who are far better off than Walter's and also of how Jean adapts to living out of town with her new husband, away from her mother who is unable to leave the house.

In present time we read of Walter's children and the dynamics of their relationships with their spouses and own children.

Both time lines have incidents that change the lives of all of those involved forever but without spoiling the book I won't go into detail here.  But will say this story has a lot of light and shade in it's storytelling that are both moving and enjoyable.

I really liked all of the characters, all in different ways and found them very believable.  There were some areas of their personalities that I didn't quite understand but put it down to the era in which they were living at the time.  I found the dynamics of Walter's children really interesting and thought the children were very well written and that their emotions came through well in Wark's writing.  Although I found that the book reads almost in two half and that I found them very different in emotion, I still thought they were written in the same rich and layered style and with the same attention to detail.

The setting and area is a huge part of the book and it's description and part it plays in the lives of the characters was a joy to read.

I hadn't read Kirsty Wark before but will now look for her previous book The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle.

A family saga that was not to my taste so I have up on it. Fans of the genre will enjoy the atmospheric setting but the slow beginning let the narrative down.

The House by the Loch by Kirsty Wark is a lovely, immensely readable family saga. It’s reminiscent of the novels by Rosamund Pilcher. The characters are well drawn; the scenery and Scottish landscape of Dumfries and Galloway is so well described the I could easily imagine being inside the novel.

It had heartbreak, a fair share of family secrets and lots of passion. I thoroughly recommend it.

Definitely an author to watch, loved her first book and this was just as good. Set in an atmospheric landscape around a Scottish loch two families are brought together as the past and the present catch up with each other. This gripping family saga follows a strong father figure Walter MacMillan attempting to do his best for his wife and family whilst staying true to his roots, reluctant to move from his family home. Following each character the story develops and invokes many emotions throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers for an ARC of this book.

A beautifully crafted tale ranging from the fifties to the present and dealing with the family of Walter and the glamorous Jean and how three generations are faced with secrets and at the centre is Lough Doon where the story unfolds. The consequences of the past have implications on the present.

A fabulous story which is set in a beautiful and remote part of Scotland A family of three generations who suffer after a tragedy occurs The characters are varied and all have flaws but finally the secrets of the past have to be told before they finally finds the happiness and peace that bring this story together A great read

felt this had an interesting concept but for me it never really sparked into life. I found the backwards and forwards motion in time unnecessary and at times frankly boring. The author might have been better to have integrated straight forward narrative with the dramatic events at the core.

For the first 30% i just wanted to put it down, there were no connecting points in the narrative, the characters were one dimensional and the storyline was going nowhere. The midsection captured the grief time line well but again i didn't think the constant carping back to the agarophobic mother was necessary, added anything to the narrative or affected the plot line.

I had expected more from this

It's no surprise that Kirsty Wark has a wonderful command of language. And her first novel demonstrated that she knows how to tell a multi-layered story. So I approached The House By the Loch optimistically and I was not disappointed. It has a wonderful sense of place, a diverse set of rounded characters and a secret to unfold. Superb.

What a right mixed bag this book was. It wasn't until the book is about a third of the way in does it actually start to move forward into any sort of storyline rather than just 'background information'. I wasn't too keen either on the way it was written, especially the first two-thirds where it seemed to jump back and forth in time so much so that you weren't sure when it was supposed to be set in!

The final third of the book was probably the bit I enjoyed most and which is why Its getting 3 stars rather than the 2 it should really deserve. Not a book I would really recommend unless someone is really desperate for something to read.

I tried verty hard to like this book but could not engage at all. Despite struggling through the first half I realised that I didn't care about the characters and gave up. Wark does have some writing talent, I enjoyed her first novel, but this felt very cliched in places to me. This is not Wark's fault, her book will be lapped up by those who enjoy family sagas.

Really enjoyed this book and managed to read it in 1 day! I could not put it down. It was an easy read that I would recommend to friends and family! Thank you net galley for a copy of this arc in return for a review!

Well written book with believable characters. Easy to read and a good one to put on a holiday reading list.

A nicely written and atmospheric book. Shifting between events in the 50s and the present day it tells the story of a man somehwat haunted by tragedy, and his family. It's a good story, well told, and managed to be both a good literary novel and a bit of a page turner.

a beautifully written , descriptive tale of the west coast of Scotland. Very enjoyable ,easy reading for holidays. I didn’t find the story hugely different to others I have read in this genre but enjoyable none the less.