Great family saga with a fascinating cast of characters

A sweeping saga of three generations of a Scottish family based near Loch Doon, Ayrshire. It starts with a local lad, Walter MacMillan, witnessing a Spitfire crashing into the loch in 1941 (based on a real occurrence during WWII). This affects Walter so much that he builds a cairn as a memorial to the pilot. Another tragedy later occurs within Walter's family in the same loch. Much of the book deals with the aftermath of this tragedy and how various members of the family deal with the tragedy. But there is much more to it than that. The characters really call out to you and you feel you would like to meet them, particularly Walter and his granddaughter, Carson, who grows up to be an actress. Some of the theatrical references were rather lost on me, or I would have given this 5 stars. A compelling read.

I was drawn to this book because I consider the author, Kirsty Wark, to be a skilled and thorough television presenter so was interested to see how she would be as a novelist. The story is set in rural Galloway in the South of Scotland and covers the story of a local family over a period between the 2nd World War and present times. The main characters are Carson, a teenage girl, and her grandfather Walter. A fatal accident in the current time setting is the main event around which the plot hinges. The accident's effects on Carson, Walter and the rest of the family are explored and the time scale shifts backwards and forwards to explore secrets, lies and cover-ups in the family's past. Although I think the novel was well researched with a very good sense of place I did not empathise with any of the characters and was not very interested in what happened to them. I felt the outcomes for all the characters were rather implausible and too easily resolved. Overall the novel was a disappointment.

A well written family saga where the wonderfully described landscape becomes an essential, unchanging backdrop to the turbulent family relationships.
Thank you to Netgalley and Two Roads for an advance copy of this book.

The House by the Loch is a gorgeously written family saga set around Ayr and Loch Doon. It is set during the 1950's and present day. Walter falls in love with Jean, and all seems perfect until they marry. In the present day, Walter and his extended family meet up for the weekend. A terrible tragedy occurs on the Loch. This is a story of how families live and move on from the most awful circumstances. Four stars.

My Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Two Roads for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I requested this book on the strength of the author’s name, having long been a fan of her television work. I wasn’t disappointed. Four or five pages in it was obvious I was in the hands of an expert wordsmith. Her descriptions of the surrounding countryside are glorious. This is an author who obviously knows and loves the area intimately. To my mind, the principal character in this book is the glorious lochside scenery. But this writer knows how to convey huge and raw emotions superbly too . I could quote so many wonderful passages but will settle for just one example. A separated couple were said to have ”stored away their affection for each other like fine china, and when they were all together as a family they displayed it beautifully for all to see”.

This is the tale of a family and a tragedy, how it affects them and how they come to terms with it. We meet three generations of this family and look back to a fourth and see that what has happened in the present has it’s roots in the past. We look back effortlessly in time through the thoughts of the main characters. This is seamless and allows the story to flow, rather than as in many novels, having whole chapters devoted to different eras. I’m frightened of offering any negative comments on such a perfect book, but a map of the area would have been helpful. Possibly it’s intended to include one in the published book. I loved this authors work so much that I had to immediately read her previous first novel, The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle. I could go into raptures about that one too but that is another story.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'The House By The Loch'.

I do not know the area of Dumfries and Galloway but it is beautifully depicted. The family story was well plotted and I enjoyed reading it and I felt moved that the idea was based around a true event.

I am reluctant to give The House on the Loch a rating because unfortunately I really didn't enjoy this book and didn't read to the end, and having looked at a few of the other reviews I know that there are plenty of people who did! Honestly, and in my humble opinion? It dragged and didn't seem to be going anywhere; what I did read didn't hold my attention long enough to be interested in finding out what happened next. This is however, just one opinion among many.

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
Having read this author's first book as I am from the isle of arran
This gorgeous book set with twin time family tragedy is extremely addictive I can highly recommend this intriguing book

I was delighted to receive an advance copy of The House by the Loch as I have a strong regard for Kirsty Wark as a journalist and a great love of Scotland, but I knew nothing of the book before it started. I'm afraid to say that Kirsty Wark has broken my heart with this novel. The characters were subtle and understated, not a stereotype in sight. The storytelling gentle and sensitive. The silent grief in the aftermath of a family tragedy seemed to be mirrored by the huge, still, ever-present , beautiful yet terrible loch. I enjoyed the frequent recollections from Walter and Jean's early life, and the fact that episodes from the past had an effect on later generations, like ripples on the loch.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will certainly recommend it to friends. I hope to see more by Kirsty soon.

A moving story of family and love, divided between the present day and flashbacks to the 1950’s when Walter MacMillan, a hard working man from a modest background, falls deeply in love with Jean, a girl from a background of privilege. Midst opposition from her family they marry and the reader follows their children and grandchildren who face typical family trials and tribulations as well as tragedy. The tragic death of a young grandchild affects everyone deeply, but nobody more so than the now widowed Walter. Past memories are brought back to him leading to him making a shocking confession to his family, which stuns them all.

When Walter gives each of his two children plots of land and money to build two simple cottages it should have opened the door to happy times for all concerned. But families are never simple and as the novel progresses, marriages unwind, tragedy strikes and long held secrets come to light. A family saga, atmospherically set in Ayrshire near Loch Doon there is plenty to enjoy in this story and Kirsty Wark's fluid and descriptive writing succeeds in conveying how families change and adapt over 50 years.

This is a sensitively written family story. The Ayrshire setting is used to give the book a positive atmosphere of calm and beauty. The family do not match that atmosphere,haunted as they are by tragedy,internal squabbles and self inflicted disasters. The characters are very believable,particularly the patriarch Walter but the reaction of the children to the family crises is described with an uncanny understanding of the reactions of young people. The ending is satisfactory too in bringing together many loose ends as well as revealing a hitherto unknown accident. This is not the kind of gripping story expected of a murder mystery. It is gentler and more evocative. For all that,it holds the reader's attention throughout. They are all people you might know.

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it very much. A wonderful setting in a lovely part of Scotland, an interesting family and well written story. It's a convoluted family history, past and present interspersed within each chapter with no clear dividers; but it is obvious to the reader which period they are reading about. It is a slow, thoughtful read but one that was worth it. With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A family saga covering a span of sixty to seventy years, this is an enjoyable enough read although flawed in places.

Walter MacMillan, an elderly man, has gifted two cabins on Loch Doon to his son and daughter and their families. The novel covers the repercussions of this gift and spans the years since he met his wife up to the recent past. With flashbacks to the past and multiple viewpoints it can be a little difficult to follow at times. I think I would have preferred it if it had kept to perhaps two or three viewpoints or at least to those of significant characters. Sometimes the viewpoints of very minor characters are given and this adds nothing to the narrative. Characters are not always fully developed. I found it difficult to differentiate between Fiona, Walter's daughter and Elinor, his daughter in law apart from the fact that Fiona drank a lot. Carson, his granddaughter didn't really come to life for me and altogether just seemed to old for a teenager.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Kirsty Wark has taken an area of Scotland she knows and loves well, taken a family drama and created a novel wrapped in history and secrets.
Set around Loch Doon in Dumfries and Galloway, a drowning is the start of a ripple effect which lasts throughout the novel. There’s a lot of problems in this family for a start and it shows how one problem, then another can join to form a web of mystery and more. The central thread is sad - living with an alcoholic and all that entrails. Like the ripples on that loch, the effects are far reaching and unexpected.
Kirsty writes with a love of the countryside. She evokes the area well and it’s charming and descriptive. Sometimes it becomes more noticeable than the story and its characters, but when the landscape is this evocative and remote, that landscape often becomes part of the story itself.
How do families cope with secrets and consequences down the years. Are family members as they seem? How do we cope with life when it throws us one lemon after another?
Loch Doon has a hold over those who live beside it…..

I tried but I just couldn't get in to the latest from Kirsty Wark. Maybe it wasn't fast moving enough for me as it is different to books I would normally look at. Maybe I will go back to it later but for now....

I enjoyed the last book and enjoyed this book equally as much. Living and working around Ayr and Casphairn I knew all the places described in the book which added another dimension to my enjoyment.

I don't like giving a negative review, and hoped that this book would somehow become more enjoyable as it went on. But I found it over complicated, and qlthough the scenery and the area were described well, the people nver came alive.
Thanlk you for a review copy.

The House By The Loch is a grand family saga, a concept that I really enjoy reading. The book is set in Dumfries and Galloway. I loved the descriptions of the place, and it's clear Wark knows it very well.
It's very well written and very emotional. It concerns 4 generations of the family. The characters appeared in front of my eyes with Wark's vivid personification and good development.
I really enjoyed this book. Will read more from the author for sure.

thanks a lot to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Kirsty Wark. It's an intelligent piece of writing and involves four generations of a family although mainly dealing with the lives of those who live more or less in the present day.. The book is set in Dumfries and Galloway which is clearly an area the author knows well. There are tragedies, family failings and weaknesses as well as insightful writing about the problems involved with living with an alcoholic. The characters are believable as are their relationships, humanity and failings. The story is told mainly by Carson who is a likeable girl and later young woman.
I thoroughly enjoyed this well written book and intend to go out and buy Kirsty's previous book.