What a fantastic book, loved every word on every page, such a great story with one woman linking the two together. Superbly written, such easy reading and a brilliantly addictive page turner.

I really enjoyed The Day of the Accident from this author and this book was just as good, although a different sort of story. Well done Nuala, I can thoroughly recommend this book and I look forward to your next masterpiece.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this brilliant book.

A brutal psychological thriller involving children over two different time frames which some readers might find disturbing. I read this pretty quickly as I just had to know what was happening. Perhaps part of me felt that if I kept going, I could 'rescue ' the children from the awful house and abuse quicker. Obviously not. The events towards the end became rather disjointed and detached as if the author was unsure as how to bring the two time frames together and to a conclusion. However overall a good, if not pretty disturbing read.

The House on the Lake features two intertwined narratives. This first is set in the present day, and begins with Lisa arriving at Rowan Isle House in Yorkshire with a grumpy toddler in tow. It quickly becomes apparent that Lisa is on the run from her husband, Mark, and while the reasons for this take some time to be revealed in full, it’s clear that their relationship was not a healthy one. Rowan Isle House has been offered to her as a place of sanctuary should she ever need it, but, upon arrival, Lisa is dismayed to find it in a state of disrepair. Seeing no other option, she tries to settle in despite the house having no power, running water, or heating.

Lisa’s tale is one of desperation. On the run from a dysfunctional relationship, she is clearly terrified that Mark will somehow be able to track her down and that he will take her little boy away from her. Her fear is palpable, and she does her best to keep her head down and to avoid attracting attention. She does risk a tentative friendship with Isobel, a local woman who helps Lisa to get the stove working as well as helping her with her son who is becoming increasingly fractious. It’s very easy to feel sympathy for Lisa given the circumstances. She knows that the environment she is in isn’t healthy for her boy, and yet she has no choice, having little money available with which she could find somewhere more comfortable. Lisa becomes increasingly paranoid throughout the novel, convinced that Mark will find her, and not helped by the rumours she hears about Rowan Isle House, which has its own dark past. Ellwood captures her distress brilliantly, and I couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out for Lisa.

The second narrative is set some 16 years earlier, and features the journal of an individual known only as “Soldier” initially. Soldier lives at Rowan Isle House, and is in fact a young girl (not a spoiler, I promise!) living with her father who she refers to as “Sarge”. It’s an unusual relationship, as Soldier does not attend school, but is instead taught by her father who teaches her the usual skills such as arithmetic, but also how to hunt and how to live off the land. These sections become increasingly disturbing. Soldier can see that her father is troubled, and while she doesn't have a term for it, it’s more apparent to the reader that he is suffering from PTSD. Sarge is clearly very controlling, and the journal extracts are quite difficult to read at times as Soldier is punished, quite harshly in places, for any perceived violation of her father’s strict regime.

These two narratives gradually overlap, and there were some wonderful twists as the reader learns more about the lives of Lisa and Soldier. As with her previous novels, Ellwood, has written brilliant characters that you come to care about, despite their flaws, and I thought that she tackled various forms of dysfunctional relationships brilliantly throughout the novel. The House on the Lake is an excellent thriller, and one that I think will attract readers who may be new to Ellwood's work as well as satisfying her existing fan base.

Unputdownable is the word for the book. This is my second by the author and I devoured every single page of the book. The mystery is gripping from the start. The book has pace where you forget the concept of space and time. It has elements of mystery and suspense. Alongside it also touches the intense human emotions. As a reader, you will realize the author has done her share of research while touching the topics of PTSD and abuse. Nuala Ellwood has an innate sense of storytelling. She captivates you with her words, her characters and the setting of the story. There’s no way you can escape. The ending takes you by complete surprise and its fair ending.

The central theme is abuse. The abuse relates to a child to a married woman. The book shows how abuse affects not only the abused but also people in the periphery of the abused. There’s also subtext on PTSD.

The chapters shuttle between the past and the present. Rowan Isle House is the connecting link between them. The author narrates the chapters in past by an 11-year-old girl and in present by Lisa. Well-developed with a small pool of characters. The author portrays them with remarkable details.

The house on the lake is a ravishing book with intense mystery leaving you mesmerized.

A highly recommended for all crime fiction fans. You will feel exhilarated once you finish the book. And for the people who did not read The Day of the Accident, you owe yourselves both the books.

My ratings for the book are 4.5 stars.

I loved The Day of the Accident and was really pleased to receive an ARC of Nuala Ellwood's latest novel to review. The House on the Lake is a disturbing read with details of child abuse which many will find hard to read. There are two story lines, one set in the present where we have a woman turning up at a deserted house in the middle of the night with a very grumpy toddler. She is clearly fleeing an abusive relationship but there are concerning things too about her relationship with her son. The other strand is set in the past in the same house and is about a young girl of eleven being brought up by her father, Sarge as she calls him. He is mentally ill, traumatised by his time in the first Gulf war and she endures much abuse at his hands, both physical and psychological.

I thought I would love this novel but actually I didn't much like it. The abuse was too graphic for me and while it raised important issues of control and mental illness I didn't find it credible that no one would report their concerns to social services. I also found certain scenes very difficult to believe especially towards the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was gripped from the first page as this book has secrets, tension and a believable storyline that I didn’t want to stop reading. It has 2 stories that are told throughout the book that are 20 years apart and I was intrigued how they would come together. All in all a great tense read that I would recommend.

This is a book that grabs your attention from the beginning to the end. Lisa is on the run from her husband and takes her young son with her. A friend has offered her a safe place to stay which is an abandoned house by a lake. The house has no electricity or running water and is filthy. However Lisa is befriended by a local lady Isobel who helps to make the place more habitable. Alternating with Lisa's story we hear about Grace a thirteen year old girl living in the same house twenty years earlier. Grace, known as Soldier by her father Sarge, doesn't attend school and has a very hard life being trained to be a soldier by her father who is obviously suffering from PTSD. The only other person she sees is Isobel, daughter of the local vicar. There are quite a few secrets to be revealed as the story progresses and I didn't guess any of them. Another great read from Nuala Ellwood.

A gripping fast paced story that had me hooked from the first page. Packed full of tension, secrets and danger. Fantastic characters, great storyline. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone.

Two stories intertwined. This is a good read. It is a bit slow in places but well written with a few shocks thrown in,

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of The House on the Lake by Nuala Ellwood, coming March 2020.

The book follows the story of Lisa, who is on the run from London to Yorkshire with her little boy Joe, and ends up staying in quite possibly the creepiest house in the history of the world. We also follow the story of Grace, a thirteen-year-old who grew up in that very same house several years before with her father. She was completely cut off from the rest of the world and tells us her strange and compelling story through the form of a diary.

The first thing I loved about this book is the presence of the two strong female leads, who are so different to one another, but completely determined to fight back against the men who control them and get what they want and deserve. I found myself desperate to learn what the link was between these two women, and when it was finally revealed, I was shocked. I did not see the plot twist coming. At all.

Despite these amazing female characters, I want to point out is this isn't one of those books where all the men are evil. There are some really positive male characters in the book so please don't be put off by the comment about the controlling men.

The House on the Lake epitomises the phrase "page-turner" and the alternating perspectives coupled with short and snappy chapters was the reason I've lost a LOT of sleep over the past three days. It's creepy. It's chilling. I've never checked my locks so many times as I did last night. The House on the Lake will give you a creeping sense of unease and if you love a thriller, you will not be disappointed.

I was really pleased to find a copy of My Sister's Bones by Nuala on my bookshelf, which has fast-tracked its way very near to the top of my TBR pile. Don't you just love finding a new favourite author?

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin Books (UK) for the ARC.
I thoroughly enjoyed this author's previous book 'The Day of the Accident' and was so pleased to be able to read The House on the Lake; again It was a thoroughly good read - a tense, atmospheric thriller.
Two weeks before Christmas 2018, 28yr old Lisa navigates the wilds of Yorkshire to the village of Harrowby. With 3yr old Joe she has finally left her abusive husband but remains terrified that he will find her. Her friend Grace has given her use of Rowan Isle House to use as sanctuary. Perched between forest, rocky outcrops and a freshwater lake it should have been idyllic - except Lisa finds a dilapidated relic untouched by the modern world. There's no running water, sewerage or electricity but, she has no choice but to try and calm her son who constantly wants his daddy.
Alongside Lisa's struggles to work things through, there are intermittent narratives from the diary of an 11yr old girl who, with her father was living there in 2002. They were 'survivalists; her father suffers from PTSD, having served in Iraq with the SAS, and addresses his daughter as 'soldier' (he being addressed as 'serge'). She learns from him how to live off the land and hunt for food.
Isobel, the daughter of the local clergyman, befriends 'soldier' as she matures over the next years, eliciting extreme reactions from 'Serge'.
Sixteen years later, Isobel now befriends Lisa, helping her to make her makeshift 'holiday let' habitable.
Only...…….there are more secrets to be revealed about the occupants of The House on the Lake and its tragic past, when the past bleeds into the present and Lisa, Grace and Isobel have to face the truth.

A twisty and unforeseen plot, with a well-rounded and (for me) quite unexpected ending.
Thoroughly recommended.

Lisa has left her controlling husband Mark,taking their 3 year old son Joe to stay in a friends empty house, Rowan Isle House a dilapidated lake house and not really fit to live in, having no running water. Unfortunately Lisa has no other options.

The story goes back to 2002 when Grace and her father live in Rowan Isle House. He is teaching her to be a soldier and giving her secret missions to fulfil. They keep themselves to themselves not trusting the locals.

This is such a gripping book, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the page in case I missed something and when I had to put the book down I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters!!

Full of twists and secrets, just when I thought I knew what was happening the story veers in a different direction. The tension builds slowly as we start to learn about Grace and Lisa’s secrets.

Definitely recommend this thrilling book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Lisa is on the run, she needs somewhere to hide and stay safe with her son Joe. When a friend offers her the loan of a house in a remote part of Yorkshire she jumps at the opportunity. Little does she realise how ramshackle the house will be nor that it will put her in more danger. She meets Isabel who helps her settle in but things are not all they seem and the past history of the house threatens to catch up with Lisa.
There is a back story running through this of earlier occupants of the house which all come together in the climax.
I found that certain characters were not as developed as I would like and the outcome was not really what I had hoped for. Nonetheless an engaging read.

A fast-paced thriller which centres around the lives of three, very different women.

Lisa is fleeing from an abusive relationship with her young son in tow.   They arrive after dark to a ramshackle house with no power, water or sewage, and she curses the friend who recommended the place.  It would be challenging alone but children don't like change and, the trials of life with a demanding 4-year-old and the frustrations of motherhood are very well portrayed and true to life.   

Soldier, an 11-year-old girl who is living with her insane father in the same house but 15 years earlier.  We hear her story through her diaries. The difficult childhood, with an unreliable parent who is obviously struggling with their mental health.   She is socially isolated and bases all her views on life either from her fathers' warped teachings and what she reads in library books. 

Isabel, a clergyman's daughter who appears on both narratives, and is one of the elements that link them. 

The alternating short chapters succeed in keeping the pacing fast and the tension high, after I had gotten to the 25% mark I was hooked and devoured the rest in 24 hours.

Both Lisa and Soldier seem to be very well rounded characters and because both are deeply flawed and wounded they both have very satisfying character arcs.

There are also some lovely twists scattered throughout the second half of the book, some of which I suspected, and others which made perfect and satisfying sense in retrospect. I don't want to give too much away though, so I think ill stop there.

Atmospheric, twisted and believable. I was unsure until the very end how the plot was going to play out. Who was the person that need psychiatric help? Who was really the victim?

Enjoyable thriller. Enjoyable thriller. Enjoyable thriller. Enjoyable Enjoyable thriller. Enjoyable thriller.

Two entwined stories twenty years apart with lots of twists bringing them together. Another gripping story from Nuala Ellwood

Oh wow,
It has been a long time since a book has gripped me as much as this one did right from page one it pulled me in and didn't let go till the very end. I read in one sitting I just couldn't put this book down.
The house on the Lake starts of when we meet Lisa a women on the run with her son Joe from her controlling Husband. as the story unfolds it is full of twists and turns I never seen coming. I kept questioning myself, thinking I had an idea of where this story was going and I was so wrong.

Such a great written story and I can't wait to read more from this author.

Amazing read, I couldn't put it down and actually read it in one go! I loved the fact that I had no idea where this book was going and had to keep reading as I needed to find out how it ended. Brilliantly written to keep you wanting to read and it just flows so easily. I love the way that the author expresses two characters stories so brilliantly in a way that is so easy to keep track of.

Melancolic and deeply troubling. This is a stark and raw read. Two women abused by the men in their lives in vearious different ways. There's a runaway mother whose husband has abused her and so put their son's life at risk. She flees to a cottage in the middle of nowhere for ...what she doesn't know but she hopes it's safety of some sort.

The house where she flees to is called Rowan House and it's in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales, A house meant for sanctuary and salvation but also one which has not been lived in for some time. The second story however shows another couple living near here - Two soldiers - a girl and her father hiding out in the forest like survivalists. There are clearly issues of control here, a mind which has been injured, PTSD and so much more. They mistrust the locals and hide away from the world.. The story switches from these two stories with ease.

And all the while, this house is the setting which links the two. And what a setting. It's remote, claustrophobic,lonely and unsafe. It's just enough for both women at different times - they both need the protection if not the dirt and decrepit state its in.

The main character however is that of Control. The control is the one who determines how each woman in the story has to act, feel and do what they need to do to survive. The house protects them in different ways but their struggles are at times painful to read. You just know these men are not going to give up.

There's a lot of pain and yet hope in this novel.It's a slow burning read, like a slow motion chinese burn of a read.You feel the pain and the anguish and the anticipation of both and it hurts in different degrees. The reader is inside the heads of these characters from the off. Powerful stuff.

A lot of pain wrapped up here - but a stark reminder of what absolute power and control can do and how women can fight back.