In The Glass House, by Eve Chase, it’s 1971 and nanny Rita Murphy decamps to sprawling, crumbling Foxcote Manor with 12-year-old Hera and five-year-old Teddy Harrington and their mother Jeannie after a fire at the family’s London townhouse. Jeannie spent a spell in an institution following the loss of a newborn the previous year and is still fragile; as well as all of the childcare, Rita is charged by Walter Harrington to report to him on his wife’s mental state while he is away on business.

We know from the start that a body is found in the forest that surrounds the house; the story takes us through the events leading up to the event without revealing who the body was, or how they died, until the last possible moment - and even then, there are still questions. Chase leads us to the big reveal through three perspectives across two time periods: Rita and Hera in 1971, and Rita’s adopted daughter Sylvie in the present day. Poor Sylvie has really been through the mill recently: she’s split up with her husband and moved out of the family home, her mother’s in a coma following a fall, and her 18-year-old daughter, Annie, is pregnant. However, this puts her in a position where she has the time and opportunity to investigate the secrets of the past that Rita always hid from her.

The Glass House contains all the features I love in a book: decades-old mysteries, family secrets, a sprawling country house, and a dual timeline. There are a couple of things, though, that make it really stand out from others in the same genre. One is Chase’s beautiful, detailed descriptions of the forest. The other is how dark the story is: without giving too much away, there’s more to the ‘stillborn’ storyline than meets the eye, Hera is a seriously troubled child, and there’s some real string-pulling going on behind the scenes. What’s more, it’s absolutely gripping and I zoomed through it. The revelations come thick and fast, yet never run out - even towards the end, when we know the story of the body in the forest, Chase still has a number of surprises up her sleeve to make you go ‘ooh!’ and ‘aah!’.

It also got me thinking about the use of the nanny’s perspective in storytelling, having also recently read Lucy Atkins’ Magpie Lane. In both books, the nannies have no family attachments of their own, are in a position to observe the family in private (despite Rita saying even nannies don’t know everything that goes on behind closed doors), have interests that give them their own dimensions and lives (for Rita it’s terrariums, for Atkins’ Dee, it’s mathematical proofs), and resist the urge to leave when things get difficult because of their responsibility for their charges in the absence of functioning parents. Due to her position as an outsider, and role as a practical, stable caregiver in the children’s lives, Rita feels like a trustworthy and believable narrator (although, in Magpie Lane, there’s much more of a question mark over that feeling…), who keeps secrets from Sylvie to protect her, however misguided she may be in doing so.

The sections from Hera’s perspective add information and insights that Rita wouldn’t be able to provide herself, even if her reliability is compromised as a troubled tween craving love and attention from her mother. One criticism I would have is that - while 12-year-olds are way more perceptive and emotionally intelligent than people give them credit for - some of the language she uses is a little beyond her years. Similarly, at one point Annie makes a cultural reference that doesn’t really work for a character born in the early 2000s.

The Glass House features all the elements I love to see in a book. It’s also dark and filled with beautiful descriptions. With revelations and surprises right up until the final few pages, it’s utterly unputdownable and incredibly satisfying. I will definitely be reading Chase’s previous novel, Black Rabbit Hall, and following her career with interest!

This took me a while to get to grips with all the characters and tying everything together. Having said that it was a great novel of family life and emotions with unexpected twists mainly to the end. Well worth reading.

An emotional mystery with many strands which took a while to come together. I enjoy the many characters and their manipulations.

The story is a bit slow to start but turns into a great story with some twists in the plot that catch you in.

What a fabulous book. It has every emotion in it and is an insight into the joys and sorrows of motherhood. Full of twists and turns and mysterious chapters, this book will draw you in. At the heart of it is Big Rita. What an amazing character she is. Full of love and sacrifice for the family around her.
I loved this book and it’s characters and the twist in the story at the end.
This summers must read.

The Glass House is told in dual perspective - following Sylvie (present day) and Rita (1971). I struggled to get into this book as I kept getting confused with whose story was whose. The book was full of secrets and twists and turns you couldn’t see coming. The characters were well rounded, fun and interesting to read about. Overall, I didn’t enjoy the plot too much, but I kept reading to the end because of the wonderful characters. I also loved the writing and will definitely check out the authors other works.

I really enjoy Eve Chase’s books and stories that dip between different times. A great story about discovery and hidden family secrets. Well written and a fabulous storyline. There were a couple of spots where the story became a little static but it definitely didn’t put me off.

Thank you NetGalley a brilliant read.

"Big Rita", an awkward young woman, lacking self-confidence, works as a nanny for the Harrington family. Set in 1971, the family relocate to their major house in the middle of a forest, following a fire at their London home. Strained relationships within the family lead to a series of events that changes them all forever. Running parallel to this story, is the story of Sylvie, set in the present day. She is recently separated from her husband. As the book progresses, the two storylines come together following a number of twists and surprises.
Not a thriller as such and the mystery element is not difficult to predict, but nevertheless it's a highly entertaining story.
The only thing that let it down for me was the characterisation. I did not feel that the characters were clearly distinguished. Also the daughter of the family, Hera, had far too mature a voice for her age. It just didn't read like the voice of a young girl.
Having said that, I very much enjoyed reading the book.

A lovely neatly-written thriller with lots of unanticipated connections and clever twists between a collection of characters spanning from 1971 to the present day.

Eve Chase writes her stories and characters with precision and accuracy so that they build together in a very readable and satisfying book.

The character of Big Rita with her big heart and her wish to save everyone dominates the story, but other characters are drawn well and draw the reader in too, from the slightly lost Sylvie and her adopted sister to the uptight and defensive Helen. As their story lines gradually come together there is great skill in pulling it all together in a credible way that is a great pleasure to read.

I seem to have hit a run of excellent books during lockdown!

I am a fan of this era, and of big old houses, so this book very much appealed to me anyway.

The story rotated around the Harrington Family and their children’s nanny, Rita. The story starts with tragedy, and the family (bar Mr Harrington) move to their country home temporarily to recuperate.

Within days though a baby and a body are found, throwing up all sorts of emotions.

The book switches from the past to the present easily, and we finally piece together what happened.

This was a wonderful book and it really drew me in, and broke my heart. I struggled to put it down. It’s beautifully written and the story just keeps giving.

An absolute must read!

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK for the advance copy.

A thoroughly enjoyable book, full of character and atmosphere. The story twisted and turned and you really had no idea where it was going to end. The end was worth waiting for and I was left with a feeling of satisfaction that it was a story - well told.

An upper middle class family. A husband too busy with business to pay attention to wife and family. A pregnant wife, struggling to separate the needs of two young children with the secret affair and her lover. A nanny, desperate to become part of a loving family even if employed in a menial capacity. A series of traumatic situations results in a hasty retreat into the country home where emotions run high, family order becomes unhinged and the nanny must, attempt to safeguard the family she has become a part of and loves as if her own. Written in past and present chapters. Each family member relating a tragedy resulting from an unfolding of a family in crisis separated by events that occurred over three generations. A review of this story cannot do justice to an exquisitely written family saga, covering multi layers of secrets and hidden truths. This book is a rare joy in that it satisfies on every level and reawakens the pleasure that only a beautiful piece of written work gives. Without any hesitation a 5 star read. Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher for ARC.

My thanks to Netgalley for my early copy of The Glass House. What a wonderful book, Eve Chase is a fantastic story teller extraordinaire.

This family drama is emotional, compelling, dramatic, full of little twists and turns that towards the end become huge and totally unexpected and perfect. The characters are so well drawn you feel you know them and some of them you love and others you despair of but none of them let you down. This book is a masterpiece, totally wonderful.

The only thing that lets this book down is the title which just undermines the whole thing.

I couldn't wait to read The Glass House as Black Rabbit Hall was one of my favourite books of 2016 (I think it was published a year earlier).

The Glass House is very different though both use a crumbling house as the setting. It begins in 1971 where Rita, known as 'Big Rita' because of her height, is nanny to the Harringtons, looking after children Hera and little brother Teddy. Their family set up is a strange one, father Walter being away most of the time on business while wife Jeannie is suffering from severe depression after losing her baby.  She had been sent away to 'get better' at The Lawns - I think it would have been referred to as a 'sanatorium' in those days. Their home in London has suffered a fire so off they go to live in a ramshackle house called Foxcote in The Forest of Dean. I know the area reasonably well as I live quite close. 

However, it's a little way into the story before 'Baby Forest' as she is named by the family is discovered. In fact this book is a really slow burn and while I initially found it hard to get into, it grew and grew on me and by half way through I couldn't put it down. The joys of being furloughed meant I didn't have to and I finished it in three days, despite reading two other books at the same time. It's beautifully written - the story being told from the point of view of Rita in 1971, Hera then and now and Sylvie now. I can't say that I didn't work out who was who because I did quite easily but this isn't that kind of book. It's not a twisty thriller or a whodunit - though there is a body in the woods. It's a gentle story delicately interwoven with an equal measure of sadness and happy endings.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This had an interesting storyline told with a dual timeline. The characters were well fleshed out and the book kept me trying to piece together what was going on. I wasn’t particularly taken with the writing style, but all in all, an entertaining read. Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

The Glass House is narrated by three main characters – Rita, Hera and Sylvie in a dual timeline split between 1971 and the present day. The story begins with the Harrington family moving to the Forest of Dean to recuperate after a terrible tragedy and we follow Rita, the nanny, as she attempts to hold the family together while Jeannie struggles to cope with the death of her newborn baby. The story then switches to the present day where Sylvie is also struggling to deal with the break-up of her marriage and how this has affected her teenage daughter Annie. It becomes clear that Sylvie has demons from her past which she needs to confront in order to move on and be happy. As the story develops, we learn that these two situations are linked and the mystery to find out how and why builds up to several shocking revelations.

I absolutely loved this book. The mystery element was very subtle, running alongside the exploration of the characters and their relationships with each other. The author very skilfully left little clues throughout the story which began to link the two timelines together. Each time something was revealed it just made me more eager to find out what had happened, but at the same time, opened up more questions that needed answering.

Overall it was quite a complicated plot, with lots of characters to keep track of and twists to explore, but the smaller reveals along the way helped to keep the intrigue high and built to an unexpected ending.

This is the first novel I have read from Eve Chase but I will definitely be reading more. I would highly recommend The Glass House to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction, lighter thrillers and mysteries surrounding family secrets.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read and review.

What a beautifully written book I was drawn in from the first page, The story was told in two separate times and flowed easily between the two it was remarkable how they all came together at the end I have to say it was a bit unbelievable in parts but didn’t spoil the story as sometimes we do need things to be magical and this story was certainly that , definitely recommend it.

Really enjoyed this atmospheric mystery. I loved the way that it was written in two timelines that converged at the end. I read it in double quick time. Highly recommended.

Set over 2 time periods (the 1970s and the present day) and following Rita (the Nanny), Hera (the daughter) and Sylvie the book follows the family relocating to the new forest following a series of tragedies centred around their London home.
With complex relationships between the fragile matriarch and some very odd locals and visitors the family are tense and anxious for most of the time. Add into the mix an abandoned baby in the forest and things take a darker turn.
The plot is convoluted and so you have to be alert to the many characters and how they interweave in both time periods to fully follow what is happening but I found the drip feed of information and revelations about the many truths a good way of expanding on the various characters without relying on large and dramatic plot twists.
Overall a compelling read with plenty of atmosphere and very real characters.

It was the gorgeous book cover that drew me to this book first but then when the blurb sounded so appealing I couldn't not read it.

I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed by this book at all, it was absolutely amazing and a brilliant storyline from start to finish. Plus I do love it when a dual timeline storyline is involved, so the story was told in the past 1971 and also in the present. It was very well written with amazing characters who jump came alive completely within my imagination.

I was truly captivated and enthralled with this book and throughout reading it, I kept trying to piece everything together in my head, and figure it all out, and wondering how it would all end.

Eve Chase was a new author to me but I will definitely be looking forward to reading more books by her in the future.