The House Of Lost Secrets is the fourth novel by award-winning British author, Anstey Harris. The audio version is narrated by Annabelle Dowler and Elle Newlands. Having given the eulogy for the friend she’d planned to grow old with, Joanna Wilding just wants time to grieve her losses. Her friend, yes, but also her home and her business, fallen victim to her greedy ex in an exhausting divorce.

She’s shocked to learn that Rachel Willoughby has left her their favourite place, Clachan, the Dumfries and Galloway coastal cottage surrounded by woods where they made their happiest memories. But it’s perhaps a silver lining with a cloud, because it is saturated with Rachel, and the place where Jo found her body on the weekend Rachel was to reveal something huge. But it could be the perfect spot to do that grieving…

When Jo arrives at Clachan, she’s puzzled to find another occupant: the decorator that Rachel had contracted the renovation she and Jo had been planning together for months. The privacy she’d hoped for is not possible, but somehow, she and Meg get along.

Jo is convinced she will find a clue to what Rachel was going to tell her. Since their late teens, Jo has kept a secret from her best friend, but now she finds she’s not the only one to have held something close, and she wonders if she knew her friend at all.

Harris gives the reader a stirring tale of friendship and loyalty where some of the characters look very different depending on perspective. There are twists and turns, and it features religious fervour, PTSD, sexual assault, abortion, guilt, grief, a post-mortem cover-up and the death of siblings. Her main protagonist has much to face, but grows for the experience. Moving and thought-provoking.
This unbiased review is from an audio copy provided by NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing.

The House of Lost Secrets is a story of betrayal and loss and discovering a way out when life throws more at you than you know what to do with. The narrator did a good job and I really enjoyed the book.

Some of Jo's most precious memories are tied in with visits to her friend Rachel's family home, woven with the passion of the first love Jo nurtured for Rachel's brother Tristan.

Having grown up with an overbearing, Bible-thumping mother, Jo found a much-needed refuge with Rachel and her family, who had far more wealth and class, but were welcoming and kind to her.

So, it might be reasonable to assume that when she discovers that Rachel has left her Clachan, it would be a matter of unalloyed joy for Jo. But unfortunately, it is more complicated than that. Because in the process, Jo has also discovered certain things about her best friend that she might have been happier not knowing...

This is a slow paced book which tells an emotional and complicated story of friendship and its failings. Female readers in particular may relate to the themes shared here.

This was a very moody, slow-moving, poetic book. I liked the nature of it and the writing style. I did get a little bored at points, but overall I enjoyed!

This books setting was so cozy beachy I loved it. The scenery descriptions were great. 😊 The story was very emotional. I don’t read too many women’s fiction genre books but this one was pretty solid. I also enjoyed the narration.

What an absolutely surprising GEM of a book!

This one begins and ends in Scotland. But the middle is where your heart will soar, break, mend, dive, fall apart again...and finally...heal... ❤️🫣😢❤️

🛑🛑 Stop here if you don’t want to know anything else about the book, as I’m going to delve loosely into it here! 🛑🛑

Joanna and Rachel have been friends forever, yet, they are NOTHING alike.
Joanna's Mom is a bible studying, strict, unbendable woman who lost her husband years ago...
Basically, Joanna (Jo) cannot get away with anything. Her Mom knows where she is and what she is doing at all times.

Rachel has both her parents and an older brother who is drop dead gorgeous. They are very wealthy, happy, welcoming, kind.... and invite Jo to spend part of her summer vacation at their home by the sea every year.
This is basically the ONLY escape that Jo has from her overbearing Mom.

That being said, we open the book with a death. So, in my short-sightedness, I couldn't imagine how we were going to have all these pages beyond the death. I mean, where are we going with this? Well, I was TOTALLY wrong!!

The book that followed had me cheering, crying, laughing, sobbing, and at times...just had my mouth hanging wide open...

**** Trigger Warning **** There is rape. There is blame. There's abortion. There is significant alcohol consumption. There is the death of a baby, and the death of a beloved cat....
BUT, if you can manage to get beyond this, this is a book that should NOT BE MISSED!!

We move back and forth between now, and their HS days...and all of their antics.
Additionally, we get glimpses of the cottage by the sea (Clachan) where so many beautiful memories were made over the years, as well as some NOT so great ones...

5++ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫💫💫🌟🌟🌟 for me, as this book gave me ALL the feels, and then some!

#TheHouseOfLostSecrets by #AnsteyHarris and narrated beautifully by #AnnabelleDowler and #ElleNewlands.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #BrilliancePublishing for an ARC of the Audiobook which has already been released (but I was so lucky to receive yesterday!) You can look for it on shelves now!

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I am so grateful for this ARC. I loved it. I also loved the religious trauma exploration that our girl had to journey through. At first I was like "are they mormon? Is her mom LDS?" because I was picking up on the terms and prayers. I felt seen. This poor woman has just lost her lifelong best friend and now she is sorting through her friend's secrets.
I loved Meg too. The whole book was lovely and sad.
The narration was absolutely perfect.

Oh my heart just was so captured with this story. I could not get over the way the characters had to journey through this story. It was beautiful.