The House by the Sea: The Top 5 bestselling, chilling, unforgettable book club read from Louise Douglas
3.5/5
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About this ebook
The new chilling and captivating novel from the bestselling author of Richard & Judy pick The Secrets Between Us.
When Edie’s mother-in-law, Anna DeLuca, dies, she is relieved. Edie blames Anna for the accident that destroyed her family. So, when her will lures Edie to Sicily and the long-abandoned Villa della Madonna del Mare, she sees through Anna’s games.
Suspecting Anna is meddling from beyond the grave to try to reunite her and her ex-husband Joe, Edie is determined to leave Italy as soon as possible. But before she can, the villa starts to shed its mysterious secrets.
Who are the girls beside Anna in her childhood photos, and why has one of them been scratched out? Why does someone, or something, want them to leave the past untouched? The villa is a place where old ghosts feel at home, but does their legacy need to be laid to rest before Edie and Joe can move on…
Bestselling author Louise Douglas returns with a captivating, chilling and unforgettable tale of betrayal, jealousy and the mysteries hidden in every family history.
Praise for Louise Douglas
'Louise Douglas achieves the impossible and gets better with every book.' Milly Johnson
'A brilliantly written, gripping, clever, compelling story, that I struggled to put down. The vivid descriptions, the evocative plot and the intrigue that Louise created, which had me constantly asking questions, made it a highly enjoyable, absolute treasure of a read.' Kim Nash on The Scarlet Dress
'Another stunning read from the exceptionally talented Louise Douglas! I love the way in which Louise creates such an atmospheric mystery, building the intrigue and suspense brick by brick. Her writing is always beautiful and multi-layered, her characters warm and relatable and the intriguing nature of the mystery makes this unputdownable.’ Nicola Cornick on The Scarlet Dress
'A tender, heart-breaking, page-turning read'Rachel Hore on The House by the Sea
'The perfect combination of page-turning thriller and deeply emotional family story. Superb’ Nicola Cornick on The House by the Sea
‘Kept me guessing until the last few pages and the explosive ending took my breath away.' C.L. Taylor, author of The Accident on Your Beautiful Lies
‘Beautifully written, chillingly atmospheric and utterly compelling, The Secret by the Lake is Louise Douglas at her brilliant best’ Tammy Cohen, author of The Broken
‘A master of her craft, Louise Douglas ratchets up the tension in this haunting and exquisitely written tale of buried secrets and past tragedy.’ Amanda Jennings, author of Sworn Secret
‘A clammy, atmospheric and suspenseful novel, it builds in tension all the way through to the startling final pages.’ Sunday Express, S Magazine
'A chilling, unputdownable new novel from the bestselling author of The House By The Sea.
'A brilliantly written, gripping, clever, compelling story, that I struggled to put down.'
Louise Douglas
Louise Douglas is an RNA award winner and the bestselling author of several brilliantly reviewed novels. These include the number one bestseller The Lost Notebook, and the The Secrets Between Us which was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country.
Read more from Louise Douglas
The Scarlet Dress: The brilliant new novel from the bestselling author of The House By The Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Notebook: THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Room in the Attic: The TOP 5 bestselling novel from Louise Douglas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Love of My Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMissing You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for The House by the Sea
32 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I don’t remember how The House by the Sea, by Louise Douglas ended up in my Audible library, but I’m grateful it did! While scrolling through my Audible library, I noticed this book with an “Included until…” notation. Did I add this book? Did Audible know how much I needed this book in my life, and added it to my library as part of my membership? I’m grateful the universe provided me an opportunity to read an incredibly good book, and introduced me to a new-to-me author. The House by the Sea is set in Sicily, in an idyllic seaside village with excellent food and old, dreamy villas. A setting so easy for me to imagine and mentally escape for a little while. Edie’s former mother-in-law, Anna, has died and left her property in her will. Edie and her former husband, Joe, divorced 10 years earlier following a tragedy. Edie, living in London, has to travel to Sicily where she and Joe will meet with an attorney to resolve the will. Anna left Joe and Edie the family villa. Anna is understandably annoyed with having to see Joe again, and having to navigate what to do with Joe’s family’s summer vacation villa. Talk about awkward! As the story progresses, Edie’s attitude begins to soften and it turns out traveling to Sicily isn’t a terrible experience. I love how the story evolved. Edie grows as a woman and has the opportunity to heal and gain peace. There’s a hint of ghosts or remnants of a long family history. The local community and neighbors are colorful and present with moments of...I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.A Book And A Dog
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"The House by the Sea" was a compelling mystery and with its short chapters it was easy to read 'just one more!' I loved the setting of this novel; a beautiful old villa in Sicily. The author's wonderful descriptions transported me to rural Italy and I could easily imagine the beauty and neglect of the the villa and its gardens. The memories and secrets the villa held also shrouded it in suspense which kept me reading.Throughout the novel, Edie's character growth was huge but my favourite character was her ex-husband, Joe. He was extremely likeable. At the start of the book both Joe and Edie were in deep pain as they continued to struggle with the death of their son ten years ago. However, as the book progressed, the reader sees the two of them beginning to rekindle the love the once shared as they learn to trust each other again.Although I did have reservations about the ending; it was very rushed full of (too much) drama and suddenly everyone lived 'happily ever after', overall, I found "The House by the Sea" to be a very entertaining read.