The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today I’m a stop on the Compulsive Readers tour for Stuart Neville’s latest, The House of Ashes!

Sara Keane and her husband Damien have only lived in their new house for a short time. It’s to be a new start for them after the incident. But the house, named The Ashes for the trees that grow outside, has a dark history. A history Sara is unaware of until an old woman arrives, banging on their door in the early morning hours.

The woman insists the house is hers. What’s more, she says the children need her. 

Curious about the woman, and with literally nothing to occupy her time, Sara begins to dig into the story of The Ashes and learns that it was the site of a horrific crime. As she discovers more, she also gets to know Mary, the old woman. And it’s this that finally gives her the strength she needs to change her own life.

Stuart Neville is well known as a master of Irish crime fiction. This latest standalone is crime fiction but also so much more. It’s the story of two women, tied to one another by location and circumstance. 

The book alternates, mostly, between Sara, present day, and Mary as she recounts her time living at The Ashes. 

Sara is closed off thanks to her domineering husband. And his family has a history in the area. Her father-in-law is in property development—it was he who bought the house for Sara and Damien and he’s had a crew working to fix it up and add an addition. But Francie Keane is also well known because of his stint in prison. And Sara isn’t too clear on exactly why he was there. 

For over a decade, Mary never knew anything outside of The Ashes. She lived there with Mummy Joy, Mummy Noreen, and the daddies. The daddies were always angry. There were others. Other women and even other children occasionally. But mostly it was Mary, Joy, and Noreen. 

Until one day when everything changed. 

Throughout, the book is peppered with pieces that set the tone and scene for the happenings in Northern Ireland. But that’s not the focus of the book by any means. Instead, it’s Mary and Sara. And a house that both women have theorized has never seen anything but tragedy. 

I know it sounds like this is a heavy read. And it is, but it’s also got the atmosphere and propulsion of a crime novel. It’s literally compulsively readable! So much so that I finished it in just a matter of hours!

House of Ashes is out now in both the UK and the US.