#BlogTour ‘Like A House On Fire’ by Caroline Hulse

About the book…

George and Stella’s marriage is over. They can’t decide exactly when that happened (Was it the coke can? Or that comment about Jurassic Park?), but they both agree that it has.

A couple of months after the separation, Stella’s mother, Margaret “The Force of Nature” Foy sends out invites for her murder mystery anniversary party – with George on the invite list. Stella hasn’t told her parents about the divorce, she couldn’t bring herself to. And with her father’s business shutting down, Margaret’s recent cancer diagnosis, and some very odd behaviour from her older sister Helen, now is clearly not a good time.

All they have to do is make it through the day without their secret being discovered. And in doing so, they may find each other again – or see their past and future both go up in flames..

Hugest thanks to the lovely Alex Layt of Orion for the blog tour invite and my gifted hardcover copy of ‘Like A House On Fire’ which is out in ebook and audiobook now !!

This book is so painfully heart achingly honest and yet, at the same time, a beautifully wrought insight into the life of a family like any other.

The lengths people go to to protect, insulate and shore up the sides of their relationships against the improbability of them drowning in acrimony, is all based in love for each other.

The central motif, the murder mystery party hosted and created by Margaret, is , ostensibly, a cause for the whole family to come together and even though they are rubbish at playing their parts within the family dynamic, for one blessed night, they might just be able to toe the line and deliver the parts assigned to them.

Helen, the ‘good one’, married to Nathan, the man who has taken over Tommy’s,his father-in-law’s, shop , two adorable children that she is struggling to parent , is on the verge of implosion.

Pete, the only boy, the one who can never do wrong in spite of frequently doing so, is mostly absent and therefore established in the mind of the reader by the very different narratives of family members (Helen and Stella are constantly having his ‘achievements’ rammed down their throats).

And then there is Stella, the ‘shit one’. The one on the verge of divorce, who, just for one more night, wants to pretend she and George are happily married. George’s inability to be anything other than passive and leave the major decision making up to her is driving an immovable wedge between them.

And then there are Margaret and Tommy, 2 very different people at a cross roads in their married and public lives, feeling bewildered and out of touch with the modern world.

One night, that is all they want, to celebrate their wedding anniversary, with Margaret being treated for cancer, it is a time to put aside all differences and just turn up and play along. But can they?

A searingly honest and beautifully written novel, this is an absolute must for lovers of Marian Keyes. Caroline Hulse has a Marian-esque ear for family dialogue that rings so true but is never trite or over done. You can relate to each and every conversation, mis-understanding and stepped on toe, whilst laughing and recognising you and yours amongst the raft of family, neighbours and in laws that inhabit the pages of ‘Like A House On Fire’.

They might not get on like the proverbial on the surface, but in the course of one night, in one house, there is tinder and fuel aplenty…all it needs is the spark to set it alight.

Ferociously funny and brilliantly plotted, I absolutely loved it and am now awaiting the arrival of her debut , ‘The Adults’.

About the author…

Caroline Hulse spends most of her days writing, having fulfilled her dream of having a job she could do in pyjamas. She also works in Human Resources sometimes.

She is openly competitive and loves playing board and card games. She can often be found in casino poker rooms, and wishes other people would want to play Cluedo for money.

She lives with her husband in Manchester, UK, where the two are captive to the whims of a small, controlling dog.

Twitter @carolinehulse1 @orionbooks @alexlayt