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Shell House: A Dark Psychological Portrait
Harry Rochester made a mistake. Forty years ago he abandoned his daughter who was convicted of a grisly crime. Wanting to right a wrong Harry makes contact with his daughter only to realise events of the past are glue that bind a family full of dark untold secrets.
Rebecca Banford, had another life and identity stolen from her as a child for a crime that labelled her a child killer. As a grown woman trying to move on with her life she discovers a father's call to bridge a relationship is like shaking the hand of death.
Is Rebecca willing to walk down a road full of mistrust and lies and embrace the girl she had been or will the secrets she's kept locked away finally be broken.
Shell House is a rare shocking, brutally honest novel of a family's struggle to cope with an ugly truth.
Rebecca Banford, had another life and identity stolen from her as a child for a crime that labelled her a child killer. As a grown woman trying to move on with her life she discovers a father's call to bridge a relationship is like shaking the hand of death.
Is Rebecca willing to walk down a road full of mistrust and lies and embrace the girl she had been or will the secrets she's kept locked away finally be broken.
Shell House is a rare shocking, brutally honest novel of a family's struggle to cope with an ugly truth.
297 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2012
30 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 4, 2013
This wasn't for me at all. The actual story is right up my street but there's no dialogue. Just endless description which I just never get along with. This happened with another e-book recently. I never do the "trying out" chapters and because you can't flick through pages you've no idea what's how it's laid out till it's downloaded and you start in reading it. I gave up, therefore, at only 18%.
There were some niggling mistakes as well. Drawer spelled as draw, lightning as lightening, colly as collie. Also some apostrophe errors, too and Americanised spellings in an English-based story. That is very annoying yet a lot of books I've read recently have it. I would think they'd prefer to keep English as it should be written and not used the bastardised (or bastardized) version.
The suthor is quite sparing when it comes to using commas as well for some reason.
I do have another by the same author downloaded-I hope it's not done in the same fashion.
This would make a great TV drama, I would think.
There were some niggling mistakes as well. Drawer spelled as draw, lightning as lightening, colly as collie. Also some apostrophe errors, too and Americanised spellings in an English-based story. That is very annoying yet a lot of books I've read recently have it. I would think they'd prefer to keep English as it should be written and not used the bastardised (or bastardized) version.
The suthor is quite sparing when it comes to using commas as well for some reason.
I do have another by the same author downloaded-I hope it's not done in the same fashion.
This would make a great TV drama, I would think.
May 27, 2019
This haunting and well written story gripped me in places. The descriptions are mesmerising at times.
''Harry Rochester made a mistake. Forty years ago he abandoned his daughter who was convicted of a grisly crime. Wanting to right a wrong Harry makes contact with his daughter only to realize events of the past are glue that bind a family full of dark untold secrets.
Rebecca Banford, had another life and identity stolen from her as a child for a crime that labelled her a child killer. As a grown woman trying to move on with her life she discovers a father’s call to bridge a relationship is like shaking the hand of death.
Is Rebecca willing to walk down a road full of mistrust and lies and embrace the girl she had been or will the secrets she’s kept locked away finally be broken.
Shell House is a rare shocking, brutally honest novel of a family’s struggle to cope with an ugly truth.''
''Harry Rochester made a mistake. Forty years ago he abandoned his daughter who was convicted of a grisly crime. Wanting to right a wrong Harry makes contact with his daughter only to realize events of the past are glue that bind a family full of dark untold secrets.
Rebecca Banford, had another life and identity stolen from her as a child for a crime that labelled her a child killer. As a grown woman trying to move on with her life she discovers a father’s call to bridge a relationship is like shaking the hand of death.
Is Rebecca willing to walk down a road full of mistrust and lies and embrace the girl she had been or will the secrets she’s kept locked away finally be broken.
Shell House is a rare shocking, brutally honest novel of a family’s struggle to cope with an ugly truth.''
September 23, 2012
I enjoyed this over all although i did find it excruciatingly slow in places. Its very tense and moody and kept me reading as I really wanted to find out what happened in the end. I liked the diary entries in the beginning but got confused when the stopped and the writing style changed. It would have been more helpful to explain what was going on as you don't know until later on in the book. I read this for free on a kindle app and was quite frustrated that I didn't have pages numbers to tell me how far I was through it, as the % didn't help me at all. I think I would read another book by this author.
August 19, 2015
This book was recently entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Shell House
Author: Gayle Eileen Curtis
Star Rating: 4 stars
Number of Readers: 31
Readers’ Comments
‘What a superb book. I loved the plot line and the characters were well developed and fascinating to follow. Lots of twists and a satisfying ending.’ Female reader, aged 43
‘Moving and, often, a little sad, this thriller was very entertaining.’ Male reader, aged 34
‘Although this is a thoroughly enjoyable read, it is confusing in parts. A continuity edit might help.’ Male reader, aged 51
‘The diary at the beginning is well done but the abrupt change in style is confusing. Lots happening in this story. The characters are strong and the Shell House setting is wonderfully described. A bit slow here and there but generally a very good read.’ Female reader, aged 52
‘Loved the twist in the end. Cool cover and blurb too.’ Male reader, aged 25
‘I felt so much sympathy for the two central characters. It was all very sad but the author handled the story well and kept me glued to to the book till the end.’ Female reader, aged 57
Stats
Cover 8/10
Editing 8/10
Writing Style 9/10
Plot/Story/Contents 10/10
Of the 31 readers:
26 thought the cover was good or excellent.
30 would read another book by this author.
9 thought the setting description was the best part of the book.
22 thought the plot was the best part.
‘A facinating story of regrets and family secrets. Highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Awards
Title: Shell House
Author: Gayle Eileen Curtis
Star Rating: 4 stars
Number of Readers: 31
Readers’ Comments
‘What a superb book. I loved the plot line and the characters were well developed and fascinating to follow. Lots of twists and a satisfying ending.’ Female reader, aged 43
‘Moving and, often, a little sad, this thriller was very entertaining.’ Male reader, aged 34
‘Although this is a thoroughly enjoyable read, it is confusing in parts. A continuity edit might help.’ Male reader, aged 51
‘The diary at the beginning is well done but the abrupt change in style is confusing. Lots happening in this story. The characters are strong and the Shell House setting is wonderfully described. A bit slow here and there but generally a very good read.’ Female reader, aged 52
‘Loved the twist in the end. Cool cover and blurb too.’ Male reader, aged 25
‘I felt so much sympathy for the two central characters. It was all very sad but the author handled the story well and kept me glued to to the book till the end.’ Female reader, aged 57
Stats
Cover 8/10
Editing 8/10
Writing Style 9/10
Plot/Story/Contents 10/10
Of the 31 readers:
26 thought the cover was good or excellent.
30 would read another book by this author.
9 thought the setting description was the best part of the book.
22 thought the plot was the best part.
‘A facinating story of regrets and family secrets. Highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Awards
June 17, 2016
Like many of the books on my Kindle I downloaded them so long ago I have no idea what the plot's are. In some cases the title lets you guess what the book will be about - chick-lit books tend to have certain titles that are 'light' and 'breezy' sounding, crime or thriller novels tend to be a bit 'darker' sounding. Shell House to me is a light and breezy sounding name... the book is anything but.
This is one of those books where saying much about it would act as a spoiler, and I know Goodreads has spoiler tags but sometimes you read them regardless and end up spoiling the plot for yourself. So I am deliberately not going to comment on this book in detail.
I will say that the plot was really intriguing, well written, well paced and well thought out. The characters were pretty well rounded as well and I thought the whole thing was very realistically portrayed.
This is one of those books where saying much about it would act as a spoiler, and I know Goodreads has spoiler tags but sometimes you read them regardless and end up spoiling the plot for yourself. So I am deliberately not going to comment on this book in detail.
I will say that the plot was really intriguing, well written, well paced and well thought out. The characters were pretty well rounded as well and I thought the whole thing was very realistically portrayed.
March 31, 2014
Initially I thought I made a mistake after reading a few pages as I did not think I wanted to read about a child killer. A friend had recommended the book with great reviews so I pushed on. To my delight the story began to unfold and I was hooked. Written as diary entries of two people the book can be interesting to follow. A couple of times I needed to back track to make sure I was following the story and check which character was speaking at the time. I enjoyed the story line and was interested to find about 2/3 of the way through there was a different ending than the one I saw that we were headed for.
February 3, 2017
4 Stars!
Gabrielle Rochester AKA Rebecca Bandford is a child killer. Harry Rochester, her father, abandoned her after the accusation of the murders. "Shell House" is a book the describes the contacts, hurt, and healing of contact between father and daughter including actions and circumstances leading to the abandonment.
I was not expecting such a story from the title and cover of this book. Emotional turmoil was felt between both characters on multiple levels. A twist at the end was not even expected.
Gabrielle Rochester AKA Rebecca Bandford is a child killer. Harry Rochester, her father, abandoned her after the accusation of the murders. "Shell House" is a book the describes the contacts, hurt, and healing of contact between father and daughter including actions and circumstances leading to the abandonment.
I was not expecting such a story from the title and cover of this book. Emotional turmoil was felt between both characters on multiple levels. A twist at the end was not even expected.
June 7, 2013
Didn't want this to end. Downloaded another story by the same author & hope it's a good as this. Few reviews criticise the writing, I found it fine. Good read!!!
May 26, 2014
Great book
I think I spent most of this book in the same state of turmoil as the characters. I couldn't put it down until I had closure!
I think I spent most of this book in the same state of turmoil as the characters. I couldn't put it down until I had closure!
February 26, 2015
Beautifully written.
November 8, 2022
'My name is Rebecca Bandford, only it isn’t the name I was born with. I am a child killer' so begins the ride through Rebecca's life when she killed 3yr old twin boys when she was 10yrs old. I wasn't sure I wanted to carry on reading this book but am glad I did. Yes it did seem to drag in parts but I didn't have any trouble following the diary writings and I have to say I was totally caught out by the last few chapters. A very well written book, am surprised it hasn't been made into a film, particularly the ending.
November 26, 2024
Excellent!
I initially chose this book because of my love of shells and the love of the ocean on the coast of New Hampshire in the US. The story was so well written and wove a picture in my mind that I could so clearly see. Family secrets and lives are complicated for all of us in so many different ways. I enjoyed it from start to finish.
I initially chose this book because of my love of shells and the love of the ocean on the coast of New Hampshire in the US. The story was so well written and wove a picture in my mind that I could so clearly see. Family secrets and lives are complicated for all of us in so many different ways. I enjoyed it from start to finish.
September 12, 2020
Good read.
May 31, 2021
I’m not sure if this book deserves 4 or 5 stars.....an interesting read that kept me hooked and guessing but I still have questions at the end so that’s why I went with 4.
April 22, 2018
Kept me reading
I liked this book although I guessed the twist very early on. It had me thinking alot about the characters reasons for their actions . However I was slightly confused towards the end but managed to work through my confusion
I liked this book although I guessed the twist very early on. It had me thinking alot about the characters reasons for their actions . However I was slightly confused towards the end but managed to work through my confusion
March 4, 2015
3.5 stars. this is the second book ive read by this author. i did like this book but a twist about three quarters of the way spoilt it for me. i personally wish the author hadnt put the twist in as it is a good book but i was left feeling deflated towards the end and not knowing what was real and what wasnt. overall still a good book and would still recommend as some people might like the twist towards the end but personally i didnt.
August 21, 2012
A well written thought provoking book. Well worth a read
October 26, 2013
Book became very confusing to me and very repetitive at times! would not recommend it!
August 12, 2016
Alleged child murderer, death, broken family and a beach house. This has all of the elements of a feel good book. You can't possibly go wrong!
January 13, 2015
couldn't get into it
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews