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The Two Houses
' Superbly written and utterly gripping' Daily Mail
After an acclaimed career in ceramics, Jay herself has cracked . Recovering from a breakdown, she and her husband Simon move to the desolate edges of the north of England, where they find and fall in love with the Two a crumbling property whose central rooms were supposedly so haunted that a previous owner had them cut out from the building entirely.
But on uprooting their city life and moving to the sheltered grey village of Hestle, Jay and Simon discover it's not only the Two Houses that seems to be haunted by an obscure past. It becomes increasingly clear that the villagers don't want them there at all - and when building work to make the two houses whole again starts, a discovery is made that will unearth decades-old secrets . . .
But who in this village has been hiding them?
'Atmospheric with a wonderful cast of characters that prove the depth of Cooper's empathy and talent. Eerie, evocative and captivating . . . A total triumph.' Tor Udall, author of A Thousand Paper Birds
************
Praise for These Dividing Walls :
'Beautifully written' Prima
'Unforgettable' Hannah Rothschild
'Confident and brilliant' Lisa O'Donnell
'Fine writing . . . Cooper's expertly realised characters, both sympathetic and not, have stories interwoven with aplomb' Daily Mail
After an acclaimed career in ceramics, Jay herself has cracked . Recovering from a breakdown, she and her husband Simon move to the desolate edges of the north of England, where they find and fall in love with the Two a crumbling property whose central rooms were supposedly so haunted that a previous owner had them cut out from the building entirely.
But on uprooting their city life and moving to the sheltered grey village of Hestle, Jay and Simon discover it's not only the Two Houses that seems to be haunted by an obscure past. It becomes increasingly clear that the villagers don't want them there at all - and when building work to make the two houses whole again starts, a discovery is made that will unearth decades-old secrets . . .
But who in this village has been hiding them?
'Atmospheric with a wonderful cast of characters that prove the depth of Cooper's empathy and talent. Eerie, evocative and captivating . . . A total triumph.' Tor Udall, author of A Thousand Paper Birds
************
Praise for These Dividing Walls :
'Beautifully written' Prima
'Unforgettable' Hannah Rothschild
'Confident and brilliant' Lisa O'Donnell
'Fine writing . . . Cooper's expertly realised characters, both sympathetic and not, have stories interwoven with aplomb' Daily Mail
304 pages, Paperback
Published September 20, 2018
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170 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
November 19, 2018
Three and a half stars.
Jay, an acclaimed artist of ceramics, has a breakdown. Life and its sorrows have become too much for her. In an effort to try and help his dearly loved wife, Simon floats an idea. Simon and Jay decide to buy a weekender out of London. They end up inspecting a property that is two houses but used to be one, till the middle was cut out of it. It is set in a desolate area in the north of England. Rumours abound that Two Houses is haunted. Undaunted Jay and Simon purchase it and move in, even though it appears the villagers don’t want them there. Jay ends up unwilling to leave the place at all. She is determined to uncover the secrets of the Two Houses even though locals don’t want her to. Undeterred, Jay perseveres with the result that secrets long held are unearthed.
I was originally drawn to this book by the striking blue cover and the blurb. I’m not a person who usually reads ghost stories, so I debated a while about reading it. Curiosity got the better of me. And this starts off sounding very much like a ghost story, though it is not really. The setting certainly does have that melancholy, gothic feel to it though. The prose is beautiful and has a mostly reflective rhythm. Jay is an interesting character with more than a few issues. So are some of the other village people, particularly Tom, Jacob and Heather, who each have their own secrets and sorrows.
The author was previously unknown to me. I was glad I took a chance on this book. The prose and the characters kept me reading. I liked the melancholic feel of the story. Reading it was an interesting experience and a definite change of pace and tone from my previous book.
Jay, an acclaimed artist of ceramics, has a breakdown. Life and its sorrows have become too much for her. In an effort to try and help his dearly loved wife, Simon floats an idea. Simon and Jay decide to buy a weekender out of London. They end up inspecting a property that is two houses but used to be one, till the middle was cut out of it. It is set in a desolate area in the north of England. Rumours abound that Two Houses is haunted. Undaunted Jay and Simon purchase it and move in, even though it appears the villagers don’t want them there. Jay ends up unwilling to leave the place at all. She is determined to uncover the secrets of the Two Houses even though locals don’t want her to. Undeterred, Jay perseveres with the result that secrets long held are unearthed.
I was originally drawn to this book by the striking blue cover and the blurb. I’m not a person who usually reads ghost stories, so I debated a while about reading it. Curiosity got the better of me. And this starts off sounding very much like a ghost story, though it is not really. The setting certainly does have that melancholy, gothic feel to it though. The prose is beautiful and has a mostly reflective rhythm. Jay is an interesting character with more than a few issues. So are some of the other village people, particularly Tom, Jacob and Heather, who each have their own secrets and sorrows.
The author was previously unknown to me. I was glad I took a chance on this book. The prose and the characters kept me reading. I liked the melancholic feel of the story. Reading it was an interesting experience and a definite change of pace and tone from my previous book.
March 11, 2018
A House Divided
I must confess that I was expecting more of a ghost-story aura of spookiness from the scene-setting of a strangely divided house in a bleak northern landscape, but the mystery behind it was compelling enough to keep me intrigued to the end.
Being a northerner myself, I found the stereotypical characterisation of the village community and their mistrust of outsiders led to unfortunate connotations with the 'local shops for local people' in The League of Gentlemen’s village of Royston Vasey. But apart from that niggle, there is some fine writing in this novel, especially noticeable in how well the author conveys a sense of place and the main character Jay is particularly well realised.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via NetGalley
I must confess that I was expecting more of a ghost-story aura of spookiness from the scene-setting of a strangely divided house in a bleak northern landscape, but the mystery behind it was compelling enough to keep me intrigued to the end.
Being a northerner myself, I found the stereotypical characterisation of the village community and their mistrust of outsiders led to unfortunate connotations with the 'local shops for local people' in The League of Gentlemen’s village of Royston Vasey. But apart from that niggle, there is some fine writing in this novel, especially noticeable in how well the author conveys a sense of place and the main character Jay is particularly well realised.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via NetGalley
February 25, 2018
Having enjoyed Fran Cooper’s first novel ‘These Dividing Walls’ so much, I was keen to get my hands on her second, and was not disappointed. A very different setting from the Paris streets of her first, but she creates an equally compelling sense of place on the isolated, windswept moorland of the north of England. Her ability to create complex characters is undiminished - I was wholly engaged with the main character, Jay, an artist from London who is entranced with the landscape, the people and their secrets. The supporting cast were wholly believable, too, and provided plenty of subplots to keep the story interesting. A mystery at its heart for sure, but their interaction was the strength of the novel for me.
Some lovely writing. A couple of examples:
‘But he refuses to divulge any further information, and so the rumour takes to wing again, hovering above the village, fluttering its feathers until the air is nothing but wing-beat, loud and panicky above them.’
‘Heather lives in this world of memory now. This half-life, where everything around her is flat and empty yet thick with the resonance of days gone by. A hum below the surface. Palimpsest. A word she heard on the radio once and had to look up in the library dictionary (noun, writing material on which later writing has been superimposed)…’
One niggle - I can’t understand how this would be published under the title ‘The Two Houses’ when throughout the book the property is emphatically referred to as ‘Two Houses’. Am I missing a little wordplay here?
With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.
Some lovely writing. A couple of examples:
‘But he refuses to divulge any further information, and so the rumour takes to wing again, hovering above the village, fluttering its feathers until the air is nothing but wing-beat, loud and panicky above them.’
‘Heather lives in this world of memory now. This half-life, where everything around her is flat and empty yet thick with the resonance of days gone by. A hum below the surface. Palimpsest. A word she heard on the radio once and had to look up in the library dictionary (noun, writing material on which later writing has been superimposed)…’
One niggle - I can’t understand how this would be published under the title ‘The Two Houses’ when throughout the book the property is emphatically referred to as ‘Two Houses’. Am I missing a little wordplay here?
With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.
August 13, 2018
I'm not even immediately aware of where I heard about this one but when I went on my recent jaunt to Bath it was one of the purchases I made whilst in the spectacular Mr B's Reading Emporium.
This book is from start to finish a bit of me. Old spooky house with a history *tick*, a close knit village with secrets *tick*, remote setting with inclement weather *tick*, newcomers to the village who the residents are suspicious of *big fat tick*.
So what do we have here? The Two Houses tells the story of Jay and Simon, London dwellers by nature. Jay is a ceramicist and Simon is an architect. When Jay has a nervous breakdown brought on by her inability to have children, Simon suggests that they find a weekend property they can renovate and use as an escape from the city and an escape from their problems.
They embark upon a search for the perfect property and decide on Two Houses, which is exactly as it sounds. A house which used to be one building but has been separated into two. The reason for this being, so legend has it, that the previous owner lost his child and then his wife in fairly quick succession and the middle rooms were supposedly haunted by the spirit of his wife.
Jay and Simon are not sure about these stories but Jay finds them fascinating and when human remains are found during their building works on the house her determination to find out what actually happened intensifies.
We hear about life in the village not only through Jay's and Simon's eyes but various characters in the village too. Tom the pub landlord, Angela the pub cleaner, Ned, Tom's father and Jacob Tom's brother.
Right from the outset there are strange goings on at Two Houses and I must admit I did hold off starting this book until it was daytime! I'm glad I did to be honest! The first few chapters really gave me chills and built the suspense perfectly. The descriptions of the remote, bleak location meant that I had Two Houses and the village perfectly mapped out in my head.
The characters were all so well developed and fascinating. There was a real sense of claustrophobia in their village life. The tension was at times palpable. Their fascination with the newcomers, their trepidation at the building works going on up at Two Houses and the secrets they were hoping would stay buried forever. The relationships between all the villagers are also very interesting. It's fascinating to see how they interact with each other and how their various paths have crossed. I find small village life intriguing and at times understood how Jay and Simon must have felt being the newcomers or 'offcomers' as the villagers dubbed them.
I really enjoyed getting involved with trying to unravel the mystery. Who did the human remains belong to? Why were they there? And how did this person end up being forgotten about. Jay does her best to try and piece together the mystery but the villagers are all very tight lipped and her determination in finding out what happened starts to impact her marriage to Simon.
This book was a perfect mystery. I love a decades old riddle to be solved, piece by piece all the evidence slotting slowly into place. Punctuated with a paragraph or two from a voice from the past this was a very atmospheric read. At times it put me in mind of Sarah Moss' Night Waking.
I recommend you start it during the day though!
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
This book is from start to finish a bit of me. Old spooky house with a history *tick*, a close knit village with secrets *tick*, remote setting with inclement weather *tick*, newcomers to the village who the residents are suspicious of *big fat tick*.
So what do we have here? The Two Houses tells the story of Jay and Simon, London dwellers by nature. Jay is a ceramicist and Simon is an architect. When Jay has a nervous breakdown brought on by her inability to have children, Simon suggests that they find a weekend property they can renovate and use as an escape from the city and an escape from their problems.
They embark upon a search for the perfect property and decide on Two Houses, which is exactly as it sounds. A house which used to be one building but has been separated into two. The reason for this being, so legend has it, that the previous owner lost his child and then his wife in fairly quick succession and the middle rooms were supposedly haunted by the spirit of his wife.
Jay and Simon are not sure about these stories but Jay finds them fascinating and when human remains are found during their building works on the house her determination to find out what actually happened intensifies.
We hear about life in the village not only through Jay's and Simon's eyes but various characters in the village too. Tom the pub landlord, Angela the pub cleaner, Ned, Tom's father and Jacob Tom's brother.
Right from the outset there are strange goings on at Two Houses and I must admit I did hold off starting this book until it was daytime! I'm glad I did to be honest! The first few chapters really gave me chills and built the suspense perfectly. The descriptions of the remote, bleak location meant that I had Two Houses and the village perfectly mapped out in my head.
The characters were all so well developed and fascinating. There was a real sense of claustrophobia in their village life. The tension was at times palpable. Their fascination with the newcomers, their trepidation at the building works going on up at Two Houses and the secrets they were hoping would stay buried forever. The relationships between all the villagers are also very interesting. It's fascinating to see how they interact with each other and how their various paths have crossed. I find small village life intriguing and at times understood how Jay and Simon must have felt being the newcomers or 'offcomers' as the villagers dubbed them.
I really enjoyed getting involved with trying to unravel the mystery. Who did the human remains belong to? Why were they there? And how did this person end up being forgotten about. Jay does her best to try and piece together the mystery but the villagers are all very tight lipped and her determination in finding out what happened starts to impact her marriage to Simon.
This book was a perfect mystery. I love a decades old riddle to be solved, piece by piece all the evidence slotting slowly into place. Punctuated with a paragraph or two from a voice from the past this was a very atmospheric read. At times it put me in mind of Sarah Moss' Night Waking.
I recommend you start it during the day though!
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
February 14, 2018
I loved Fran Cooper's debut These Dividing Walls, set in contemporary Paris, so looked forward to her latest book very much. Once again the reader is immersed in the setting, albeit a completely different one: the Yorkshire Moors, invoked so well I felt I was living there.
Jay is recovering from a mental breakdown so she and her architect husband, Simon, move from London to a house in an isolated village where she can continue to make her pottery. But it isn't just one house: it is two, with a space between the buildings, which fascinates both of them. When Simon is away working in London Jay experiences a sense of ghostliness and wants to know more about who lived there previously.
Building work to reunite the two houses begins and a discovery is made that shakes the whole village. There is much animosity from the villagers and when the secret of The Two Houses is finally revealed it is a haunting and sad one.
A beautifully written novel which illustrates Fran Cooper's talent as a storyteller. Thanks so much to both the author and Emma Herdman for the opportunity to read and review the book.
Jay is recovering from a mental breakdown so she and her architect husband, Simon, move from London to a house in an isolated village where she can continue to make her pottery. But it isn't just one house: it is two, with a space between the buildings, which fascinates both of them. When Simon is away working in London Jay experiences a sense of ghostliness and wants to know more about who lived there previously.
Building work to reunite the two houses begins and a discovery is made that shakes the whole village. There is much animosity from the villagers and when the secret of The Two Houses is finally revealed it is a haunting and sad one.
A beautifully written novel which illustrates Fran Cooper's talent as a storyteller. Thanks so much to both the author and Emma Herdman for the opportunity to read and review the book.
did-not-finish
February 27, 2018Sampled up to 25%. I was initially intrigued by the ghost story element of this, and the opening chapter is certainly captivating. However, the contrast between London and 'the north' is so exaggerated it verges on comical – it's literally made to sound like they're at opposite ends of the earth, with entirely different climates – and the way the 'locals' are written, especially in comparison to the cosmopolitan protagonists, is kind of painful to read.
March 23, 2018
At first glance, this appears to be a ghost story. While the writing style is atmospheric, creepy and gothic, the content is more grounded. The ghosts are emotional, bad memories and entrenched secrets kept by the living rather than the dead.
Escaping to the country seems like a rest cure for Jay and Simon, reeling from Jay's emotional breakdown when she discovers she cannot have children. A ceramic artist Jay's work suffers until she shies away from it and everyone attached to it. Simon loves her but doesn't necessarily understand her. His constant presence is claustrophobic for his free-spirited wife. She doesn't want to share her emotions just to make him feel worthwhile.
So when they find a quirky, broken down property, two houses severed in their past. Jay loves it, and Simon who wants his wife to recover agrees, although he is looking for a bolt hole and she is searching for a new life.
The villagers are suspicious of the interloper's motives and the reasons for this gradually become clear as the story progresses. It's not just because they want to protect the secrets of the old houses, their way of life has disintegrated with the closure of the mines and farms, young people want to leave, and only the old ones and those who cannot survive elsewhere are left. They want to protect their way of life even if it's not what it once was.
The characters are realistic, as is their behaviour when confronted with newcomers. Jay becomes obsessed with the house's secrets to the exclusion of all else, but maybe this is part of her healing process?
The plot reveals its clues and misinformation as it progresses, the pacing is slow because of the detailed descriptions and the internal conflict of the main characters.
Mysterious and suspenseful but not written in a commercial, contemporary style, it is all about the characters and their interaction with the setting. It resonates as you read and the two houses' story is infinitely sadder than you first imagine.
I liked it and found the ending particularly poignant. It conveys the sense of stability and people becoming as one with the land well. It is slow and maybe too detailed in places, but it does fit with a gothic writing style and is a lovely example of this.
I received a copy of this book from Hodder and Stoughton via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Escaping to the country seems like a rest cure for Jay and Simon, reeling from Jay's emotional breakdown when she discovers she cannot have children. A ceramic artist Jay's work suffers until she shies away from it and everyone attached to it. Simon loves her but doesn't necessarily understand her. His constant presence is claustrophobic for his free-spirited wife. She doesn't want to share her emotions just to make him feel worthwhile.
So when they find a quirky, broken down property, two houses severed in their past. Jay loves it, and Simon who wants his wife to recover agrees, although he is looking for a bolt hole and she is searching for a new life.
The villagers are suspicious of the interloper's motives and the reasons for this gradually become clear as the story progresses. It's not just because they want to protect the secrets of the old houses, their way of life has disintegrated with the closure of the mines and farms, young people want to leave, and only the old ones and those who cannot survive elsewhere are left. They want to protect their way of life even if it's not what it once was.
The characters are realistic, as is their behaviour when confronted with newcomers. Jay becomes obsessed with the house's secrets to the exclusion of all else, but maybe this is part of her healing process?
The plot reveals its clues and misinformation as it progresses, the pacing is slow because of the detailed descriptions and the internal conflict of the main characters.
Mysterious and suspenseful but not written in a commercial, contemporary style, it is all about the characters and their interaction with the setting. It resonates as you read and the two houses' story is infinitely sadder than you first imagine.
I liked it and found the ending particularly poignant. It conveys the sense of stability and people becoming as one with the land well. It is slow and maybe too detailed in places, but it does fit with a gothic writing style and is a lovely example of this.
I received a copy of this book from Hodder and Stoughton via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
March 13, 2018
I was attracted to this book because of the unusual cover and the premise sounded fascinating: an old house with the middle taken out because it's haunted!
Jay is an artist, specialising in ceramics, but has suffered a breakdown and feels a need for peace and quiet away from London. So she and her husband Simon buy a derelict house in the country - which is actually now two houses, as a previous owner took out the middle believing it to be haunted by the ghost of his wife. Despite the hostility of the villagers, Jay finds the idea of living in a haunted house both fascinating and inspiring, and is eager to investigate its history - but perhaps the past should be left alone?
I did enjoy The Two Houses but I downloaded it because I thought it was a ghost story and it wasn't really. Small items seem to disappear from one location only to turn up in another, but that is about it. There is an old mystery but the story is really about how the characters cope with living in such a bleak and hostile environment. Jay and Simon discover that living in the country isn't quite the idyll they were expecting. Tom, who runs the local pub, has never quite got over having to give up farming. The elderly Heather is old enough to remember the tragic events of the past and has no desire to see it all stirred up again. And then there is the newcomer Dev, who just wants to fit in.
Tom and Heather were my favourite characters but I didn't much like Jay, mainly because she seemed to be determined to solve the mystery of the Two Houses only to prove that she was right - and she didn't care who she hurt in the process. I did love the idea of a house so haunted it had to have a chunk taken out. The story is well-written and the setting is great, but bear in mind The Two Houses is more character study than gothic mystery or psychological thriller.
I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of this book, which will be published in the UK on the 22nd March 2018.
Thank you to Fran Cooper, Hodder & Stoughton, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.
Jay is an artist, specialising in ceramics, but has suffered a breakdown and feels a need for peace and quiet away from London. So she and her husband Simon buy a derelict house in the country - which is actually now two houses, as a previous owner took out the middle believing it to be haunted by the ghost of his wife. Despite the hostility of the villagers, Jay finds the idea of living in a haunted house both fascinating and inspiring, and is eager to investigate its history - but perhaps the past should be left alone?
I did enjoy The Two Houses but I downloaded it because I thought it was a ghost story and it wasn't really. Small items seem to disappear from one location only to turn up in another, but that is about it. There is an old mystery but the story is really about how the characters cope with living in such a bleak and hostile environment. Jay and Simon discover that living in the country isn't quite the idyll they were expecting. Tom, who runs the local pub, has never quite got over having to give up farming. The elderly Heather is old enough to remember the tragic events of the past and has no desire to see it all stirred up again. And then there is the newcomer Dev, who just wants to fit in.
Tom and Heather were my favourite characters but I didn't much like Jay, mainly because she seemed to be determined to solve the mystery of the Two Houses only to prove that she was right - and she didn't care who she hurt in the process. I did love the idea of a house so haunted it had to have a chunk taken out. The story is well-written and the setting is great, but bear in mind The Two Houses is more character study than gothic mystery or psychological thriller.
I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of this book, which will be published in the UK on the 22nd March 2018.
Thank you to Fran Cooper, Hodder & Stoughton, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.
August 19, 2021
4.5 stars. Reading this was a slow yet satisfying experience. The writing is aesthetically pleasing and visually enticing - the further I went into the story, the more I felt transformed into a ghostly wanderer drifting high and wide over a secluded town among the foggy hills. The author handled her characters adeptly: they all have distinct voices, unique qualities & personality flaws. There is a main character by the name of Jay, whose experiences are at the heart of the tale, but the book also features an ensemble cast whose perspectives are made known to the reader in various chapters. While this valiant undertaking turned out to be a successful endeavour, it comes with the cost of running the plot slightly too long. This is a slow-burn book, which is why the actions are far in between, but I thought it could have benefitted from tighter editing on some of mundane parts that didn't affect much of the ending. Aside from this, some of the story reveals are achieved by telling instead of showing, which felt simplistic and contrived.
What I appreciate the most from The Two Houses is its focus on the more human side of haunting: traumas, regrets, longings and dwelling on the past that can never return. It's more of a story that has ghosts rather than a ghost story. The supernatural is real but it might not always be what we believe it to be, because our perception of the truth can diverge and become limited by the reality of life that we each experience separately. Whether you will enjoy this book or not really depends on the perspective that you are after. If you're looking for a paranormal nightmare to sink your teeth into, a dizzying crescendo of horror made corporeal by the darkness that blankets the story's settings, then you should skip over this book.
But if the ghosts you seek are made of memory and mist, if the haunting you understand best is that within and between hearts, if you are drawn to character-driven plots & poetic prose that buoy you into a hazy evening dream... then I would recommend this.
What I appreciate the most from The Two Houses is its focus on the more human side of haunting: traumas, regrets, longings and dwelling on the past that can never return. It's more of a story that has ghosts rather than a ghost story. The supernatural is real but it might not always be what we believe it to be, because our perception of the truth can diverge and become limited by the reality of life that we each experience separately. Whether you will enjoy this book or not really depends on the perspective that you are after. If you're looking for a paranormal nightmare to sink your teeth into, a dizzying crescendo of horror made corporeal by the darkness that blankets the story's settings, then you should skip over this book.
But if the ghosts you seek are made of memory and mist, if the haunting you understand best is that within and between hearts, if you are drawn to character-driven plots & poetic prose that buoy you into a hazy evening dream... then I would recommend this.
January 15, 2018
This is what I would call an old fashioned style ghost story, and a very good one at that!
Recovering from a breakdown, Jay decides that she needs a retreat, somewhere to get away from the hustle and bustle of London living. With her husband Simon, they find a place on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. Not just one, but two houses, Jay feels it is the right spot for her to recover fully and begin working on her ceramics again. But there is a legend surrounding the properties, a haunted tale retelling why, what was one house, was split into two, and when Jay and Simon attempt to reunite the properties again, they unearth the start of a mystery Jay just has to solve.
The desolate moors and decline of the local village provided the perfect eerie backdrop for this tale. The animosity towards newcomers by locals added an edge and I found all of the characters were really well developed, Tom and Heather being my favourites. The actual mystery, once solved, was very sad but had a good sense of realism. The perfect read for a dark winter evening.
*I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Recovering from a breakdown, Jay decides that she needs a retreat, somewhere to get away from the hustle and bustle of London living. With her husband Simon, they find a place on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. Not just one, but two houses, Jay feels it is the right spot for her to recover fully and begin working on her ceramics again. But there is a legend surrounding the properties, a haunted tale retelling why, what was one house, was split into two, and when Jay and Simon attempt to reunite the properties again, they unearth the start of a mystery Jay just has to solve.
The desolate moors and decline of the local village provided the perfect eerie backdrop for this tale. The animosity towards newcomers by locals added an edge and I found all of the characters were really well developed, Tom and Heather being my favourites. The actual mystery, once solved, was very sad but had a good sense of realism. The perfect read for a dark winter evening.
*I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 20, 2018
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect when I picked up this book; was it a ghost story? A domestic drama? After finishing it, I’m still not sure which genre it fits in best. But it’s an enjoyable novel nonetheless and one I would recommend to those who like atmospheric mysteries.
I loved the premise of this book, with a house in the middle of desolate countryside, whose central rooms were supposedly so haunted that the previous owner had to have them demolished. It’s particularly gothic in its depiction of an isolated house near a quiet village where the residents mumble to themselves and utter mysterious warnings about the house up on the hill.
The atmosphere is also great, and Cooper’s writing is at its best when she is describing the desolate countryside and grey, rain-lashed village. As the pace increases and the novel hurtles towards its end, a storm bullies its way across the sky and threatens to flood the villagers out of their homes, and you’ll find yourselves gripping the book as you race towards the thrilling finale.
Where Cooper falls down is with her protagonists. I didn’t really connect with any of them, particularly Jay. I found her selfish and irritating and her husband, Simon, wasn’t much better in the likeability stakes. I’m not against unlikeable protagonists but I felt like I was supposed to root for Jay, but wasn’t given enough reasons to do so.
However, Cooper makes up for this with her secondary characters, a cast that is memorable and three-dimensional and whose conflicts added interesting layers to the story. I particularly enjoyed Dev, a young man who works at the local library and who is ostracised from the other villagers because of the colour of his skin.
The mystery at the heart of the novel is what keeps you reading and thankfully it has a solution that is both interesting and satisfying. Cooper ramps up the pace and tension so the ending rushes towards you with the pace of a thriller – before everything is resolved the way it should be: over a nice cup of tea.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the premise of this book, with a house in the middle of desolate countryside, whose central rooms were supposedly so haunted that the previous owner had to have them demolished. It’s particularly gothic in its depiction of an isolated house near a quiet village where the residents mumble to themselves and utter mysterious warnings about the house up on the hill.
The atmosphere is also great, and Cooper’s writing is at its best when she is describing the desolate countryside and grey, rain-lashed village. As the pace increases and the novel hurtles towards its end, a storm bullies its way across the sky and threatens to flood the villagers out of their homes, and you’ll find yourselves gripping the book as you race towards the thrilling finale.
Where Cooper falls down is with her protagonists. I didn’t really connect with any of them, particularly Jay. I found her selfish and irritating and her husband, Simon, wasn’t much better in the likeability stakes. I’m not against unlikeable protagonists but I felt like I was supposed to root for Jay, but wasn’t given enough reasons to do so.
However, Cooper makes up for this with her secondary characters, a cast that is memorable and three-dimensional and whose conflicts added interesting layers to the story. I particularly enjoyed Dev, a young man who works at the local library and who is ostracised from the other villagers because of the colour of his skin.
The mystery at the heart of the novel is what keeps you reading and thankfully it has a solution that is both interesting and satisfying. Cooper ramps up the pace and tension so the ending rushes towards you with the pace of a thriller – before everything is resolved the way it should be: over a nice cup of tea.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 7, 2021
"for what is a ceramicist if not tactile? who is to tell her that she will not learn the past through touch?"
i rarely pick out quotes from books i read but once i came across this quote, i immediately knew that this was something i had to include in my review. a story of secrets, a fight between the past and present, practicality and ignorance, 'the two houses' by fran cooper is a story deeply layered with life.
in the beginning, i found the story to be extremely dull. the first 50 pages moved really slowly and everything felt like a drag. i nearly gave up on reading the rest of the book but thank goodness for my stubborn disposition that pushed me to continue. the first part left a terrible first impression but don't give up! from page 60 onwards, things get more intense and interesting. we move from our two main characters jay and simon to the rest of the folks in town.
fran cooper has done a good job in drafting up her characters; every person has a story and secret of their own and eventually, their individual stories intertwine together, simultaneously unravelling the secret behind the two houses. this part is especially well done, there is barely any confusion amidst all of this action and the ending is particularly satisfying whereby all of the characters receive closure. i am fond of all the characters except the main character jay whose bull-headed personality ticks me off at times. however, i cannot complain for that aspect of her personality is a necessary evil, one that is needed to drive the story forward.
i'm deeply impressed with how this story has turned out and although the opening could have been executed better, it has still greatly surpassed my initial expectations. it's a pity how not a lot of people know of this story, i definitely recommend 'the two houses' to anyone who is interested in mysteries, quiet towns and different stories intertwining into one.
carmen's tldr review:
entertainment value: 4/5
story: 4/5
characters: 4/5
price: definitely worth the price
difficulty (language): 4/5 author uses a lot of bombastic vocabulary and native slang so beginner readers may want to save this book for a later time!
chances of re-reading: 50%
ending: 5/5
presentation/editing: 3/5 some commas and punctuation marks were missing and that irked me
audience: for teens and above
i rarely pick out quotes from books i read but once i came across this quote, i immediately knew that this was something i had to include in my review. a story of secrets, a fight between the past and present, practicality and ignorance, 'the two houses' by fran cooper is a story deeply layered with life.
in the beginning, i found the story to be extremely dull. the first 50 pages moved really slowly and everything felt like a drag. i nearly gave up on reading the rest of the book but thank goodness for my stubborn disposition that pushed me to continue. the first part left a terrible first impression but don't give up! from page 60 onwards, things get more intense and interesting. we move from our two main characters jay and simon to the rest of the folks in town.
fran cooper has done a good job in drafting up her characters; every person has a story and secret of their own and eventually, their individual stories intertwine together, simultaneously unravelling the secret behind the two houses. this part is especially well done, there is barely any confusion amidst all of this action and the ending is particularly satisfying whereby all of the characters receive closure. i am fond of all the characters except the main character jay whose bull-headed personality ticks me off at times. however, i cannot complain for that aspect of her personality is a necessary evil, one that is needed to drive the story forward.
i'm deeply impressed with how this story has turned out and although the opening could have been executed better, it has still greatly surpassed my initial expectations. it's a pity how not a lot of people know of this story, i definitely recommend 'the two houses' to anyone who is interested in mysteries, quiet towns and different stories intertwining into one.
carmen's tldr review:
entertainment value: 4/5
story: 4/5
characters: 4/5
price: definitely worth the price
difficulty (language): 4/5 author uses a lot of bombastic vocabulary and native slang so beginner readers may want to save this book for a later time!
chances of re-reading: 50%
ending: 5/5
presentation/editing: 3/5 some commas and punctuation marks were missing and that irked me
audience: for teens and above
June 9, 2018
When I discovered a copy of Fran Cooper’s new novel the other week, I couldn’t believe my luck. You might remember that I thoroughly enjoyed her debut, These Dividing Walls, a compassionate story of tensions within the walls of a Parisian apartment block. Her new novel is of a different stripe: a tale of Londoners Jay and Simon, whose dream holiday home in Yorkshire turns out to have unexpected baggage. The aptly-named Two Houses used to be one building, but its central rooms were cut out, levelled to the ground after the tragic death of its former owner’s wife, and rumoured to have housed a ghostly presence. From the moment she arrives, Jay feels a strange rapport with the unloved building, but she and Simon will discover that the villagers take a grim view of the new arrivals, and that Two Houses has yet to give up all its dark secrets…
For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/06/06/t...
For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/06/06/t...
June 6, 2019
Great read....well written
After an acclaimed career in ceramics, Jay herself has cracked. Recovering from a breakdown, she and her husband Simon move to the desolate edges of the north of England, where they find and fall in love with the Two Houses: a crumbling property whose central rooms were supposedly so haunted that a previous owner had them cut out from the building entirely.
But on uprooting their city life and moving to the sheltered grey village of Hestle, Jay and Simon discover it's not only the Two Houses that seems to be haunted by an obscure past. It becomes increasingly clear that the villagers don't want them there at all - and when building work to make the two houses whole again starts, a discovery is made that will unearth decades-old secrets . . .
But who in this village has been hiding them?
After an acclaimed career in ceramics, Jay herself has cracked. Recovering from a breakdown, she and her husband Simon move to the desolate edges of the north of England, where they find and fall in love with the Two Houses: a crumbling property whose central rooms were supposedly so haunted that a previous owner had them cut out from the building entirely.
But on uprooting their city life and moving to the sheltered grey village of Hestle, Jay and Simon discover it's not only the Two Houses that seems to be haunted by an obscure past. It becomes increasingly clear that the villagers don't want them there at all - and when building work to make the two houses whole again starts, a discovery is made that will unearth decades-old secrets . . .
But who in this village has been hiding them?
March 27, 2018
Grieving for thwarted expectations, successful ceramicist Jay spends the summer in bed. Simon, her architect husband, decides she needs a bolthole out of London, a country weekend retreat. They head north, househunting, when Jay falls in love with a most unlikely property: a dilapidated 18th-century manor house now divided into two. Soon they’ve bought Two Houses and, setting aside their London life for a few weeks to begin renovations, Simon plans to restore the missing central section as a studio for his wife. But she seems more interested in resurrecting the ghosts of the past than with preparing the house for modern occupation and, when Simon has to return to London for a meeting, Jay stays behind. It’s rather unfortunate that this coincides with a shocking discovery that points to a historic crime.
Full review
Secrets of the house: The Two Houses & The Hoarder http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...
Full review
Secrets of the house: The Two Houses & The Hoarder http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...
February 17, 2021
It is always such a delight to read a slow burn novel, which also manages to keep one hooked regardless of the pace. I guess that's what great writing is all about. I went into this novel imagining it to be a spooky, ghost story. However, the ghosts here are more metaphorical in nature. The novel shows us different POVs, which helps with deeper insights into each person's life and their relationships. It picks up pace towards the end with a conclusion which is sad but ties all the loose ends. The writing is fluid and descriptive which brings the story and their surroundings alive. I also adore the cover of this one!
January 30, 2018
This is another story (I rated her These Dividing Walls with 5 stars) by Fran Cooper that has people's misery as it's main theme, but with subtle pain in the background. Regardless our history, we all have hopes and dreams, fears and regrets. But who dares 'to admit that the ghosts we make for ourselves are sometimes the most potent?'
However, I do not appreciate the description of this book with 'a discovery is made that will unearth decades-old secrets,' making it sound like this is a simple whodunnit. It is not.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book
However, I do not appreciate the description of this book with 'a discovery is made that will unearth decades-old secrets,' making it sound like this is a simple whodunnit. It is not.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book
February 7, 2019
Two Houses was packed with intriguing characters who all seemed to have a secret (wish) that impacted the story.
I presumed that this was to be a ghost story. A haunted house, cut in two, in order to banish the evil spirits. I was wrong. There's only the faintest whiff of the supernatural here, while more of the gossip from a small town.
Being a country bumpkin myself I likened a few of the characters to those in my village. There's secrets everywhere, but sometimes they're kept for the right reasons.
The book got better towards the end.
I presumed that this was to be a ghost story. A haunted house, cut in two, in order to banish the evil spirits. I was wrong. There's only the faintest whiff of the supernatural here, while more of the gossip from a small town.
Being a country bumpkin myself I likened a few of the characters to those in my village. There's secrets everywhere, but sometimes they're kept for the right reasons.
The book got better towards the end.
March 25, 2018
I enjoyed the characters, the setting, the plot, and the outcome of this book. Part mystery, part ghost story as well as the development of a relationship going through difficult times there are lots of things to recommend this book. It’s also well written and believable. My only criticisms would be one or two about living in the dales. But that would be nitpicking and I appreciate the need for these details in order to make the story work. Thanks to net Galley for the free copy of this book.
April 17, 2025
A couple move to a very remote part of England in an attempt to improve the woman’s mental health and rediscover her art. They buy an old house with a very sad past. The village people are less than welcoming and are there ghosts? A well kept secret is slowly uncovered. The weather is as much a character as the people. It’s so cold and it never stops raining! Bleak. I found it entertaining but the location was just too awful for me. Couldn’t understand why anyone lived there at all!
May 24, 2020
Oh that was a good read! Great page turning plot and interesting multi layered characters. The places described are vivid in my mind as if I’d seen photos and the story ends happily enough to be satisfying without being saccharine.
One tiny point were a couple of errors regarding bird life that jarred for me but that’s a very minor issue
One tiny point were a couple of errors regarding bird life that jarred for me but that’s a very minor issue
August 15, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful depiction of individual and marital struggles set against a background of artistic and professional tensions: the personalities and traits of those living in the small northern community to which the central characters retreat are perfectly drawn; the taught unfolding of the historical mystery is timed to perfection. Highly recommended!
December 14, 2018
In all honesty I was slightly disappointed with this book. I think I was expecting more of a ghost story that would be chilling and thrilling. I also felt the book lacked pace. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and the author for the chance to review.
February 27, 2020
Not as good a storyline as ‘These Dividing Walls’ but Fran Cooper has an amazing ability to bring characters and locations alive. Beautiful descriptive use of the language. Now need to wait for her to finish her 3rd book !!!
January 29, 2018
This is a 4.5 really because I loved the ending, loved the final third. Just felt a bit too much a lull in the middle which was more than justified by the end.
October 22, 2018
Review to follow
February 4, 2019
I wanted to like it - I really did. The setting appealed to me, and also the main character of the house with the rooms removed...but it was so predictable, and I found Jay super annoying.
October 11, 2019
I enjoyed the descriptive atmospheric way this book was written. A good story overall.
December 19, 2019
Okay, not amazing.
January 8, 2020
Soft and terrible. A beautifully written capture of the world I know very well.
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