The House of Ashes

By: Stuart Neville

Narrated by: Caroline Lennon

Outside a Northern-Irish village stands a farmhouse with a grim history of violence half a century ago. Now its new tenant, a young woman trapped in a troubled marriage, must confront that legacy in this haunting new stand-alone from Stuart Neville, king of Belfast noir.

Sara Keane's husband, Damien, has uprooted them from England and moved them to his native Northern Ireland for a "fresh start" in the wake of her nervous breakdown. But three sleepless nights into their new life, Sara understands it's not an entirely fresh start after all: Damien's new boss is his ex-con father, whose contracting business is run with violence and tinged by paramilitary association. Sara, who knows no one in Northern Ireland, is jobless, carless, friendless - all but a prisoner in her own house.

And then there's the house itself: When a blood-soaked old woman beats on the door, insisting the house is hers before being bundled back to her care facility, Sara begins to understand the house has a terrible history her husband and his father never intended for her to discover.

©2021 Stuart Neville (P)2021 Recorded Books

Great storytelling. Great actors.

I like the plots and the twist I liked how the two stories melted together.. satisfying ending

Grabbed you from the beginning

Lots of twists and turns. Keeps you wanting more. Such great characters and you feel like you are right there with them. Great story sad, scary, exciting and full of history

Now I want everything Stuart Neville!

Nothing I disliked. Such a treat to find a truly gifted author these days. I want to listen to more now to see if he’s a cookie cutter” or not. Ashes, however, was superb. Not for you if you are looking for infused political woke commentary ( which seems to be so prevalent) or a particularly happy story.

Took my breath away

Only Stuart Neville could write a ghost story this savage, heartbreaking and beautiful. I’m not usually a fan of the genre, but in this case the supernatural elements are secondary to the character development and the full tale of sorrow and redemption. Caroline Lennon gives a brilliant performance. Unforgettable.

Deep

Spoiler alert: I am going to give this story a happy ending in my head.
And trigger warning: there is spousal abuse and beyond.
This is the first Stuart Neville novel I have read. I did like it, it’s harsh, but gave me an insight to a situation I have been Blessed to never have experienced and I understand the fear women feel more now. I look forward to reading more of his novels.
The reading of the novel was disjointed at first, but I came to realize the dramatic effect of “let that soak in” between sentences.