The Memory House

A Love Story in Two Acts

By: Jenetta James

Narrated by: Harry Frost

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

It is 1859, and the son of an infamous fraudster enters the London home of a wealthy industrialist and his daughter. Before long, passions flare, three people have gone missing, and the work of a rising novelist has been abruptly stopped. A reputation is in ruins, and a fortune will be lost.

Fast-forward 150 years, and the bones of a young woman are unearthed in the garden of a banker’s house on the edge of Hyde Park. Can those in the present unpick a long buried tale of forbidden love, betrayal, and murder and how will it change their own lives?

©2020 Jenetta James (P)2020 Quills & Quartos Publishing

Split Victorian and Contemporary Rom Suspense

A current day London woman lands a position as nanny in a great situation and, with her employer, discovers a mystery in their own backyard while in the past, a young heiress living in that very house is being pushed to accept an undesired suitor of her father’s making.

Jenetta James has written some fabulous reads of mine and paired with the vocal talents of Harry Frost, The Memory House hit emotions and senses alike.

Told in split time between Kitty Cathart’s 1859 and Josie Minton’s 2019 story narratives, the listener/reader is pulled into the lives of two women separated by time and brought together by one woman’s struggle for freedom of choice and their shared complicated love lives.

With split time stories, I tend to prefer the historical over the contemporary and this started out that way for me with Kitty’s ruthless and abusive father pushing her to marry high and her newly discovered feelings for a man her father would never countenance. However, as Josie settled into her new job as nanny to a wealthy London man of business and they discovered the mystery in the back garden and worked on it together, I found I was fully engaged with both storylines. It spoke well that I was able to reluctantly part with one story thread to immediately dive back into the other with no struggle.

The author’s well-developed characters and backdrop for both settings and diversity of historical period were written well. There were times when the women experienced similar situations and feelings, but this wasn’t a cookie cutter story told in split time. I loved the atmospheric overtones of Kitty’s side of the story and the interesting complications woven into Josie’s life that came out after a time. I liked the unpredictability as a result.

Harry Frost did great voicing all the characters even the two main female leads, but also did a bang up job making it crystal clear when the story shifted between periods and situations, too. I never struggled to know whose storyline I was experiencing.

All in all, no surprise, this as another stellar story from an author who wowed me with her Jane Austen adaptions and now took that step away to write a fabulous standalone split period mystery.

A captivating story

This was a beautifully written story that covers two very different times. It is about two amazing women in different times and circumstances and how their paths are connected. The narration of Harry Frost brings it to life. He does an amazing job of making the jump across time that you go from modern day speech to feeling like you’re about to have tea with Jane Austen.

Great novel!—a listen and read!

This is a great book with two love stories across time with the coincidence of location tying them together. The narration is perfect. Definitely worth your time in any format!!

Masterful narration of one of my favorite books

Jenetta James is a fabulous storyteller and this dual era novel did not disappoint. I loved it when I first read it and every other time thereafter—but voice actor Harry Frost’s narration!? Near perfection. Spot on pacing, characterization, and tone. Easy to recommend!

A fun story, with an awesome narrator

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a common patron of the romance-esque stories, but I found I really enjoyed this story. The characters are all really well developed and the story takes you on quite a fun journey. I thought the narrator was excellent, his portrayal of each characters was very distinct, and each character was unique. At one point, he spoke perfect French, and had I not known it was the same narrator, I'd have certainly confused him for a native speaker of French. Check out this story!

Thoroughly enjoyed this!

I enjoyed this story immensely. It started off a bit slow but picked up. It's my first "listen" to this author and I would buy more of her books. The narration was fabulous. Frost nails the inflection and different characters. He brought this story to life!

Very satisfying and captivating story.

The narration by Harry Frost was wonderful and the story captivating. I highly recommend this book.