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nocto's review against another edition
3.0
I read another book by the same author last year that surprised me with how unexpectedly good its ending and plot resolution was so I picked this up from the library to try another by the same author. There are a lot of similar features between the two stories - they both have double sided narratives, two stories told at different times by two different characters, and figuring out how the two sides are going to mesh together is most of the mystery. And then both books are kind-of estate agency thrillers involving people buying houses in odd circumstances and involve a cast of neighbours who probably know more than they are saying.
I didn't think this was nearly as good a story as [b:Our House|35924499|Our House|Louise Candlish|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511275498s/35924499.jpg|57458464] but it was a quick and easy read that entertained me one sunny weekend in the garden. In a way it's nice to read an older book by an author you enjoyed that doesn't make you want to go and read all their other older books, and I'll certainly be trying her newer books anyway.
I didn't think this was nearly as good a story as [b:Our House|35924499|Our House|Louise Candlish|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511275498s/35924499.jpg|57458464] but it was a quick and easy read that entertained me one sunny weekend in the garden. In a way it's nice to read an older book by an author you enjoyed that doesn't make you want to go and read all their other older books, and I'll certainly be trying her newer books anyway.
amyrea's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
monnnn21's review against another edition
2.0
For the first 350 odd pages I really liked Amber, she was a woman who found herself attractive, and loved it. A woman who didn’t feel guilty or apologetic about enjoying her life. A woman who loved her body and did what she wanted with it, and a woman who didn’t let the ideals of ‘family’ define her. She was honest about who she was and what she wanted and didn’t really give a shit if anybody liked it. She was great.
So I felt betrayed honestly, that her character turned out to be one who would make false rape allegations. It was like her character was written by the patriarchy itself: ‘well of course the woman who didn’t give her life for the use of others would turn out to be so selfish she’d destroy the very kind men who supported her’.
Do we really need chick lit that tells us that outward AND inward confidence, especially combined, makes us more than likely bad women?
Do we really need chick lit that tells us that even though our husbands seem like total mansplaining gaslighting unbelieving pricks (Joe, wife of Christy), in the end, we should believe them. They were right all along. ?
Do we really need chick lit that tells us that all of those female human instincts about safety and fear and self preservation and danger at the hands of men (which is very statistically real might I add), is just made up in our heads and we really should give those men the benefit of the doubt, every single time? Even when it’s our friends, our communities, our own guts telling us the opposite?
No, I don’t think we do. I don’t think so at all. I don’t need to be reading stories about stereotypically strong women (Amber) being the villains, and stereotypically weak women (Christy) needing to be shown the way by the kind hearted men of the world ‘who know what’s really going on’.
And don’t get me wrong, my feminism isn’t a force in which i would refuse a well-rounded female character, villain, ‘weakness’ etc. in all of its glory. I don’t need my female characters to be likeable. I like reading a well rounded female character, good traits and bad. But these characters, and the story they told, were too far in the direction of male victim mentality and selfish woman mentality and all the things that I just can’t sit back and enjoy for the sake of chick lit entertainment value.
It’s 2019, we can do better. We can read better stories about women. We can read better stories about bad women.
And yeah, I realise this was written in 2015, but we could do better then too.
If you’re going to be writing fiction books about false rape allegations in this day and age, let’s make them insightful in some way. Let’s make them smart and thoughtful. Let’s have them say something that has value.
There are undoubtedly women in the world who actually have done this. I’m not deluded to that fact, but if we’re going to go around writing fiction about them, can we at the very least not make them so stereotypical and anti-woman en masse, and then slot them right into the women’s fiction section of the book shop?
I want to give this book one star, for patriarchal bullshit alone. But I gave Life of shit Pi two stars when it’s sole purpose was to convert me to a particular belief system and subtlety convince me that my own belief system was wrong unless it was exactly the same as the one being preached. I gave LOP two stars because I got through it, and it piqued curiosity, and I didn’t realise I hated it until the end.
So fair is fair, I’ll give this two stars too. I actually sped through this book, I was hooked until the last 3rd where it started to become blatantly obvious which direction it was headed.
And I’m not going to pretend I know anything about Louise Candlish, or her views on women and feminism, but she wrote a lot of great female characters for the most part. Smart ones. Funny ones. Strong ones. She wrote about female solidarity even though she fucked it up by telling us that it was all wrong in the end. She wrote about female friendship quite nicely, and truthfully might I add, not all female friendships are sunshine and roses from beginning to end.
She wrote about women who believed other women, and she made point of making feminist comments throughout, more obviously through the eyes of Christy, but subtlety and well done through the eyes of Amber.
She writes well. She’s clever. And I’d like to think that what I’ve taken away with me was not what was actually intended by her.
Her other books seem to have good premises, much like this one, and even though I detested everything about this book by the end of it, I wouldn’t mind giving another a go and seeing if Louise has something a little different to say about the world. Or even if maybe she doesn’t, and she’s just written other books that are great entertainment without the blatant stereotypes of women littered throughout.
Let’s also not forget to point out that the ‘selfish woman’ at the heart of this book, changed her tune and seemed to find love and softness and true happiness as soon a she became a mother. If that ain’t the patriarchy yelling at us through another woman’s voice, what is?
So I felt betrayed honestly, that her character turned out to be one who would make false rape allegations. It was like her character was written by the patriarchy itself: ‘well of course the woman who didn’t give her life for the use of others would turn out to be so selfish she’d destroy the very kind men who supported her’.
Do we really need chick lit that tells us that outward AND inward confidence, especially combined, makes us more than likely bad women?
Do we really need chick lit that tells us that even though our husbands seem like total mansplaining gaslighting unbelieving pricks (Joe, wife of Christy), in the end, we should believe them. They were right all along. ?
Do we really need chick lit that tells us that all of those female human instincts about safety and fear and self preservation and danger at the hands of men (which is very statistically real might I add), is just made up in our heads and we really should give those men the benefit of the doubt, every single time? Even when it’s our friends, our communities, our own guts telling us the opposite?
No, I don’t think we do. I don’t think so at all. I don’t need to be reading stories about stereotypically strong women (Amber) being the villains, and stereotypically weak women (Christy) needing to be shown the way by the kind hearted men of the world ‘who know what’s really going on’.
And don’t get me wrong, my feminism isn’t a force in which i would refuse a well-rounded female character, villain, ‘weakness’ etc. in all of its glory. I don’t need my female characters to be likeable. I like reading a well rounded female character, good traits and bad. But these characters, and the story they told, were too far in the direction of male victim mentality and selfish woman mentality and all the things that I just can’t sit back and enjoy for the sake of chick lit entertainment value.
It’s 2019, we can do better. We can read better stories about women. We can read better stories about bad women.
And yeah, I realise this was written in 2015, but we could do better then too.
If you’re going to be writing fiction books about false rape allegations in this day and age, let’s make them insightful in some way. Let’s make them smart and thoughtful. Let’s have them say something that has value.
There are undoubtedly women in the world who actually have done this. I’m not deluded to that fact, but if we’re going to go around writing fiction about them, can we at the very least not make them so stereotypical and anti-woman en masse, and then slot them right into the women’s fiction section of the book shop?
I want to give this book one star, for patriarchal bullshit alone. But I gave Life of shit Pi two stars when it’s sole purpose was to convert me to a particular belief system and subtlety convince me that my own belief system was wrong unless it was exactly the same as the one being preached. I gave LOP two stars because I got through it, and it piqued curiosity, and I didn’t realise I hated it until the end.
So fair is fair, I’ll give this two stars too. I actually sped through this book, I was hooked until the last 3rd where it started to become blatantly obvious which direction it was headed.
And I’m not going to pretend I know anything about Louise Candlish, or her views on women and feminism, but she wrote a lot of great female characters for the most part. Smart ones. Funny ones. Strong ones. She wrote about female solidarity even though she fucked it up by telling us that it was all wrong in the end. She wrote about female friendship quite nicely, and truthfully might I add, not all female friendships are sunshine and roses from beginning to end.
She wrote about women who believed other women, and she made point of making feminist comments throughout, more obviously through the eyes of Christy, but subtlety and well done through the eyes of Amber.
She writes well. She’s clever. And I’d like to think that what I’ve taken away with me was not what was actually intended by her.
Her other books seem to have good premises, much like this one, and even though I detested everything about this book by the end of it, I wouldn’t mind giving another a go and seeing if Louise has something a little different to say about the world. Or even if maybe she doesn’t, and she’s just written other books that are great entertainment without the blatant stereotypes of women littered throughout.
Let’s also not forget to point out that the ‘selfish woman’ at the heart of this book, changed her tune and seemed to find love and softness and true happiness as soon a she became a mother. If that ain’t the patriarchy yelling at us through another woman’s voice, what is?
verityw's review against another edition
4.0
This is another book which was a little out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed Louise Candlish's atmospheric novel about a couple moving into a new house and a growing obsession with what happened to the previous occupants.
I thought the characters were really well written and the plot had me gripped. I didn't figure out what was going on until really very late on, and although I then realised what had actually happened, there were still some twists in the tale. This would make a great beach read.
I thought the characters were really well written and the plot had me gripped. I didn't figure out what was going on until really very late on, and although I then realised what had actually happened, there were still some twists in the tale. This would make a great beach read.
snazzybooks's review against another edition
4.0
www.snazzybooks.com
The Sudden Departure of the Frasers is an absorbing, mysterious story of scandal and secrets in affluent ‘Lime Park Road’.
The story can be quite uncomfortable to read at times as it explores some difficult themes, but I feel like they’re dealt with well and prompts the reader to think (I don’t want to give any more specific details in case I give anything away) about the effect and ramifications it can have on not just that person and their family, but on everyone in the street!
Louise Candlish manages to create a strong air of mystery and at times the atmosphere really seems quite threatening and eerie! I could really imagine what it was like for Christy and Joe, excited about their new house but moving into that strange, odd atmosphere, and Amber, being Queen Bee with a beautiful house and adoring husband Jeremy and yet STILL not being satisfied with her life
The narrative switches between popular vixen Amber and homely, eager-to-please Christy, presenting each of their stories. It’s really interesting to read about the completely different experiences they both had of Lime Park Road, and how certain characters had changed so much between Amber and Jeremy moving out and a Christy and Joe moving in, but despite this I occasionally forgot which of the two main characters were speaking at the time! Although the characters are very different, they were obviously both living in the same house with their husbands, no kids, on the same street, surrounded by the same people, so at times I had to mentally remind myself who was speaking. This only added to the slightly bewildering atmosphere that Christy must have been experiencing!
The novel was fairly long at 512 pages and that gave me time to really become immersed in it. I felt like my experience of the story was split into 3 parts really: the beginning really intrigued me and I was anticipating what might happen later on, the middle felt a tiny bit ‘samey’ at times (but only SLIGHTLY, mind) and then the last third I really couldn’t put down! Candlish slowly revealed more and more of what the ‘scandal’ might have been, so as a reader I slowly pieced together what might have happened but wasn’t sure of certain details until the end! It really kept me hooked.
Reading The Sudden Departure of the Frasers really makes you consider what is really important in your ‘perfect house’, as well as the way that seemingly ‘perfect’ people can have some dark secrets! I’m really surprised that I haven’t read anything by this author before as she has written various novels, but I hope to read more in the future! I’d definitely recommend it.
Many thanks for the publisher who provided a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
The Sudden Departure of the Frasers is an absorbing, mysterious story of scandal and secrets in affluent ‘Lime Park Road’.
The story can be quite uncomfortable to read at times as it explores some difficult themes, but I feel like they’re dealt with well and prompts the reader to think (I don’t want to give any more specific details in case I give anything away) about the effect and ramifications it can have on not just that person and their family, but on everyone in the street!
Louise Candlish manages to create a strong air of mystery and at times the atmosphere really seems quite threatening and eerie! I could really imagine what it was like for Christy and Joe, excited about their new house but moving into that strange, odd atmosphere, and Amber, being Queen Bee with a beautiful house and adoring husband Jeremy and yet STILL not being satisfied with her life
The narrative switches between popular vixen Amber and homely, eager-to-please Christy, presenting each of their stories. It’s really interesting to read about the completely different experiences they both had of Lime Park Road, and how certain characters had changed so much between Amber and Jeremy moving out and a Christy and Joe moving in, but despite this I occasionally forgot which of the two main characters were speaking at the time! Although the characters are very different, they were obviously both living in the same house with their husbands, no kids, on the same street, surrounded by the same people, so at times I had to mentally remind myself who was speaking. This only added to the slightly bewildering atmosphere that Christy must have been experiencing!
The novel was fairly long at 512 pages and that gave me time to really become immersed in it. I felt like my experience of the story was split into 3 parts really: the beginning really intrigued me and I was anticipating what might happen later on, the middle felt a tiny bit ‘samey’ at times (but only SLIGHTLY, mind) and then the last third I really couldn’t put down! Candlish slowly revealed more and more of what the ‘scandal’ might have been, so as a reader I slowly pieced together what might have happened but wasn’t sure of certain details until the end! It really kept me hooked.
Reading The Sudden Departure of the Frasers really makes you consider what is really important in your ‘perfect house’, as well as the way that seemingly ‘perfect’ people can have some dark secrets! I’m really surprised that I haven’t read anything by this author before as she has written various novels, but I hope to read more in the future! I’d definitely recommend it.
Many thanks for the publisher who provided a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
ceirid's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Alcohol
jen_f88's review against another edition
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bepisaun's review against another edition
4.0
Very similar to an episode or season of Desperate Housewives, this book does a good job of reeling you in. With a chapter concept similar to A Song of Ice and Fire, Candlish does a phenomenal job of showing two points of view. A good mystery with a satisfying ends.
nls3019's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Rape
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts