“FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE.
When Fi Lawson arrives home to find strangers moving into her house, she is plunged into terror and confusion. She and her husband Bram have owned their home on Trinity Avenue for years and have no intention of selling. How can this other family possibly think the house is theirs? And why has Bram disappeared when she needs him most?

FOR RICHER, FOR POORER.
Bram has made a catastrophic mistake and now he is paying. Unable to see his wife, his children or his home, he has nothing left but to settle scores. As the nightmare takes grip, both Bram and Fi try to make sense of the events that led to a devastating crime. What has he hidden from her – and what has she hidden from him? And will either survive the chilling truth – that there are far worse things you can lose than your house?

TILL DEATH US DO PART.”

I am thrilled to welcome you to damppebbles today and to my stop on the Our House blog tour. Our House is the thirteenth novel from the pen of author, Louise Candlish, and was published by Simon & Schuster (UK) on 5th April 2018. Now, Louise Candlish is a new author to me (yes, I know what you’re thinking; thirteen books – how is that possible?!) but I am currently reading Our House and oh my gosh, what a thoroughly enjoyable read it is! The characters leap off the page at you, I’ve had many ‘OMG, NO!!’ moments and I cannot wait to see what the shocking twist is that EVERYONE is talking about (I don’t have a clue what it could be, by the way!).

The review is most definitely coming to the blog (pop back on Monday) but today, to celebrate the publication of Our House, I have a fantastic guest post from the author to share with you. Louise has chosen to tell us about the five books which inspired Our House. So without further ado, I’ll hand over to Louise…

Five books that inspired Our House
Louise Candlish

Capital by John Lanchester
I’m a huge fan of this book and was deep in Our House when the BBC dramatisation aired. The double-fronted house that causes all the trouble for Fi and Bram in Our House is not dissimilar to the one Roger and Arabella Yount live in in Capital – grand enough for south London, yes, but having accrued a value its builders could never have dreamed of. ‘The houses had become so valuable…and so expensive…that they had become central actors in their own right.’ Insane and terrifying.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Pretty much every thriller since 2012 owes a debt to Gillian Flynn’s smash hit, and the element that excited me was the husband and wife narratorial double act. Mainly the husband: Nick’s is the strongest voice, and the cheekiest – he even tips us off to his own untruths (‘that was my fifth lie to the police’). I see Bram as the key narrator of Our House. Because Fi is in the dark, the reader often knows more than she does and therefore the bond with Bram is stronger. That’s if he’s telling the truth, of course.

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
Just about any Agatha Christie could be said to have inspired my writing, because she’s been a favourite since childhood, but I’ve chosen Peril at End House for its property and inheritance themes (there’s even a re-mortgaging). As one of the characters remarks, ‘I always knew something bad would happen in this house’. I also think this is a fantastic title, one of her best. ‘Peril’ is a great word.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
I love every word Sarah Waters writes, every corner of every south London interior she creates. I live quite close to Champion Hill, where the house in The Paying Guests is set. Rooms must be let to Mr and Mrs Barber ‘if the house were to be kept going’ and there are so many dramatic possibilities in the idea of our hanging on to our home, whatever it takes. In Our House, Bram and Fi are separating and neither has a hope of buying the other out. They must share it – a plan that leads to tragedy.

The Wimbledon Poisoner by Nigel Williams
The south London suburb in Our House has a fictitious name – Alder Rise – but local readers will probably recognise its real-life equivalents. It’s definitely not Wimbledon, I can tell you that, and in any case SW19 already has a story of suburban murder and mishap that none of us can top. The opening of The Wimbledon Poisoner is a tour de force: Henry Farr decides he wants to kill his wife, remarking, ‘Being a convicted murderer had the edge on being a solicitor’. Savagery in the suburbs – and that’s just the humour.

Thank you for joining me today, Louise and for giving us a sneak peek into your inspiration for the fantastic Our House.

Our House by Louise Candlish was published in the UK by Simon & Schuster (UK) on 5th April 2018 and is available in hardcover, eBook and audio formats (please note, the following Amazon and Waterstones links are affiliate links): | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

Louise Candlish was born in Hexham, Northumberland, and grew up in the Midlands town of Northampton. She studied English at University College London and lives in Herne Hill in South London with her husband and daughter. She is the bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Swimming Pool (2016) and The Sudden Departure of the Frasers (2015), Her new novel Our House, will be published in April 2018 by Simon & Schuster in the UK and in August 2018 by Berkley in the US.

The Sudden Departure of the Frasers has been optioned for TV by Hartswood Films.

Besides books, the things Louise likes best are: coffee; TV (so much TV, too much, probably); cats and dogs; salted caramel; France (especially the Ile de Re); Italy (especially Sicily); tennis; soup; Vanity Fair magazine; ‘Book at Bedtime’; lasagne; heavy metal; ‘The Archers’; driving towards the sea (but not into it); anything at the Royal Opera House; white wine; Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (or, failing that, a Starbar).

Author Links: | Twitter | Website | Facebook | Instagram |