"The Little House" by Philippa Gregory

I've read some of Philippa Gregory's historical novels, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance and The Queen's Fool , all of which, much to my surprise, I enjoyed reading. I don't usually read historical novels, they tend to be too slushy, sentimental and saccharine for my taste, But they were none of these things, the characterisations were interesting, they've thoughts insightful and although these are fictitious stories based on fact, they were plausible.

I find the when I've read a few of one particular authors' books, they do become a little predictable. This isn't true of all authors, just some. You become accustomed to the way they write, the stories tend to take on a similar path, the characters have similarities; when this happens I usually move on to another author. But Philippa Gregory has written other novels, apart from the historical genre and before I gave up on her I decided to read one of her more modern novels.

I picked up The Little House, the story of a married couple, both journalists, one in Radio, the other in TV. Its a story of a wife and her spoilt husband, her upper class, domineering in laws and her struggles with her past and the intricacies of their relationships. It has a unexpected twist at the end which made me laugh out loud. The book is worth reading just for the ending! But don't cheat and read the end first, that would spoil the whole thing completely!

Image Couresy of philippagregory.com

I have to add that the book cover does not in any way give any indication of the story it tells. I don't like it! There must have been a more appropriate image that could have been used!