The Housekeepers: They come from nothing. But they'll leave with everything...

Product Information

She’s the daughter of the recently deceased Wilhelm de Vries, who made his fortune in the diamond mines of South Africa and who was born a plain old commoner named Danny O’Flynn before he struck it rich. Her plan to strip the entire mansion down to its foundations, to take back her own from the man who, by turns, sired her, protected her, abandoned her, and hid her from the world he created for himself. The fact she had brought her own 'police' with her, added to the tension of whether or not the housekeepers would succeed in their task. And they do it with panache and style, right under the noses of the de Vries and their guests during a lavish costume ball.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay | Goodreads

Readers will be on the edge of their seats as the plan unfurls, step by step, with one surprise after another, and one twist after another. I was invested enough to want to know what happens and whether they succeed or not, but the heist fell a bit flat for me. Hays populates this world with a cast of well-shaded characters, particularly the heist crew themselves, whether that’s kind and competent Winnie, talented artist Alice who seeks a better life, or the mysterious Mrs Bone who helps provide the financial backing for the heist. Increasingly more stories are exploring the structure of the heist story in fresh and exciting ways; Grace D Li’s Portrait of a Thief explores the Chinese-American disapora through a group of students attempting to steal back Chinese art, while Adiba Jaigridar’s A Million to One throws together a group of queer and POC women onto the Titanic to conduct a thrilling heist.

The complexity involved, from the drip-fed snippets which allow us to slowly piece tog I am not a snob reader but it’s quite simply written and reads more like a tv script than a well crafted novel.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay - Fantastic Fiction The Housekeepers by Alex Hay - Fantastic Fiction

Though the hijinks require a broad suspension of disbelief, readers will delight in the shenanigans. Also, important to mention, there is more than one viewpoint, and the story does jump around a bit, but I didn't have any issues following along and I loved each and every POV Hay included. King manages to do in spite of the odds against her and her gang as well as all the things that can go wrong and inevitably do.I did listen to this one and perhaps if I had read a physical copy I would have gotten into the story more.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay – Escape Reality, Read Review: The Housekeepers by Alex Hay – Escape Reality, Read

It’s the perfect beach read, and as such it is clear newcomer Hay delivers what readers crave – excitement and thrills.

The beautifully designed cover and bright pink endpaper featuring a floor plan of the house also had me sold. However, it gradually becomes clear that unspoken family history simmers beneath the pleasant surface, not least the fact that Jed’s mother died giving birth to him. Abbott’s novel centres on a pregnant junior-school teacher, Jacy, who travels from New York with her husband, Jed, to visit her father-in-law in remote upper Michigan. We look at the hard work and low wages now and shake our heads, but that wasn’t the prevailing view in 1905, well before WWI shook everything up.