Hope Close

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Nicole, the bored, lonely housewife whose children have all flown the nest and whose husband pays her little attention. Hope Close by Tina Seskis was a fabulous read that had me totally gripped from the start. With a fantastic plot-line and brilliant characters, this was a superb and compelling psychological tale that held me captive throughout. The census collection is designed so that each group of postcodes should contain at least 100 people (50 in Scotland).

Hope Close, Plymouth - Plymouth Community Homes

For me, it was interesting enough that I happily finished it. I just wasn’t gripped. There wasn’t enough mystery or suspense for this to be unputdownable. The characters were largely fairly unpleasant so it was hard to invest in them. I just felt like I kept waiting for something big to happen or a big twist or reveal and it never materialised. The authors way of drawing you to the story is the highlight of this book – Tina managed to make you think that you know exactly what is happening, that this book isn’t entertaining after all, but then with each next chapter you get hooked up and change your opinion and after reading half of the book you are not sure if you know who the evil characters are, or if they are all going to kill one another, or what their secrets are.

Hope Close by Tina Seskis features three women who live in a lovely neighborhood called Hope Close. The peaceful neighborhood changes with the arrival of a mysterious man named Andy who puts up a big gate, why? What is he hiding? Naturally, the women are curious and want to know what’s going on. But each of them has something they are hiding too… This amazing twisty tale of family, loneliness, pain and secrets, and how the past generally catches up with you, by new-to-me author Tina Seskis should certainly not be missed. A magnificent read and well worth five stars. The story, told in the third person, follows each of the neighbours and is interspersed with Andy Mayer's firsthand narration. She uniquely makes you think about one character and what might happen to them that formed them as their present self and while you are still thinking about that same character she throws at you so much more suspense in the next paragraphs that you just want to reach to the end and finally know all their secrets and what the hell is going on! Personally, I love foreshadowing and intrigue, but in this case the hints and innuendos seemed to be drawn out and overblown to the extreme. So much so, that the big reveal was a disappointment (Especially in Andy's situation). I really liked the plot and the mechanics of this title. However, I am also a proponent of 'show, don't tell' and believe that this is what tempered my enthusiasm for the book.

Hope Close | Tina Seskis | 9781542093606 | NetGalley

The only person to sense something dangerous about Andy is busybody Joan. But will her suspicions bring her more than she bargains for? With chapters told from each of the characters point of view, the reader is immersed in Hope Close with its tension, antagonism, grievances, loneliness, unhappiness and secrecy. An uneasy dynamic to say the least.

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There's a strong resemblance between this book and Those People by Louise Candlish but I think Those People just has the edge on this storyline. As readers, we have a sense of impending doom but not really strong enough to keep me engaged.