What happens when you open your home to the perfect stranger?Anna Klein is ready to return to work as a literary agent for the first time since having children. She and her husband, Josh, decide to hire a live-in nanny with some trepidation, but all their misgivings disappear as soon as they meet Oaklynn Durst. She has stellar references, a calm disposition, and a natural way with children. Not … with children. Not to mention their kids simply adore her.
But not long after Oaklynn arrives, the children start to come down with the most puzzling illnesses and inexplicable injuries. When the maternal Oaklynn is there to comfort everyone, Anna can’t help feeling a little eclipsed. And suspicious. Her husband and friends assure her that her anxieties are getting the best of her—Oaklynn is perfect. But Anna’s not so sure…
As she delves into Oaklynn’s past, she discovers too late that the woman who has been living in her house is not at all who she claims to be. But Oaklynn’s not the only one who has been lying. And when everyone’s dark secrets are forced into the light, the consequences may just turn deadly.
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THE WOMAN IN OUR HOUSE is a multi viewpoint page-turner that evolves in gloriously unexpected ways. The first chapters are deceptive, lulling you into the rhythm of a happy couple and their two young children in their beautiful home in Charlotte, North Carolina. However…the new nanny is not Mary Poppins, people are keeping secrets, and a pack of coyotes is on the prowl every night. As the story twists into the breath-stealing finale, this book becomes impossible to put down. Somehow it manages to combine a slow-burn with fascinating characters and an intense psychological thriller that becomes disturbing and addictive. I loved it!
Excruciating suspense. Heart-pounding twists and turns.
Never introduce a gun in the first act unless it goes off later. No gun here, but the introduction of the weapon that will ultimately resolve the story feels a little forced. I had a hard time imagining Josh, the recipient, ever imagining such a “gift.” Maybe because he’s busy trying to cover up his lies and deceit. That attempt at a coverup may provide motivation for his absence during several “accidents” involving his young daughters that send his wife Anna into near hysterics. Anna is a difficult character for me to like. She wants to return to work as a literary agent, hires the nanny from Heaven, and immediately settles into angsting because her kids bond with said nanny. The reader learns from the first pages that Nanny Oaklynn doesn’t come close to being a godsend. This early knowledge and the book’s slow pacing make it difficult to understand what takes Anna so long to dig into Oaklynn’s past. The book has enough complications to make it entertaining, and the author does a good job of integrating all the threads in easy-to-read prose. I’d recommend putting this one in the top ten of the TBR pile.
Be ready to read this book in one sitting! Twisted, unexpected, a story that won’t leave your head for days.
Anna Klein and her husband, Josh, decide to employ a live-in nanny to care for their two young daughters, to enable Anna to resume her career. Whilst a little quirky, Oaklynn Durst seems like the perfect choice, apparently doting on the children and going above and beyond the requirements of her job to help the family out. But as time passes, unpleasant things start to happen that make Anna question whether Oaklynn is all she seems.
The reader learns quite early in the novel that “Oaklynn” is not quite the person described in her CV. But as the plot unfolds, events take a surprising turn. Is their nanny the villain that Anna has come to suspect – or a guardian angel in disguise?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from start to finish. A gripping plot and some really unexpected twists along the way, with a truly heart-in-the-mouth finale. Andrew Hart weaves a wonderfully vivid picture of the characters, who are believable and complex, and of the location.
A real page-turner. Highly recommended for fans of psychological suspense.
For some reason, the characters in this book didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t find them particularly likable, etc. But I was intrigued, and so I kept reading, and the author kept me guessing, and so I give the book 3 stars for effort.
The Woman in Our House was a gripping novel! It was a mixture of a sort of women’s fiction and intense suspense. Anna and Josh decide to hire a nanny to help take care of their two young children so Anna can start working again. Their nanny comes to them with perfect references and is absolutely wonderful with the kids and helpful. But then things begin to happen to the children. And Anna suspects the nanny and everyone is upset with Anna for her suspicions. There is so much more to the whole story and to the characters. There is an ominous atmosphere throughout the story that left me nervous and anxious to find out what was going to happen.
kept me guessing just when I thought I had it I discovered I was wrong
I didn’t like this book at all. The characters are not drawing me in. Not keeping my attention and not seeming to do much of anything for me. A nanny should not be so easy to impersonate. The parents would not, in my opinion, hire her without meeting her. A mother should have a better vibe about a nanny so meeting her would have been the first step. Not hiring the way this one was. It just did’t ring true for me. I did not finish this book because I was having a hard time finding it to be believable in so many places.
There are to many books to be read to settle for one I do not like. I think there may be others who will love this book. Others who also will not. I was a not.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.
It’s only a 2 star for me.
This had an interesting premise and was thrilling enough to keep me interested and turning pages, especially while reading it on a long flight. As a mother, I did find it hard to believe that someone would let a nanny into their house to live and take care of her two young children without meeting her first. Glowing references are great, even a phone conversation, but I would still want to have face-to-face interaction. I wish there was a little more character development with Anna and Josh.
Overall, this was a solid read, and a good one to keep me engrossed, and there were a few surprises I didn’t expect.
#thewomaninourhouse #andrewhart #lakeunionpublishing
Lock up your children. Close the blinds. Don’t trust anyone. The Woman in Our House preys on every mother’s worst fear with masterful storytelling, relatable characters, and a mad rush to uncover the truth. A compulsive read that gets—and stays—under your skin.
With writing as elegantly uneasy as Agatha Christie’s, The Woman in Our House captures the hidden dangers of unexamined privilege, blind trust, and buried secrets in the modern suburban life. Hart has created a domestic suspense novel in its purest form, where the thick walls of a house no longer protect, but trap instead. Paired best with dark nights and tingling spines.
3.5 stars I found The Woman in Our House to be rather slow in the beginning. I’m glad I stuck it out though because I was considering putting it aside. The story was interesting, but I just wish it had moved along a little quicker.
I didn’t really warm to any of the characters and I’m not sure why, but perhaps it was just me because the book I read just previous to this completely wrapped me up in it.
There is definitely suspense, family drama, and secrets ~ OMG secrets. Reading this will make you doubt your judgement about who you have around your children, that is for sure. I found myself siding with one character at times and then suddenly wanting the other person to be right and in the end I did enjoy the ride.
Thank you to the publishers, author and Netgalley for approving my request for an ARC. All thought in this review are my own and freely given.
/ 5
The Woman in Our House by Andrew Hart is one of those books that feels like a bit of a slow burn but when you get to the end, BAM things get crazy. This is my first time reading a book by Hart, but it will surely not be my last.
What it’s about: Anna Klein has taken some time off from her career as a literary agent while she’s been raising her 2 girls. Now she is ready to get back to work but she needs help in order to work at the house. With some trepidation, Anna and her husband Josh decide to hire a live-in-nanny to help with the girls so Anna can work in her home office and not have to worry. At first, when Oaklynn Durst arrives things are perfect. She clearly loves the girls and is very helpful around the house, but after a while when strange things start happening to the girls (illnesses/accidents), Anna starts to wonder just how trustworthy Oaklynn actually is. But while Oaklynn may have secrets, she isn’t the only one. As everyone’s secrets are brought out into the open, the consequences are anything but what Anna could have expected.
The Woman in Our House felt like it was a quick book, but it still took me almost 6 hours to read it. It is definitely a slow burn, and overall has very unlikable characters. I couldn’t really connect to anyone in the book at all, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. Some things you are already aware of right away in the book, and a couple other things I predicted easily, but I definitely didn’t see the ending of this one coming. The ending does get a little gruesome and made me cringe a bit, but overall the book itself was more chilling than gruesome.
I thought the plot was interesting and although some people might consider the end to be a little out there, I was fine with it and it made for a chilling conclusion to this book.
Song/s the book brought to mind: This was a no-brainer, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler (it’s mentioned in the book).
Final Thought: The Woman in Our House gave me the creeps more than once, especially towards the end, and I found myself getting startled by every noise I heard. I love when a book can do that to me, and if you do too then I highly recommend this one. It’s a little different than other things I have been reading lately which made for a nice change of pace.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Andrew Hart’s The Woman in Our House is the kind of book that you sit down with and enter that strange vortex where time ceases to exist as it pulls you into the pages, directly into the story until your heart is beating as if the events are happening in real life and not just on the page.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing an ARC for an honest review.
: The Woman In Our House is a Suspene, Psychological thriller. Well written, kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. Found the plot well thought out and believable. The characters were realistic and interesting. ,
This book was a page turner. Found myself doing a whole lot of what I call the “book reading dance” while reading this book. (You know where it starts getting exciting and you change positions 27 times)
4 stars I recommend you pick up this one, but don’t start it at night or you’ll never get to sleep!!
Just who is that woman in the house? Not everything is as it seems with this nanny. This is a thriller/suspense story about a couple who want to hire a nanny to care for their two young girls. What could possibly be the problem with doing that? Oh, what little do they know!
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” That is a scary thought….and this is a suspenseful and thrilling read. I was taken in by the lull of the beginning of this book. The “nanny” is so sweet and loving to the girls. She is almost too good to be true in all the “Mary Poppins” things she does. She makes herself indispensable and makes life in the home almost too perfect. Then little things start to feel a bit off. Something just isn’t right.
Then there is the storyline of pursuit…of an FBI agent searching and tracking a woman for “things” she’s done. Why and what is she being looked for? What could she have done?
I was in suspense the last part of this book. It was a thrilling and unexpected ending. I had the whole thing pegged wrong. I like when that happens.
I am not particularly a thriller kind of reader but this one was full of secrets, suspicions, drama, stolen identities, plot twists, unexpected events and enough to keep me turning the pages.
The characters were a little hard to become attached to but they are written so that I felt I wanted to know what they were going to do and how it was all going to end.
“She does seem like a good person.” A good person. Everyone is always a good person, no matter what they think. No matter what they do or don’t do. Evil is for other people and for former ages.”
Again…..”Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
I want to thank Netgalley, Lake Union and Andrew Hart for the ARC of this novel and this is my own review and opinion.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat! There were a few things that I found predictable, but others that I definitely did not see coming. I found the author’s writing style to be very well-suited to this type of book – in one part of the story he describes the nanny sitting in the dark and it gave me chills! I also appreciated the unique plot and thought the characters were well thought out.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.
The Woman In Our House was an absolutely excellent read! It had everything I like in a book; some interesting and relatable characters; some characters with questionable motives, and some truly unlikable ones. The premise of the story was having a nanny move in with a family so a mother can go back to work. As expected, the parents went through a range of emotions about having a stranger live in their home. What began as a totally positive experience soon became one of doubt and mistrust, as well as feelings of guilt and envy on the part of the mother. Despite checking and rechecking Oaklands references, Anna can’t help herself from increasingly doubting that her nanny is exactly what she seems to be. At times just enjoyable, at times creepy and suspenseful, I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next, and what was really going on with the nanny. A few red herrings thrown in to the story made reading it even better! My thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to reading more by this author.
The Woman In Our House was one of the best thrillers that I have read in awhile. It is definitely a page turner, and I burned the midnight oil, on this one.
Anna Klein is a literary agent, who has been idle, raising her two young daughters. Wanting to get back to work, she hires a nanny Oaklynn, a well recommended caregiver. The children love her and she is just about perfect in everything she does. Then uncertainty sets in, as things are not what they seem.
This is a riveting novel, told by a very skilled story teller, Andrew Hart. He manages to provide plenty of twist and turns that kept me guessing about the intentions of this diabolical nanny. I liked the way the conclusion came about slowly, building up the suspense, allowing the pieces to fall into place.
Reading some of the negative reviews, I totally disagree with their criticism.
If you like suspenseful thrillers, this will do it for you.
My thanks to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. I hope my review makes you want to read this super scary book!