The Last House on Needless Street - A Taut and Engrossing Story
If you’re no stranger to the world of bookstagram, you’ll know that every so often a book comes along that is hyped to high heaven, lauded with praise from influencers far and wide and hailed as THE book of [insert year here]. As someone who is almost (but not quite) allergic to hype, I was somewhat taken aback when I took just one look at the cover, the blurb and the celebrity endorsements of Catriona Ward’s most recent novel, The Last House on Needless Street, and knew I absolutely had to read it as soon as I was able to.
Sometimes the hype is real, and sometimes the marketing and publicity campaign is hiding a book with many sins and few redeeming qualities behind a stylish cover. The last time I read a book about which there was so much buzz I was disappointed and couldn’t find a single sympathetic character or original plot device within its pages. Not so this time, I’m happy to report.
I purposefully didn’t read any reviews ahead of my reading of TLHONS - and I’m glad for that, so if you’re reading this or scrolling through I won’t spoil it for you by giving away too much of the finer details of this truly original book.
The book opens with Ted, describing events years before. He is younger and standing by while he watches his house turned over by Police, who are on the hunt for a missing child and her abductor. Ted, who cuts a tragic figure, narrates the scene, and we are invited into his almost childlike mind. We learn subsequently that he lives with his daughter, Lauren, and his cat, Olivia. Soon after, the house is boarded up after local residents throw objects through the windows, believing Ted has something to do with the disappearance of the little girl at the lake nearby.
Over the course of the book it feels like the house, close to a dark forest, is falling further into decrepitude, and taking Ted’s mind with it. The house next door, standing empty, is suddenly occupied by Dee, a woman with secrets of her own, and from this point on we learn so much more about Ted and his history.
This is a contemporary gothic tale of monsters, revenge, secrets and lies and the weight of catastrophic events and how they impact on the the young. Told through the viewpoints of several different people (and also a cat) this book has more switchbacks than an Alpine road. Just as you think you’re coming to understand the plot and its characters, your perception changes and because of that, it’s like you’re reading a different novel, several times over - in a good way.
Such is the skill of Catriona Ward in weaving a twisted thread right through the centre of her work that although I was hoodwinked by the shifts in perception, they also linked together and crucially, made sense. There was nothing in the book that made me think that the bounds of credibility had been stretched to absolute snapping point. Yes, even with a cat as a narrator.
The use of language and imagery in this book is incredible. There were some lines that literally gave me goosebumps and I read and re- read them as I was so affected by their eeriness. Catriona Ward is a phenomenal writer, and knows how to write a taut, engrossing story. There’s nothing to trim - every word is needed and every word has meaning.
What I really loved about TLHONS was that as soon as I’d finished it, I turned back to the start and began again. I really did - and I do rarely do that. I wanted to read it afresh with all of the realizations I’d had while reading it the first time. It gave me that sixth sense feeling - only better. When you read this book, because you absolutely must read this book, you will know exactly what I mean.
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