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    The House at Midnight: A Novel
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    The House at Midnight: A Novel
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    The House at Midnight: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The House at Midnight: A Novel

    Written by Lucie Whitehouse

    Narrated by Kate Reading

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    On an icy winter weekend, seven friends celebrate New Year's Eve at Stoneborough, a grand manor in the English countryside. They've been brought together by Lucas Heathfield, a young man who recently inherited the property after the tragic death of his uncle Patrick. Though still raw from the loss of his last family member, Lucas welcomes this tight-knit group of friends to the estate he hopes will become their home away from home-an escape from London where they can all relax and rekindle the revelry of their college days.

    Lucas's best friend, Joanna, finds herself oddly affected by the cavernous manse, with its lavish mythological ceiling mural and sprawling grounds, and awakened to a growing bond with Lucas. Much to her surprise, he reveals that he's loved her for years. But as they begin to find their way from friendship to romance, Joanna can't shake the feeling that the house is having its own effect on them.

    Back in London, Joanna is stunned when Lucas announces that he and their impetuous friend Danny are moving into Stoneborough full-time. Her concern seems justified as Lucas, once ensconced, becomes completely ensnared in the turbulent past that seems to haunt the house-a past that is captured in old movie reels featuring Lucas's now-dead family: his charismatic uncle Patrick, his lovely mother, Claire, and his golden-boy father, Justin.

    Over one decadent, dramatic year, as the friends frequently gather at the shadowed residence, secrets slide out and sexual tensions escalate, shattering friendships and forever changing lives. And all the while, the house cradles a devastating secret.

    By turns taut and sensual, mesmerizing and disturbing, The House at Midnight is a gripping psychological novel that pulls the reader into the thrall of its ominous atmosphere.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 3, 2008
    ISBN9780739368619
    Unavailable
    The House at Midnight: A Novel
    Author

    Lucie Whitehouse

    Lucie Whitehouse was born in Gloucestershire in 1975, read Classics at Oxford University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of The House at Midnight, the TV Book Club pick The Bed I Made and Before We Met, which was a Richard & Judy Summer Book Club pick and an ITV3 Crime Thriller selection. @LWhitehouse5 #KeepYouClose

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    Reviews for The House at Midnight

    3/5

    95 ratings11 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Lucas has just inherited a beautiful old house from his uncle, and he invites his close college friends to join him every weekend for good times, college-style. They all love being there, but Joanna (the main character/narrator) notices the house has a presence all of its own. In fact, the house almost becomes one of the characters in the novel. Joanna realizes they're not in college anymore, and it's time to start living like adults. In a sense, the novel is an adult coming-of-age story.

      Almost a contemporary version of [author:Victoria Holt] or [author:Phyllis Whitney] novels (with a bit more edge and drama), this book satisfies a craving for romance without schmultz, for suspense without cliche, and for decent writing that is descriptive and dialogue that is realistic.

      It's not a literary masterpiece, but it is a wonderful pleasure read.
      Other than all the drinking, smoking, and sex (though not graphic), it would be a good step up for all those teens who love the[book:Twilight] series. This is good fiction.
    • 4/5
      "House at Midnight' is an excellent debut thriller which the TLS called "disturbing and compelling". It is a psychological mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lucas Heathfield inherits an old manor house near Oxford and gathers his close friends at the house each weekend. The dark influence of the old house and it's history however begin to shatter this close group of friends with explosive results.
    • 3/5
      The House at Midnight tells the story of Joanna and her group of college friends. They are entering their later 20s and starting to get more settled into their adult lives. As the story begins, Lucas, Joanna's best friend, inherits his Uncle Patrick's estate after his suicide. Lucas adored Patrick, especially since he became like a father to him after his father's apparent suicide decades earlier. Patrick was a wealthy and well respected art dealer. While Lucas never lacked for money growing up, his new-found wealth leaves him uncomfortable. He opens up the estate to their group of friends on the weekends as a place for them to come and relax after the weeks spend in London. The group was rounded out by Danny, Michael, Martha, Rachel, and Rachel's boyfriend Greg. Joanna has always been attracted to Lucas, but their relationship never developed into anything more until they started meeting at Stoneborough Manor. Once their romantic relationship began, Danny, who had been Lucas' boyhood friend, became increasingly hostile toward Joanna. Lucas didn't see this change and at first Joanna tried to blow it all off due to the trouble's Danny was having with his job. When Lucas decided to move to Stoneborough permanently with Danny, who lost his job, the situation became increasingly intolerable. The house even felt hostile and oppressive to her. When Joanna is forced to make a drastic decision about her future and her romantic life, Lucas, her career, and her friendships start to deteriorate.I love Gothic novels set in old English manners. That is what first appealed to me when I selected this novel from Audible.com. Although The House at Midnight is set in current time, those places can be deliciously eiry and full of mystery. The Thirteenth Tale, The Sister, and The Little Stranger are all strong examples of what I love in stories of this genre. Lucie Whitehouse's first novel did not live up to my expectations. Joanna's narration about the house being somehow haunted was the only thing that really spoke to the house having any power at all. I wouldn't have come up with that on my own. The triangle between Joanna, Lucas, and Danny had enough tension in and of itself. This would have been enough on its own, especially if there had been payoff. As it was, the house really got in the way. The situation between the friends was more uncomfortable than the house. Perhaps this is because there wasn't any subtlety about it.I can't say that I didn't enjoy The House at Midnight. It had its moments. I really got involved in the story when Joanna happens upon Rachel and Greg in a compromising position. I wish that more had come of Danny's knowledge of this incident than what did ultimately. The ending held some surprises but some missed opportunities as well. There was some great potential to make Danny in to one heck of an intriguing villain. The proposed influence of the house took up too much energy.The House at Midnight was narrated by Kate Reading. As I started listening to this audiobook, I was trying to figure out where I had heard her voice before. She was the female narrator in Chemistry for Beginners. Although her male voices were a bit strange, I got used to them rather quickly. I would definitely listen to another of her audiobooks. She does very well with the voice of contemporary British women.My Final ThoughtsThis book is definitely worth a try if you enjoy Gothic fiction. If you do, I would rent it from the library instead of buying it. I will be interested to see what Lucie Whitehouse writes next.
    • 4/5
      I didn't find this a ghost story, more a study in personalities and what happens when they are gathered together in one house on a weekend. Yes, a large old manor house is spooky at night - even in daytime when there are dark gloomy corridors, and wine cellars. Lucas invites his friends to the house for the New Year's holiday. Lucas is still grieving the loss of Patrick, from whom he inherited the estate. Joanna and Lucas have been friends for more than 10 years, or more than friends. Danny, another friend, seems to have a personality disorder. Rachel and Greg are a couple. Martha is another friend who is along for the weekend. The New Year's weekend develops into other weekend gatherings. Secrets come out with tragic results. I read this in 2 days. Would recommend.
    • 4/5
      Thought this well down, well written, and moved really fast.
    • 2/5
      *massive sigh* this book was ridiculous! Sexshy and fun but still absolutely ridiculous. I initially wanted to give the book one star but I honestly couldn't put it down. It was quite silly but I could clearly tell that Lucie Whitehouse learned from her mistakes, as her other two novels (which I adored) were beautifully crafted. I despised pretty much all of the characters, at times it was like a telenovela and the number of times I had to read the word 'primal', my god. It was just a dark, dark book with little payoff. Don't recommend sadly :(
    • 3/5
      My reasons for reviewing books is to jog my memory of having read them later, so the intellectual energy I waste by not being able to attend school or work at anything worthwhile is seemingly not entirely wasted. Otherwise, with the rate at which I blow through books, I'd never remember half of them. These reviews are for me, and I don't expect anyone else to read them, or expect that anyone does. (But of course, I post publicly, so definitely feel free.)

      As I am reviewing, it occurs to me that I wish I could give books two ratings: one, a critical grade based on the quality of the writing, the plot, the author's talent, the editing, the artistry, and whether or not the book is "important" on any level. This would be the snobbish rating. Two, a grade based simply on my enjoyment of it: which is to say, how easily it transported me away from my own life, which is the main reason I read. Books are a safer vice than alcohol, self-injury, or other forms of self-destruction.

      I should do a public service announcement for the library.

      What I end up doing is unscientifically averaging out the two marks. So this book, while a 4 or 4.5 in terms of ability to spirit me away from the drudgery of life (and this grade is directly related to how fast I read a book: the faster, the better; or the more desperate I am at the time for dystraction), it wasn't any kind of literary masterpiece. In terms of worth on that scale, it's probably a 2 or 2.5.

      The House at Midnight also suffers from misrepresentation when it comes to promotion, in my opinion. A psychological thriller it is not, nor is it a horror story about a haunted house. And what midnight? I guess at the very end, when Lucas is dead and Danny is gone and all the other main players have scattered, and Joanna is left in the empty, destroyed house with a dying Greg in her lap? Perhaps that occurred at midnight. I don't know. This didn't really bother me, though.

      There is a part in the book in which the main character (and I have begun to think that books in which the protagonist is a writer herself have to be semi-autobiographical, and I find them rather tiresome after realizing their prevalence) is told by another character that she really has a gift for metaphor, and would make a good writer one day. One thing I did admire about this novel was the language. The vocabulary is impressive and well-used, and the descriptive terminology is evocative. It is simile more than metaphor that Lucie Whitehouse implements, but she does a wonderful job of it. It wouldn't surprise me if Whitehouse was complimented in a similar way at some point, because she does have a gift for language. If it wasn't the viciousness of the drama and her solid writing, this would be little more than chick lit. All throughout I kept thinking it was more soap opera than psychological thriller.

      In summation, The House at Midnight is a decent novel, and if one goes into it with the intention of getting lost in the dark drama of some fictional lives for a few hours, nothing more, it's worth the read.
    • 4/5
      Many of the reviews posted for The House at Midnight by Lucie Whitehouse mention other books that are like this novel in certain ways. The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier were both mentioned. (I haven’t read the first one, but loved the second.) I think finding similarities is a great way to discover new books, but hanging on to those comparisons can lead to false expectations.The House at Midnight is about a group of friends. The house provides a place where these friends can live a lavish lifestyle apart from other people. It’s nice atmosphere, but the book’s about the people not the house. Their friendship started when some of them were in college and has continued as they’ve begun their careers. The book is written from Joanna’s point of view. She’s a writer for a tabloid and dreams of becoming a serious journalist. Lucas has inherited the house along with a great deal of money from his Uncle Patrick, the owner of a successful art gallery. He’s also inherited a number of psychological issues from a family with some serious problems. In some ways this novel is as much about memories of people who aren’t in the book as it is about the characters we get to know.Although some of the characters, including Joanna, have real careers, they all seem happy to live and party on money they haven’t earned. Martha is the least self indulgent of the group and Lucas is the most, but all the characters have their flaws, at least all of the ones we get to know. I wouldn’t want to know most of these people, but it was interesting getting to know them in the novel.I listened to the audio version which was read by Kate Reading (interesting name for someone who is the voice of many audio books). Her voice is sophisticated yet vulnerable and absolutely perfect for this book.Steve Lindahl – author of White Horse Regressions and Motherless Soul
    • 2/5
      Dull would-be psychological thriller peopled with unpleasant characters and improbable situations. Would like to be 'The Secret History', but isn’t.
    • 2/5
      The House at Midnight is the first novel by British author Lucie Whitehouse. Neo-Gothic in tone, the story is primarily about the relationships between seven friends from college: Joanna (the narrator), Lucas, Danny, Michael, Martha, Rachel, and Greg. When Lucas inherits Stoneborough Manor from his uncle Patrick, he encourages his friends to treat the mysterious old house as their own. Soon, Joanna finds herself in a romantic relationship with Lucas, he decides to move in with his parasitic friend Danny, and things get trickier when Joanna discovers Rachel and Greg in a compromising position on the floor one night.There’s a whole slew of interchangeable (and sticky) relationships between these seven characters, characterized by a lot of drinking and drug-taking. It took the author six years to write, and I get the feeling that she began the novel thinking that she originally intended the characters to be younger than they eventually turned out to be. Although approaching the age of thirty, all of these people act as though they’re still in college and trying to figure out their lives. The novel is heavy on the relationships between these characters and not so heavy on character development and plot. Even Joanna, the narrator, isn’t a particularly attractive character; she’s a little bland, and blasé about her career, relationships, and future.I picked up this novel because I thought that this would be a Gothic type of novel, similar to Barbara Vine’s work; but the key to writing a Gothic novel is using subtlety, which this book doesn’t have. It seems as though the reader is repeatedly hit over the head with how eerie Stoneborough Manor is, or appears to be. Also, the ending, while truly unexpected, seemed a little bit tacked-on. I give the author props for writing about what she knows best, and for the intriguing premise of the novel; but the execution of that premise ultimately falls flat. This book has been compared to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History; and while I see superficial similarities between the two books, The House at Midnight doesn’t even come close to the other.
    • 4/5
      Lucas Heathfield’s Uncle Patrick commits suicide and leaves Lucas a rambling country house in England along with his accumulated wealth. Lucas invites his collegiate friends to escape their lives in London and party on the weekends at his new digs. But what begins as sheer abandon from responsibility soon becomes a dark, psychological mystery. Joanna, Lucas’ best friend, narrates the novel and slowly reveals the throbbing sexual undercurrents and malevolent forces hidden between the walls of the house. The novel is full of buried secrets and uneasy parallels between generations. Nothing is as it seems; and beneath it all is a tension which builds to a shocking conclusion.Lucie Whitehouse knows how to structure a novel of suspense, but her writing was sometimes uneven and the end leaves the reader wondering at the future of its characters. There is a lot of heavy drinking and a strong sexual theme to the book which may offend some readers - although I actually thought the sexual tension was the strongest part of the narrative.The House At Midnight is a story of growing up in the shadow of family secrets, and about betrayal and fear. The strongest character in the book is non human - the monolithic house which Lucas inherits and the ghosts which inhabit it. Whitehouse lends a gothic feel to her writing which drives the story.The House at Midnight is Whitehouse’s first novel - and it is a well-written debut that reads like a ghost story. Readers who enjoy gothic novels and are not put off by sexual themes and moral excesses will find this to be a compelling read.