The Uninvited Guests

Author: Sadie Jones
Goodreads Rating: 3.33
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 260
Reviewed by: Nicole


I entered to win this book on Goodreads, but withdrew once I found it at my mother's store. I was then asked to participate in a blog tour for TLC Book Tours, which is why I am here posting a review of this book today rather than in a year. It was a really interesting concept and imagined it to be just like The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I got this book from the publisher for the Blog Tour in exchange for my honest review.


Goodreads Synopses:


A grand old manor house deep in the English countryside will open its doors to reveal the story of an unexpectedly dramatic day in the life of one eccentric, rather dysfunctional, and entirely unforgettable family. Set in the early years of the twentieth century, award-winning author Sadie Jones’s The Uninvited Guests is, in the words of Jacqueline Winspear, the New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries A Lesson in Secrets and Elegy for Eddie, “a sinister tragi-comedy of errors, in which the dark underbelly of human nature is revealed in true Shakespearean fashion.”


Follow for my review.
This book was delightfully quirky even if it didn't make much sense. I was a little confused as I worked through this book, but that didn't matter much at the end. Centered around the lives of the Torrington/Swift family, we meet an eccentric cast of characters who don't even know what they are in for when the book begins. 


I will admit that at some points I was thrown because of confusion with how things were happening (since the book does take place over a 24 hour time period) but I don't think that it hindered my enjoyment of the book. The beginning was a little slow for me, since it seemed to be a bit of British humor and I am not ashamed to admit that it went over my head. Since the book is set in early 20th Century England and it is written by a British author, Its not surprising that some of the lingo I would not understand. (Like rum used not as the drink. I could deduce from the sentence what they meant, but for the life of me it made no sense.


I quite enjoyed Emerald as a character, being the birthday girl, I found her gracious and motherly. Out of all the characters though, I think Little Smidge (her real name is Imogen) was my favorite. In the midsts of her sister's birthday party with friends and the arrival of the survivors of a train accident, she manages to sneak a horse (who is almost 15 hands) up into her room. Cute right?


The story of these survivors and the arrival of Charlie Traversham-Beechers is peculiar to say the least. We don't know much about them, just that they survived a terrible train accident and need to seek refuge in the home of the Torrington's. At first they seem to be poorly tended to-locked in a room and told to sit and wait. Then we meet Charlie, and you get a bad feeling about him for he is not a nice man. 


Even though it takes a little to get into the book, it finds for a interesting and quick read to say the least. I found myself rooting for particular characters and wondering what on earth could go wrong next. Definitely a good rainy day read. Now here is your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway