A lively romp with some very dark aspects. Wildly unrealistic and a gay character awkwardly thrown in for what- to be in vogue? But amusing in an Ocean’s 11-on-steroids way.

I am not much for historical fiction but read the inside cover blurb at a drug store and thought it might be interesting. It was okay till i read a line where someone said an expression that I am willing to bet really good money on that was NOT a saying in 1905! It completely threw me off - yes I am that sensitive! ha ha but it did and i found myself skipping over things waiting for the damn heist to begin and got bored with it. ( )

Best for:
Fans of mysteries set in a different time.

In a nutshell:
Mrs King has been let go from the fancy De Vries household, where she served as a housekeeper. She now has a plan to pull off the most dramatic heist London has ever seen.

Worth quoting:
“Choose your first move wisely, and you could steer things any way you liked.”

Why I chose it:
I was looking for something interesting but somewhat mindless as I’ve been having some trouble finishing the non-fiction books I’ve started reading lately (I have three I’m in the middle of right now).

What it left me feeling:
Decently satisfied.

Review:
This was a fun book with some darkness in it, which I appreciate. Set in London in the early 1900s, nearly the entire story is told from the perspectives of people who society overlooks: housekeepers, servants, shopkeepers, those living in poverty, those trying to get by outside the system because the system doesn’t work for them.

We open with Mrs King being fired from her job as head housekeeper in the De Vries household. One imagines she would be disappointed to lose a job without anything else lined up, and no references, but she’s calm. And we later learn why: she is planning the greatest heist of her former employer.

There are a few characters in the book, including the lady of the manor, a deceased lord of the manor, and many players (all women) helping to lead the heist. But there are some unexpected bits, and until the end it’s not clear what will happen, which is delightful. It’s a fun read that is as described on the tin.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it ( )

Strong women working together to right social wrongs. Strong women coming to terms with their individual pasts to create a path forward. Either or both of those are strong concepts for a compelling story. The Housekeepers by Alex Hay is entertaining but has too many subplots and takes too long to bring all the threads together. This book is concepts with potential that, for me, do not quite attain their promise.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/12/the-house-keepers.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

Anyone who's been around here before knows I love a good heist, even more so when it's tinged with revenge, con artists, women getting their power back, and some class commentary as this book seemed to be. And yet, despite being perfect on paper (it's also a historical novel!), The Housekeepers didn't win me over.

I really enjoyed the premise, as well as the details of the heist planning that were slowly unveiled, revealing the full picture only at the very end. The varied (and large) cast of characters added a certain dynamism, especially as the narration moved from one to the other to give the reader a bird's-eye view. Where most problems lay, for me, was in the execution: despite the high stakes and the numerous obstacles, I was never on edge or tense about the outcome in any way. If anything, for the most part I was simply... bored.

There were definitely some issues with the pacing for me, as everything seemed to move far too slowly and hardly any scene felt impactful and yet at the same time it appeared as though I hardly had any time to get to know the characters properly. Maybe there were too many of them for a book of this length, or maybe their backstories were too complex (it seemed everyone had a big, dark secret), but ultimately I cared about none.

The build-up to the heist took up the majority of the book, but when the climax came, it fell flat for me as if there just wasn't enough momentum to carry it over. There was simultaneously too much and not enough happening, which made for a frustrating reading experience, more a chore than a pleasure.

Still, some parts were definitely good, with humorous elements and some interesting characters who would have benefited from more breathing room. I could see kernels of good writing here and it is a decent debut, so I might give the author's next books another chance even though this one didn't meet my expectations.

I received an advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )