A House for Alice
From the Women’s Prize shortlisted author of Ordinary People
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- £0.99
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
'A stunning multi-generational kaleidoscope of London' Bernardine Evaristo
'A wise, tender novel about family and love' Monica Ali
After fifty years in London, Alice wants to return to Nigeria, but her children are divided on whether she should stay or go.
Alice’s daughters Melissa, Carol and Adele are in conflict. Their father’s sudden death has left behind a web of secrets and resentments, but can they put their differences aside to grant their mother her wish?
Meanwhile Melissa has never quite let go of a love she lost, and in return her ex-husband Michael, is haunted by the failed perfection of the past.
As Alice’s final decision draws closer, all that is hidden between Melissa and her siblings, and Michael, and his new wife Nicole, rises to the surface…
'Heart and humour in abundance . . . The people on the page are real and raw' The Times
'So arresting, characterful, and so beautiful' Candice Carty-Williams
'I adored it. Her writing is exquisite: every sentence a jewel' Elizabeth Day
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A sequel to the brilliant Ordinary People, A House for Alice revisits the world of the previous novel and mines it for greater riches. There are familiar themes—a breakdown and its aftermath, the collapse of a marriage, families staggering under the weight of bereavement—but no lazy repetitions. Utterly devastating at times, full of hope at others, it’s a narrative that doesn’t smooth over trauma but also trusts to the love that binds us together. Even where there is cruelty there is also the possibility of redemption—a theme that works powerfully on the personal and the collective level. Dark moments of our recent history are here, but the heart of Evans’ work is always the people, her characters in all their glory and all their pain, and her tenderness towards them is unmistakable. A profound joy of a novel.
