"This rather special family and relationship story covering fifty years comes to vivid and vibrant life in the most beautiful and emotional way."
Oh how absolutely gorgeous (and a little bit heart-breaking) this is, ultimately a feel-good novel, I’ve fallen in love with The House That Made Us. A photograph album sits centre stage, with memories, beautiful strong memories, sitting snugly between the pages. Two stories are told, one between two people as they look through the album, while the other is a love story of fifty years moving forward to meet 2019. The album creates moments in time to wander through, and the house that sits in the photos opens its arms wide to gather you in for the most thought-provoking hug. Getting to know Mac and Marie feels as though you are experiencing their life alongside them. Their differences enhance their relationship, it feels so very very real as ups and downs, laughter and sorrow pepper the pages. There is an intriguing mystery at the heart of one side of this story, and Alice Cavanagh keeps the suspense lightly and tenderly thrumming through the pages. She covers sorrow and emotion with empathy and consideration and inserts moments of fun with an exquisite touch. In fact the many aspects and themes to this novel sit alongside each other easily, and rather beautifully. Although I cried, I’ve been left with the most warm and affectionate feeling for this story, for the people within it, and so The House That Made Us has been chosen as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month.
| Primary Genre | Feel-Good Fiction |
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Win a Copy of The Sisters of Hope Square by Faith Hogan and a Bucket List Scratch Book
Closing date: 04/07/2026
One Day meets Up: The House That Made Us is a love story - and a life story - told through a series of photographs and inspired by a true story
When Mac and Marie marry and find a home of their own, Mac takes a snap of them outside their newbuild bungalow, the garden bare and the paint on the front door still wet. It becomes a tradition, this snap, and slowly the photographs build into an album of a fifty-year relationship.
Every year they take a photo and though things change around them - the garden matures, the fashions change, they grow older - the one constant is their love. Every year, come rain, come shine, from the Seventies through the decades, every photo tells the story of their love. But life never travels the path you expect it to, though they know that a life with love is a life lived to the full.
Now, in the present day, the photo album belongs to someone who doesn't know the people in its pages. As they watch the lives from the past unfold, will the truth of their love story be told...?
A heart-breaking story about life and love for readers who love Holly Miller, Jojo Moyes and Hazel Prior.
The House That Made Us features in the following genres: Feel-Good Fiction, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Family Drama, Romance / Relationship Stories, Modern and Contemporary romance, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Fiction, Fiction: narrative themes
The House That Made Us is available in Paperback
The House That Made Us was written by Alice Cavanagh and published by Simon & Schuster Ltd
The House That Made Us has 368 pages
£8.09
