Book Review: My Husband Next Door by Catherine Alliott

Step into Alliott country with the fabulously funny and wonderfully heartwarming My Husband Next Door.

When Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just nineteen she was madly in love. Now, those blissful years of marriage have turned into the very definition of an unconventional set-up. Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in an outhouse across the lawn from Ella’s ramshackle farmhouse.

With an ex-husband living under her nose and a home crowded by hostile teenaged children, gender-confused chickens – not to mention her hyper critical mother whose own marriage slips spectacularly off the rails – Ella finds comfort in the company of the very charming gardener, Ludo.

Then out of the blue Sebastian decides to move on, catching Ella horribly unawares. How much longer can she hide from what really destroyed her marriage . . . and the secret she continues to keep?

‘I raced through it, completely gripped from start to finish’ Daily Mail

‘An entertaining read that’s as light as the summer breeze’ Daily Express

‘A captivating and heartwarming tale’ Closer

Catherine Alliott is the author of twelve bestselling novels including A Rural Affair, One Day in May, The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton, and A Crowded Marriage. She lives with her family in Hertfordshire.

My Thoughts

This is the first book I’ve read by Catherine Alliott, I have heard many great things about her and her work so I must say I probably had rather high expectations? Sorry Catherine, no pressure!

I must admit I did struggle to get into this book for the first hundred or so pages and I was taking my sweet time to read it. I find it’s never a good idea to give up so soon though as you may find you missed the really good stuff! I’m glad I stood by this as I persevered it did get much better.

There is an incident with a dog and this is one part in the early stages of the book that had me thinking this book is going to have some hidden gems so don’t give up now. Honestly when you read about the dog and the suitcase you’ll know why I was laughing like a crazy lady on the train to Warminster last Friday. (Sorry people on my train. I am not a total weirdo, honest!)

Ella is a character who I liked but found hard to love, actually I really loved her children! Albeit rude and lazy they were funny and their conversations with their mother made me laugh. Saying that if they were mine I’d have given them a good telling off if they spoke to me like that or addressed me by my name instead of ‘Mum’ but Ella finds them amusing and so did I.

This story is a great insight to how dysfunctional some families can be, like having your husband live in a guest house of the holiday let business you run, which in actual fact is just filled with family members and not making much money at all. This truly reveals if living next door to your husband is the key to a happy life, and left me wondering if they would they ever get back together? Everyone is having affairs and their isn’t a lot of order in their lives but the setting of this book gives it a quaint and quirky edge. A Countryside location in a village where everyone thinks they know your business but actually they’ve got it all wrong.

Verdict

This book is a bit of a feel good story of family and every day problems people face in life yet it is also a lot darker than one might think when they pick up this book!

Hearing the back story of Ella and Sebastian is something I enjoyed. When the secret was revealed I was surprised but it made sense and brought the story together for me and overall I did enjoy it enough to consider reading more of this authors work in future.

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