This novel is set in London and the English countryside. It focuses on a set of friends, a few years out of Oxford. Some have careers and others are still finding their way in life. When Lucas' beloved uncle commits suicide, he inherits Stoneborough Manor and eventually invites everyone out for a group reunion. The narrator is Joanna, a struggling journalist and Lucas' best friend. There's also a drug and alcohol fueled ad executive, a feminist social worker, a gay businessman and a fashion designer and her recent boyfriend. This is a hodge-podge group of people that never seemed to grow up and each time they gather, relationships become complicated, secrets are formed and throughout the book everything escalates to a far-fetched point.

I have to say that I wasn't thrilled with this book. None of the characters are really sympathetic and they all seem far too unsettled and flighty for near-thirty year olds with Oxford educations. Also, the tension keeps building and yet the climaxes (except the final one) are rather tame and dull. One big reveal was obvious quite a while before it happened. And the final thing that didn't sit right with me was the fact that there was no true end to the story and we were left without closure in the middle of a pretty dramatic event. I didn't dislike this book but it wasn't all I had hoped it would be.

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Description: At 30, Londoner Joanna still spends her free time with her Oxford college friends, now with burgeoning careers and all on the cusp of real adulthood. Lucas, Joanna's closest friend and prolonged crush, inherits Stoneborough Manor, a huge and imposing house in the Cotswold countryside filled with priceless art, where all the college friends are to spend every weekend together. The first visit, on New Year's Eve, doesn't start well, as the Londoners get lost. To Joanna, the manor has a threatening and unsettling aura and indeed, the big, dark, vaguely confusing house with its secrets and disappointments works well as an allegory for moving into the responsibilities and fears of growing up. Joanna and her friends proceed to deal with the unknown, some well, others destructively.

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I spotted this book on the New Release shelves and the title caught my eye, as only the spine was visible. I immediately liked the cover and reading the description knew immediately that the book was coming home with me (at least for the 14 day borrowing period).

I found The House at Midnight to be a strong first effort for debut novelist Lucie Whitehouse. The book is decidedly modern but at times felt wonderfully gothic, with the bits and pieces of romance scattered in, as well as the dark atmosphere surrounding the imposing Stoneborough Manor. The house itself is a major character in the book; after all, don't forget the title. In fact, I found Ms. Whitehouse's descriptions of the manor to be some of the most powerful in the book. Her descriptions are so smooth, so eloquent and yet so mysterious that I could easily envision the house in my mind, in all its finery and unquiet. I also found the group of friends to be firmly fleshed out and relatable. I cared about them and I cared what happened to them.

The weak links to the book, in my opinion, were just two. First, I felt the book did teeter on the edge of full out creepiness without going there. I wished Ms. Whitehouse had made the house just a bit more sinister, without reverting to camp. Secondly, I found the ending to be a disappointment. After sitting on the edge of my seat throughout a great portion of the book, the ending was so uninspired, almost lacking in emotion, and so brusque, that it felt as though Ms. Whitehouse abruptly got up from her keyboard and decided she was done with the book.

All in all, though, I would recommend this book if you are a gothic or mystery fan. It's well worth the effort and I found it more enjoyable and pleasing than what may be considered a counterpart, The Thirteenth Tale.

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Although I found it difficult to class this book in a particular genre I found that I was hooked on it right from the start, partly, I think, because it was so difficult to classify.

Jo is part of a group of friends who have been close since they were at Oxford together. When Lucas comes into a massive inheritance the group begin to spend weekends and holidays at the imposing country estate that soon becomes his full time home. Simmering attraction between Lucas and Jo brings them together but Lucas's drinking and his falling under the spell of Danny, the wildest and most unpredictable of the group, soon forces them apart. But the house seems to have a hold over the whole group that slowly breaks it apart and eventually leads to a tragedy.

I liked the characters in this book, found them to be believable, flawed but charming and real. Whitehouse writes well and with confidence and that helped to draw me into the story right from the start. I was very keen to find out what happened to the friends as their long-term relationships broke down and fractured and was also keen to find out what kind of book I was reading (ghost story? murder mystery? both?) I am already keen to read more by this author but this is her first book so I am hoping that the wait won't be too long. I would recommend it as a gripping and interesting read.

It is compared on the cover to Rebecca and there are similarities to The Secret History but would add a word of caution to anyone expecting a copy or a book of those standards - don't read it expecting those stories retold. It isn't the same and it should be read on it's own merits. ( )

This is one of the best books that I have read so far in 2009. I had heard quite a lot about this book before I bought it, especially the comparisons to The Secret History and Rebecca. I believe that it is definitely worthy of those comparisons but in no way is Lucie Whitehouse trying to copy those books; her storytelling has very much a style of it's own.
Lucas inherits Stoneborough Manor from his Uncle, both of Lucas' parents are dead and he is haunted by the suicide of his uncle who had been a father-figure. However, Lucas decides to use Stoneborough as a place where he and his small group of friends can escape to from their busy lives in London. The group of friends is incredibly close and the relationships between them are all extremely intricate.
Lucas gradually becomes increasingly obsessed with Stoneborough and with the cine films that he finds of his Uncle and his friends in their heyday. The similarities to Lucas and his group are startling and the secrets they reveal come to have a bearing on all of them.
This book had me gripped from the very start, the suspense stays with you right until the last page. Even when events in the story take a positive turn you know that something must be waiting just round the corner. The house plays a pivotal role in the book; I love books set in large houses with their many secrets and memories hidden away in the attic just waiting to be discovered. This was a really excellent book, especially as it is Whitehouse's first novel, I hope she writes many more!

A magnificent debut by Lucie Whitehouse, The House at Midnight will keep you up long into the night turning the pages. A modern gothic splashed with romance and suspense, this novel will wrap its dark magic around you.

On a bitterly cold winters night, New Year’s Eve, seven friends from college meet at Stoneborough, a grand manor in the English countryside. Lucas Heathfield recently inherited the manor after the shocking, tragic death of his Uncle Patrick. Hoping the manor will become their escape from London to relax, he invites all of his friends to make themselves at home there every weekend. Danny, Rachel, Martha and Michael, plus Rachel’s new boyfriend Greg, feel nothing sinister about the place like Jo does.

Joanna is the narrator of the story, a junior reporter at the Putney Gazette. She’s had a crush on Lucas for years throughout college, but knows they are only friends. Lucas finds himself making small passes at Joanna in the dark shadows of the manor. Much to her surprise, he reveals that he’s loved her for years , and she is only too happy to respond.

Soon, Danny gets fired and Lucas gives up his job, and becomes obsessed by old films showing his mother, father and uncle enjoying Stoneborough Manor. Danny gets fired, and as Lucas’s best friend, soon moves into the manor with Lucas. Jo feels her dreams are being destroyed by Danny’s increased influence on Lucas, who is still struggling to absorb Patrick’s death.

Joanna is distraught after Danny accuses her of only being after Lucas for his money, and becomes frustrated when Lucas seems oblivious to Danny’s attacks. She retreats, not devious enough to outmatch Danny’s malice. Jo’s uneasiness sharpens when she accidentally sees Greg and Rachel together. When their mutual attraction results in a fiery embrace, it is the beginning of the end for the group.

An inseparable companion, Stoneborough emits the misery of its inhabitants as though absorbing their pain. Well-plotted, finely honed characters give way to a shattering conclusion of violence. Newcomer Lucie Whitehouse has written a tense and captivating story that will linger long after the final, shocking pages.