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Reviewed by Molly Garcia for Readers' Favorite
The House in Mill Street by Jenny Twist starts in the present when the main character has found out that her childhood home is about to be demolished to make way for a shiny new housing estate. The story is told in the first person, and the main character isn’t named. We then follow her as she hints that there’s more than nostalgia behind her interest in the demolition. The story goes back in time, and this is where we start to find out more about the incident. There are some excellent descriptions of how her family lived during this era, such as using newspapers for toilet paper and having outside lavatories. The narrator describes her neighbors, and how the walls are so thin they could hear everything that happens next door. The main character explains how she viewed her life from the perspective of a child, but she also adds some context of how she now understands it as an adult. She explains that her own family is a loving and warm unit, whilst the family next door is shown to have a darker relationship.
The plot of The House in Mill Street is paced just right to build a sense of anticipation and suspense. Jenny Twist uses accurate historical contexts throughout, such as when she explains why it was called Mill Street, (due to the mills,) and how life was for those who worked and lived there. Jenny does a great job of using the main character’s observations from the viewpoint of the child that she would’ve been at the time. There’s a particularly amusing section where the main character describes where she and her friends thought babies came from. I found this book to be endearing as well as intriguing enough to be read in one sitting. It is very visual, and the colorful background descriptions gave all the characters a strong presence. The combination of historical accuracy, detailed descriptions, and a suspenseful plot with a clever twist at the end made this short story easy to read and immerse myself in. I won’t spoil the story for anyone, but there is an unexpected twist at the end to look forward to. Overall, The House in Mill Street was everything that I look for in a thriller/suspense story and I highly recommend it!
