The House That Alice Built

Chris Penhall

Aug 2019 · Ruby Fiction

About this ebook

Winner of the Search for a Star competition.

A heart-warming summer read set in Portugal.

Home is where the heart is … 

Alice Dorothy Matthews is sensible. Whilst her best friend Kathy is living it up in Portugal and her insufferable ex Adam is travelling the world, Alice is working hard to pay for the beloved London house she has put her heart and soul into renovating. 

But then a postcard from Buenos Aires turns Alice’s life upside down. One very unsensible decision later and she is in Cascais, Portugal, and so begins her lesson in ‘going with the flow’; a lesson that sees her cat-sitting, paddle boarding, dancing on top of bars and rediscovering her artistic talents. 

But perhaps the most important part of the lesson for Alice is that you don’t always need a house to be at home.

Ratings and reviews

To imagine myself in Portugal always means it was a great book to read. Alice has been trying desperately to get over a failed relationship but it doesn't help with postcards keep dropping on her doorstep informing her of all the things her ex has been doing Until one day - she snaps and rips them all up and takes herself off to Tower Bridge to let them all go. This scene summed up many a feeling I have had. Her best friend Kathy moved to Portugal and has nagged Alice to go there for a holiday and during one emotional call to her best friend she makes a sudden decision to do just that- to go to Portugal (okay - there is also the factor that she has just been made redundant ... which helped spur the decision to just get away from it - but who worries about those little factors 😁). The story unfolds in a funny, sometimes tense and unexpected way. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would love to have the opportunity to go to Cascais to see the beautiful scenery for myself one day.

Poor Alice, she couldn’t seem to climb out of her gloom as it kept coming at her from all sides, including her own inner voice. Her ex-boyfriend, who had left her with debts, was back and wanting to claim half of her home; she had lost her job and her sparkle; and her inner voice was berating her at every turn. Alice’s tale was insightfully written with clever observational humor, a quirky cast of characters, angst, loss of self, a pyramid full of insecurities, lots of waffling and indecision, a blossoming romance, rekindling of old friendships, high anxiety, self-rediscovery, adventures in a foreign land, paddle boarding, pet-sitting, ambling, jewelry making, photography, artistry, home renovation, and an empowering evolution with defiantly vibrant trousers - which I greedily coveted. I frequently alternated between empathy for Alice and wanting to give her a smack to the back of the head, but I was proud of her and for her by the end.

This is a lovely romance, set mainly in Portugal. The story starts in uk buts moves overseas when Alice is made redundant. Her back story has shaped her but the move and her new and old friends help her to move on and the old Alice gradually reappears. Her relationship with Luis is not an easy one as both have a lot of baggage. There is also the cultural and language difficulties to be dealt with. Portugal is well portrayed and the characters believable. I was rooting for Alice to see what her future could be, exciting and fun. Does she get there? Read this book to the very end to find out.

About the author

Winner of the Search for a Star competition.

A heart-warming summer read set in Portugal.

Home is where the heart is … 

Alice Dorothy Matthews is sensible. Whilst her best friend Kathy is living it up in Portugal and her insufferable ex Adam is travelling the world, Alice is working hard to pay for the beloved London house she has put her heart and soul into renovating. 

But then a postcard from Buenos Aires turns Alice’s life upside down. One very unsensible decision later and she is in Cascais, Portugal, and so begins her lesson in ‘going with the flow’; a lesson that sees her cat-sitting, paddle boarding, dancing on top of bars and rediscovering her artistic talents. 

But perhaps the most important part of the lesson for Alice is that you don’t always need a house to be at home.