This follows three mothers living in Cork. It is a fun story. The characters seemed very over the top and unrealistic. The characters are all morally grey.

The cover and description of this book kept giving me Desperate Housewives vibes so I was really interested in reading it. I enjoyed the story a little but, however I felt like the ending was very anti-climactic and slightly disappointing.

There was something almost jealously psychotic about Lauren. I expected there to be a better explanation of her thoughts and her actions in the end but there wasn’t which was disappointing for me.

Of all the characters I liked Mishti best. Ciara was just plain manipulative and desperate for love. Sean was just a gaslighting playboy.

Overall, I’m not sure I actually liked this story but I’m glad I finally read it.

I really enjoyed this book!
Quick read and this is a book I would recommend to people for a holiday read
And I will look out for more books by Disha Bose!

What a read! Disha Bose, you'll have a space on my shelf forever! It's a domestic thriller but a heavy emphasis on literary fiction. The fact this is a debut is astounding.

This was so good! I loved seeing all the threads come together. And I loved to hate one of the characters - a couple of times I found myself rooting for the 'villain' of the story.

I really enjoyed this read, I'm always a fan of multiple POV's which this has.
A great suburban Psychological thriller which really delves into 'what goes on behind closed doors' & behind the scenes of the 'mums at the school gate', all the characters have their own secrets and past they want to stay hidden- cheating, bitching and all the ultimate 'frenemy' behaviour.

A real page turner.

Dirty Laundry is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores the themes of family, secrets, and betrayal. The story follows the lives of two sisters, Anya and Maya, who are forced to confront their past when their father's dark secrets come to light.

Bose's writing is sharp and incisive, and she does an excellent job of creating believable and relatable characters. The sisters are complex and flawed, but they are also sympathetic and ultimately likable. The supporting characters are also well-developed, and they add depth and richness to the story.

The plot is well-paced and suspenseful, and it keeps the reader guessing until the very end. The novel also tackles some difficult and important topics, such as sexual abuse, domestic violence, and mental illness. Bose handles these topics with sensitivity and compassion, and she never shies away from the difficult truths.

Overall, Dirty Laundry is a must-read for fans of literary fiction. It is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

Thank you to Penguin Viking for this copy of Disha Bose's debut novel, Dirty Laundry. As soon as I heard this story and the fact it was set in Ireland, I knew it was a must read! Let's get into my thoughts!

Dirty Laundry centres around three neighbours, Ciara, Lauren and Mishti. While Ciara and Mishti seem to be very close friends, the same cannot be said for Ciara and Lauren. At first, we're not quite sure why this is but as the novel progresses, we learn more about the lives of these women and what's caused this tension.

To me, this was very much a character driven novel. I felt like not a huge amount happened in terms of plot except for one or two major things with a lot of filler. Most of this book takes place in the past which is how we get to know our main characters. I really loved and felt for Mishti after reading about her life and I hated Ciara. Bose really does know how to write her characters! While I was hoping for a bit more scandal, expecting something like an episode of Desparate Housewives, the novel as a whole just fell a little flat for me and I was left somewhat disappointed.

While it didn't blow me away, I definitely recommend it for anyone after a bingey domestic suspense novel! Plenty of bitchy drama which, at times, was impossible to turn away from.

* Please look up any trigger warnings *

Im always a fan of a domestic psychological drama-filled book and Dirty Laundry certainly delivered! Following three very different couples and the dynamics of their relationships and friendships, I was glued to the gossip that was being shared, especially when a dead body arrives on the scene.
A quick entertaining read

A great little domestic thriller with characters I couldn't decide whether I loved or hated... but I think I'm leaning a little too much towards hated. Unlikeable characters are good, as long as there's some humanity there. I wasn't connecting with the characters as much as I would have liked, but I loved the flow of the plot.

What a glorious read. I adored the escape of this book. Sadly very recognisable characters in the modern world. Nonetheless thrilling to read their journey into drama and unfolding morals… great fun thanks

A well observed take on parenting and the parents themselves in modern Ireland. Ciara the social media star appears to have it all, Mishti the token best friend is still reeling with culture shock and Lauren the frenemy next door courts controversy with her unorthodox parenting style. What should unite these women ultimately drives them apart and leads to tragedy. Witty, smart and fast paced, a worthy summer read.

Ciara, Mishti and Lauren are three very different women but they are all mothers, in relationships that teetered on the brink.
Were they friends? Perhaps not and this was the crux of the novel. In the relationships between the three, there are simmering undercurrents that rise slowly rose to the surface.

Set in a small village in Ireland, near Cork we follow three very different couples. Gerry and Ciara Dunphy are those Instagram ready people, who always look perfect and are always doing something enviable. Ciara is already an Instagram sensation on her own, broadcasting everything from her skincare routine to her children! Ciara feels like she’s reaching the end of a rapidly fraying rope, her daughter Bella is playing up and Ciara is primed for a fight. Gerry is one of her targets, probably the one who deserves it most but she might take it out on Lauren instead. Lauren and Sean have plenty of issues of their own and she’s been suffering from sleep deprivation for longer than she cares to admit. She knows that her life needs to change, but even with all that in the mix Lauren would still count herself luckier than Ciara. Misthti and Parth Guha have an arranged marriage, but Parth treats his wife more like a servant. Misthi was born in the heat of Kolkata and the Irish climate is never warm enough for her.. Ciara and Mishti’s friendship seems to be fizzling out at the moment, but they have been quite close. As the drama unfolds it centres around Ciara which is just the way she likes it!

I found Clara’s online presence infuriating and had she been a friend or acquaintance of mine I’d have muted her long ago. She serves up a life of yummy mummy perfection for her followers, with the perfect house, marriage and children. I felt like the author set out to make her unlikeable with her outward perfection, hiding and inner selfish streak and a talent for manipulation. She is convinced she’s usually right and is willing to ride roughshod over anyone who disagrees. Mishti’s marriage is a contract, to look after her husband and provide him with children, her willingness to go along with this might make her look weak but as the story continues I could see a core of steel inside and I was rooting for her to change her life. Lauren is the archetypal earth mother, bohemian to the core and so nurturing. A feud has developed between Lauren and Ciara, causing Lauren to be very alone as the rest of the mothers in the village seem to shun her.

I thoroughly enjoyed these three women airing their dirty linen in public. The author really drew me in until I felt like I was watching a rather delicious reality show that is a guilty pleasure. We are getting to see what happens beyond these particular closed doors, laying bare what happens in a marriage and our other relationships with nothing off limits,


Well, this lot need to get a boil wash on pronto as there’s plenty of dirty Irish linen on display for your delectation and delight! I love the way Disha Bose draws you into these peoples lives and makes it feel almost like viewing a fly in the wall television drama as we rarely know exactly what goes on behind closed doors. Desperate Housewives eat your heart out!! This is a fascinating insight into the dynamics of marriage and relationships, warts and all. You also are witness different styles of parenting or lack of. Despite the fact that’s there is friendship and marriage, there’s also loneliness in places you least expect it. I found all the women difficult to like, but Mishti is the one I could empathise with most and it isn’t just the women, the men are very easy to dislike with plenty of dirty laundry of their own to clean. I was truly desperate for the proverbial to hit the fan and I couldn’t stop reading until I knew. This is a slow starting novel, but definitely rewards the reader as the story develops and packs an entertaining and enjoyable punch at the end. A really promising debut.

This was made to be on the telly!! I found this really enjoyable and loved the multiple POV. I enjoyed the writing, the characters and how it all developed. Recommend

This was a brilliant thriller, not something I’d usually pick up but I’m so glad I did, this kept getting better and better as the story progressed. A novel about a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, gossip is rife and everyone is willing to air their neighbours’ dirty laundry…

This novel surrounds a woman who’s found dead in her home which then follows the events building up to that moment as we await the reveal. All throughout, secrets are unraveled and affairs are spewed out because like Mary Alice Young once said, “trust is a fragile thing…”. Disha Bose set this novel up perfectly with an instant hooking plot line and a strong willed character who despite everything "needed to show she was in control, even though she wasn’t anymore" as she cleverly plants hints at critical moments to foreshadow the inevitable outcome.

The most intriguing part were the characters, all desperate to prove how better they were compared to each other. Disha flipped typical stereotypes, there was no helpless woman waiting for a white knight, she set up a course of marriages where women were no longer weak in the knees. There was this constant mirage between the way each couple’s marriage appears to their neighbours and then the reality of the fractured relationship and unfaithful partners. Affairs, marriages and friendships are all pushed to a breaking point, playing into the power and affect of paranoia when trust is broken so easily.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tension and anticipation that Bose created, no one is clear when everyone has a motive… What really stood out about this novel for me was the way it ended, everyone is at some fault and with no one taking responsibility, they ironically shared the responsibility and the weight of their shameful secrets which made for a “cruel joke” as the final piece to the puzzle fits into place. I really liked the way all the plot lines were set up and how they tied with each other smoothly. The different perspectives and each person’s version of events made it such an interesting read. The cyclical structure was a clever touch, the novel starting and ending with the moment the body is found at the bottom of the stairway, now with all the secrets exposed to the reader… Everyone and everything is a facade.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review.

General Thoughts 🤔

I am a sucker for a cover and it was exactly that which drew me to this book. I saw the cover and immediately thought suburban drama, gossip and devious characters. I was looking forward to indulging in a fictional Real Housewives with some murder thrown in which was kind of what I ended up getting, but it did fall a little bit short. The story started off promising and I was hooked quite quickly. However after a while, it did start to feel like a lot of the same thing in each chapter and not much really happened.

That said, I did still enjoy this book. I was a passive reader for sure and just followed along without having to think very much. I think I would have preferred something more dramatic and gripping, but this was an enjoyable book nonetheless.

Characters 👫👭👬

There were three women that this story followed closely; Ciara, Mishti and Lauren. Each of the women were very different and had very different backgrounds but I wasn’t really able to connect deeply to any of them. This may be because I genuinely had little in common with any of them or because the characters weren’t deep enough for me to get close to them. In reality, I think it was a mixture of the two.

Ciara annoyed the life out of me, but she was very much written as a character that we weren’t supposed to like. She had fallen victim to social media and she cared more about what her followers thought than what her nearest and dearest did. I did sympathise with Mishti as I thought she was quite an unhappy woman. She was in an arranged marriage and I think that given the choice, she would have left in a heart beat. I was hoping that Mishti would find her courage and do what was right for her and her daughter. Lauren struck me as the most sane woman in the story, but even she came with some drama. If I had to pick one of them to go for a drink with, it would have likely been her.

Writing Style ✍️

I definitely found this author’s writing easy going and laid back. I was entertained and enjoyed letting the story unfold and carry me along with it. I really liked that it started by letting me know what was going to happen in the end and then going back in time to take me on the journey leading to that unfortunate ending. My disappointment was that I think the reveal could have been a little more exciting. I felt a bit deflated when I found out what had actually happened.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

Overall I found this book to be entertaining and easy to read. It started off with a bang and I was excited to see where the story was going to go, however I was left a little bit deflated by where the characters and the plot ended up. I think that there was potential for this plot to be super juicy and shocking, but it was a little bit more tame than I had expected. I did still enjoy the book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and uncomplicated domestic thriller.

This was such a fantastic book! Adored the characters and the storyline was beautifully written. Would definitely recommend.

Move over Desperate Housewives this book had me hooked from the start. The stories main focus on 3 Housewives who live in a seemingly sleepy village but manage to get caught up in each other's dramas.

Ciara is the "Instaperfect mum", Lauren the loner who grew up in the village tried to leave but finds herself back and still an outcast and Mishti a woman from India in an arranged marriage she didn't really want.

All of there lives intertwine to make for a great domestic thriller. It's a slow burn and for the most part I wasn't able to put it down. The characters all have there moments of being likeable and unlikable but that's part of its charm.

I would say this is a very good debut and I would definitely recommend it to my friends and follow readers. Can't wait to see what this author does next!

Dirty Laundry

Disha Bose's debut novel, Dirty Laundry is a thriller, peeling back the layers of lives in a small village
Three women: Ciara - a social media influencer, Mishti - in a loveless marriage, in a new country and Lauren - an outcast for her unconventional life, all with young children and husbands who seem detached from family life, are friends caught in a web of lies, deceit, desire and murder.

They are trapped in lives that they thought they wanted but reality doesn't match their expectations - stuck at home with a young family, in a village where curtains twitch and the highlight of the week is going to the park for gossip. They all want more but can't break out of the roles they have found themselves in.

When Ciara is found dead, everyone is a suspect.

This dark suburban thriller is not only an addictive book to read with characters you can't help but like, but also explores the underbelly of a small village, social media's gaze on the perfect life and jealousy ripping apart families, friends and communities. All three women are looking for a sense of belonging which leads them all down a path that none of them will be able to come back from...

Not only is this about popularity but class and race and the way these rub against the push and pull of duty to families against a duty to the life we want to live.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ebook copy

Dirty Laundry is a fabulous suburban thriller set outside Cork, Ireland, which follows the domestic ins and outs of a collection of women who loathe/like each other and epitomise the phrase "frenemies". Each one of them has a murky past and secrets that lead them through the story: a whodunit with a bombastic ending.