Thanks to Peepalpress and Netgally for this ARC

Rating 3.8

The story follows Hugh and Julia,a white British couple in their fifties who buy a house on a former slave plantation in Tobago and move there to settle.
Stranded at the airport by their estate agent, they meet Horatio— a local who seems suspicious but is eager to help. Soon Horatio moves in with the couple, which sets off a series of expected and unexpected events.

📚This one was a mixed bag for me.

📗There were aspects I really enjoyed at the beginning of the book. For example; certain arguments between characters in relation to slavery that were thought-provoking and added depth.

📗The author’s writing style was seamless and the multiple POVs were handled beautifully without unnecessary repetition.

📗 We experienced Tobago through the characters. The author did a great job with bringing the island alive in the story. The culture was vividly portrayed and through Hugh and Julia’s interactions with their new environment and the locals, we got reflections on the cultural differences.

📕There were side characters who just took up page space.

📕At some point, it was as if the author was trying to piece so much information together, which didn’t do much for the plot.

📕 Towards the end, I found the author’s sudden introduction of the couple’s daughter’s POV irrelevant to the story. I would’ve actually preferred Horatio’s perspective. As an important character, his view would have shed light on certain parts of the story.

Overall, this was an interesting read with moments of deep insight but the imbalance in its execution made it fall a little short for me.

The House in Bacolet is a sumptuous and immersive trip to Tobago, that simmers with tension and upturns your expectations. As unforgettable as it is quietly unsettling, this is one book I will recommend again and again.

I would describe this novel as a tension fueled drama that fluctuates between subtle and more distressing occurrences for the British couple arriving in Tobago hoping to make it their new home. A sense of apprehension for the couple hit me immediately when they first encountered Horatio in that highly relatable ‘airport taxi’ conundrum and I felt a desire to discover what their fate on the island would be.

As the feeling of unease grew and snaked its way through the story I appreciated all the twists and turns the plot provided along the way and felt the ending was superb - a final gut punch for a couple who didn’t listen to their gut.

I found the storyline of the history of the broken tiles distracting from the flow of the main characters storyline as a whole and the Tobago Creole was difficult to decipher at times but overall I thought this was a unique and well-told story. 3.5⭐️

i came across this book and recognised the name instantly but couldnt think why. then i realised that its through a different but very connected avenue. because i am a lover of france. a lover of wirting(mostly reading) and basically all things books. i also follow lots of myfavorite authors when they go on retreats or off together to the places they write about for inspiration. a few of my top authors i see go to Europe often to stalk out their locations! so i was perusing this space. and then seeing how common it was. and that is where i cam across David who held retreats in France! i was instantly hooked and wanted to go to one of these for years now. knowing it would only ever be a pipe dream though. and boy did i look like a dream from picture and descriptions.
so when i saw it was him with a book out i was leaping straight on this one.
this was amazing, incredible and only goes makes me want to go to be under his retreat even more so!
it was also hard and so apt of the times back then but also somehow so relevant to today. you can feel the history of the story. but you can feel it almost like a ghost that lingers. with these two wanting to adopt this as their home and settle in i cringed a few times. then inviting this man to stay and where did he stay? eesh.
i want to learn and be taught so much more about this aspect of our history and sadly our ever present. things have changed but so much hasn't. and its going to take alot more uncomfortable discussions with people like me TO people like me for change to keep happening. but maybe i can at least do my bit. or understand more. as i always still feel ignorant often over aspects of these aspects.
David sewed the seeds of many thoughts for me in this book.
i was seeing a story but it had so much relevance to it. so i was invested in both and all things i was being told and shown throughout.
i was so impressed with Davids writing. there is a reason his retreats get rave reviews i wreckon.

Really great read thank you for this in advance others will enjoy it as much as I did grabs you in from the very first page