The House of Broken Bricks

By: Fiona Williams

Narrated by: Ben Allen, Lee Braithwaite, Jessica Hayles

Tess is a Londoner whose relationship with Richard transports her from a Jamaican diaspora in the city to the English countryside, where predatory birds hover over fields, buses run twice a day, neighbors barter honey for cider, and no one looks like her.

As Tess and Richard settle in, the dramatic arrival of their fraternal twins—one who presents as black and the other as white—recasts the family dynamic, stirring up complicated feelings and questions of belonging. Tess yearns for the comforting chaos of life as it once was, instead of Max and Sonny tracking dirt through the kitchen where cooking Caribbean food becomes her sole comfort. And Richard obsesses over getting his crops planted rather than deal with the conversation he cannot bear to have.

In Fiona Williams's quartet of unforgettable alternating perspectives, secrets and vines clamber over the house’s broken red bricks, and although its inhabitants seem to be withering, Sonny knows that something is stirring... As the seasons change and the cracks let in more light, the family might just be able to start to heal.

©2024 Fiona Williams (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Lyrical, subtle, but engaging

Beautiful family story. It’s hard to say much without spoilers but certainly worth a listen. Literary but well paced

Are we there yet?

The story was a bit difficult to follow given its told from the first person point of view of each of the main characters. Be prepared for a bit of whiplash. I did grasp early on what was actually happening, or had happened, but I felt it took too long getting us to the reveal, only to end so abruptly. Overall story was fine, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to a friend.

Written poetically

I love the authors writing style. It was written so poetically and descriptively that I found myself listening just to picture it. The story was okay. My interest was piqued by the author’s beautiful crafting of the story.

a poetic telling of hardship, depression, and misunderstanding

This entire book was so beautifully written. Between the poetic writing of some chapters and the gentle hinting at what is really happening, you'll fall in love with this sad, but heartwarming book.