The plot focuses on Ruth who is talked into starting a family by her husband and living down the road from his upper class parents in the country. Then the nightmare unfolds. The book is a masterpiece of claustrophobia as Ruth's in-laws intrude more and more into her life. All throughout the book I felt tense and unsettled - just as I love to be when I am reading a thriller. I could absolutely empathise with Ruth and as her situation got worse and worse I was routing for her all the way.
Ruth is a delightful, yet in some ways tragic character. She is a successful journalist and yet her past has meant that she is needy and desperately seeking love. She thinks she has found a family which she can belong to at long last in her in-laws but what she fails to realise is that they want to control her. The mother in-law, father in-law, and Ruth's husband Patrick are chillingly plausible and well developed. The beauty in this novel is that unlike in many other psychological thriller's these three characters are not evil, they truly believe they are doing the best for Ruth and themselves - even as they push her further and further towards the limits of her own sanity.
Overall The Little House is a fantastic study of relationships between a woman and her in-laws and how the ordinary things can lead someone to madness, and to do the most unspeakable things. The Little House's packs a hard, chilling punch, especially as the ending is so unexpected and compelling. I would recommend this book unreservedly.
JoAnne
