The Cicada House

The Cicada House By Ella Ward (Audio Version read by Hannah Frederickson and Jack Twelvetree) I listened to the audio of this book and was fully engaged from the get go. Approaching her 40th birthday, Caitlin finds out that she has inherited a large sum of money. She planned to share the good news with her husband, Paul, upon his return from working away from home, in time to share a birthday dinner with her. Feeling that their marriage needed a recharge, she made plans for them to go way on a romantic holiday together. However, before Caitlin could tell Paul, he broke the news that he had been having an affair with a colleague, who was now pregnant to him. To add to her devastation at that news, Caitlin and Paul had tried for many years to have a baby, without any success, despite several attempts at IVF. On a drunken impulse Caitlin booked a trip to Australia to stay at a holiday rental in a small coastal village. I felt great empathy with Caitlin, as she took the time to reflect on her life, and come to terms with her newly single status, while at the same time getting to know the country of her birth and seeking to find out more about her mother’s journey. I was intrigued by the mysterious ‘handyman’, David who seemingly turned up from no where, and was unknown to the locals. I was hooked and could not walk away from the recording as the friendship between David and Caitlin developed. Of course every romantic bone in my body was stirred up in the hope of a ‘happy forever’ ending. The incredibility of David’s appearances and disappearances in what seemed like some kind of strange method of time travel did distract me from the story until I decided to just roll with it and see what happened next. There was an added bonus for me as I listened to this book. I live on the Central Coast of NSW in Australia. The setting for Cicada House is much further south from here however I could smell the salt air, and feel the heat of an early spring arriving like out of a oven at times. After a few spring showers, our local cicada population were roused from their 7 year ‘slumber’ and provided a raucous background sound scape to elevate my experience of the story. I rate Cicada House 8.5/10

The Cicada House I put this forward as a fun end of year read for the group. I really enjoyed the book the second time I read it , maybe not as much as the first time as I knew the outcome but I still loved all the characters even Paul. The Book opens with Caitlin standing in front of the Fridge. Straight away she seemed an incredibly relatable character. I do enjoy books that highlighting interesting female characters. She was constantly berating herself, as a lot of us do. :) Lots of these subtle hints creating an interesting protagonist. This is my second reading of the book so I am taking more notice of the subtilise, and there are many. I loved the location which read like one of the main characters. Although fictions it reminds me of a many places on the Australian east coast I have visited Also, there was a dash of magical realism Thrown in. I personally allow the author to take me where ever they want, I don’t always end up enjoying it but with a touch of magic it’s best for me to just go with it and not question, and as it worked out I enjoyed it the bit of magic in The Cicada House. I particularly enjoyed the conversation with Maggie in her Unit in ST Kilda. Maggie took me back to the 70’s and the strong friendships that were created. Maggie tries to explain Susan to Caitlin who is very literal. Caitlin asks Maggie why she did help out and Maggie says Susie was dear to me and she would have done the same if I had needed it. I think this sort of friendship is a stretch for Caitlin at that time. I really enjoyed the Friendships and types of people this book allowed us to visit with.

I enjoyed this book. Lots of interesting characters and stories lines. I purchased it for 3.99 on sale