The Cicada House: A heartfelt and feel-good time-travelling love story and debut novel, perfect for readers of Dolly Alderton, Sally Hepworth and Mhairi McFarlane cover art

The Cicada House: A heartfelt and feel-good time-travelling love story and debut novel, perfect for readers of Dolly Alderton, Sally Hepworth and Mhairi McFarlane

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The Cicada House: A heartfelt and feel-good time-travelling love story and debut novel, perfect for readers of Dolly Alderton, Sally Hepworth and Mhairi McFarlane

By: Ella Ward
Narrated by: Hannah Fredericksen, Jack Twelvetree
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A warm, funny and surprising love story about one woman's journey to find out who she really is - as if Richard Curtis watched Seachange, shared a cold beer with Dolly Alderton, and together they wrote The Time Traveller's Wife.


This is a magical love story. Where, despite what I have just told you, the most extraordinary thing to happen is a woman learns to forgive herself.

When Caitlin inherits a significant sum of money on her fortieth birthday, she decides to break the habits of a lifetime and throw caution to the winds. She's about to tell her husband Paul that they're leaving London on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Eat Pray Love their way around the world, only ... she doesn't tell Paul that, because before the candles are lit, he tells her that he's very much in love with someone else. After a drunken night trying to console herself, Caitlin books tickets to Australia - anything to get as far away as possible.

What does the world feel like when it's ending for you, and no-one else? What does life feel like when you are running away from it? This is a story that begins in a way you expect, and ends very far from there. It is a story of creaking English hallways and vast Australian skies. Of hands that feel like warm sandpaper. Cicadas that sing so loudly they drown out the grief. Of white wine and an old piano and children who want their parents back from the dead. It is a magical tale of travel and mystery. And a very human tale of sex and loss and seawater and the primal joy of coming home. This is The Cicada House.

'A glorious novel: captivating, vibrant and original' Jess Dettmann, author of Without Further Ado

'The perfect read for anyone who loves getting lost in a story ... warm, smart, funny and genuinely poignant ... delicious from beginning to end' Martha Beck, author of The Way of Integrity

'An atmospheric and moving time-travel love story told with great warmth and humour' Esther Walker, author of The Bad Cook

Family Life Genre Fiction Ghosts Horror Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction Marriage Funny Heartfelt Witty Feel-Good
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I struggled with the female narrator for the first part of this audiobook. I found her tone rather depressing. That said as the book progressed that tone did improve. The crafted descriptions were penned beautifully, and took me on a journey of unvisited places that were so clear in my mind’s eye.

An unexpected storyline.

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