Jojo Moyes

The Spanish House is a hotch-potch of designs, Georgian, Gothic and Moorish, as if whoever started it had simply got bored. It has long been known as an architectural folly to locals, and is now nearly derelict to boot. When its reclusive owner dies intestate the Spanish House is left to his city-dwelling niece. For Isabel, recently widowed, the house is a potential lifeline - the only hope she has of providing for her two children without having to sell her most treasured possession. But for neighbour Matt McCarthy, the house is revenge - on the family who ruined his father. For his wife it's the key to the perfect family life, while a struggling property developer sees in it a whole new future. As desires clash and intertwine, lives and loves are demolished - and the Spanish House becomes a true folly indeed. . .

Night Music

Left half read on holiday. So part 2 thanks to a library copy and glad I got to finish it. 

Joanna Tweedale

Briar's Reviews

Night Music by Jojo Moyes was a unique, contemporary read.

I found this book to be very relaxing. It was a book I could escape into and there wasn't any real stakes. Yes, there was a horrible man named Matt totally trying to screw over Isabel by destroying her house, but I just had this calm feeling that everything would turn right in the end. 

The book is "soft and sweet" to me. It's an easy read that just flows as I kept going along.

We follow Isabel, who is a very talented violinist, once she inherits an old Spanish house in the middle of a very small torn. She moves there with her kids after her husband has tragically died. Isabel is a bit of an odd duck. Clearly, she wasn't the one wearing the pants in the relationship. She was focused on her music career while her husband handled everything and their hired nanny watched the kids.. Now, she has to take care of her teenaged kids and house, which is not something she ever did. What makes things worse is the house is falling apart. 

And you'd think that with all of that going on some nice people would swoop in and help. Well, they say they are going to "help", but really, the man who offered to help fix her house (Matt McCarthy) keeps wrecking the house and trying to make it to be the house he wanted - since he swore he was going to inherit the house. If he can screw over Isabel just enough, she might leave and let him take the house away from her.

I truly liked the story - it was an interesting slice of life that made me emphasize with Isabel and the kids while also want to smack Matt right across the face and tell him to bugger off. There's other wonderful characters to who deserved so much better, and most of which is due to Matt being a complete jerk to them. The story is very sweet, very heartfelt, and just an all around women's lit kind of book. I really liked Jojo's writing style and I will definitely be seeking out more books by her in the future.

Four out of five stars!

Anika | @chaptersofmay

Jojo Moyes will always be an auto-buy author for me. No matter what she writes, I will read and enjoy. Night Music may not have been a glowing five-start story for me, but it was worth picking up nonetheless. 

This 2008 novel follows Isabel Delancey and her family. Isabel’s husband suddenly dies, leaving her with their two children, Kitty and Thierry, and a mountain of debt. The comfortable lifestyle she was once accustomed to is ripped away, and her only option is to move to the now-derelict countryside house named ‘The Spanish House’, left behind by her uncle. But her neighbours are bitter over her inheritance, her children are struggling, and her world seems to be crumbling.

I love the way the themes of love, bereavement, revenge and family life play out in this book. It’s a slow-burner, leaving plenty of time for character development within the plot. I particular like how the true motives of some characters are revealed through unseen twists. While I didn’t find any of the personalities to be that likeable, it doesn’t take away from the reading experience. And it’s definitely more of a drama than a romance, much different to anything else I’ve read by Jojo Moyes.
 
Fans of Moyes may enjoy this book, even if it doesn’t become a favourite. It has charm with the addition of small village life, and darker undertones from the villainous characters and realistic hardships. I wasn’t too fond of the ending, but overall a good read.

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The Spanish House is a hotch-potch of designs, Georgian, Gothic and Moorish, as if whoever started it had simply got bored. It has long been known as an architectural folly to locals, and is now nearly derelict to boot.When its reclusive owner dies intestate the Spanish House is left to his city-dwelling niece. For Isabel, recently widowed, the house is a potential lifeline - the only hope she has of providing for her two children without having to sell her most treasured possession. But for neighbour Matt McCarthy, the house is revenge - on the family who ruined his father. For his wife it's the key to the perfect family life, while a struggling property developer sees in it a whole new future.As desires clash and intertwine, lives and loves are demolished - and the Spanish House becomes a true folly indeed.