The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones BLOG TOUR

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Publication date: January 8^th

Source: Publisher – thank you!

Rating: I really liked it

One late spring evening in 1912, in the kitchens at Sterne, preparations begin for an elegant supper party in honor of Emerald Torrington’s twentieth birthday. But only a few miles away, a dreadful accident propels a crowd of mysterious and not altogether savory survivors to seek shelter at the ramshackle manor—and the household is thrown into confusion and mischief. Evening turns to stormy night, and a most unpleasant parlor game threatens to blow respectability to smithereens: Smudge Torrington, the wayward youngest daughter of the house, decides that this is the perfect moment for her Great Undertaking.

The Skinny: A clever book that simmers with excitement

Every so often I read a book that makes me slow down and read passages a couple of times in order to really grasp the author’s intention. In The Uninvited Guests, I was treated with a style of writing that is reminiscent of writers past. It is so witty, multilayered, and complex that a ghost of a smile plastered itself on my face the entire time I was reading.

In The Uninvited Guests, a group of individuals arrives at an estate that is currently in a state of financial collapse. While the family is busy preparing for a birthday celebration, the man of the house is off negotiating for his wife’s property. While the story is entertaining, it is the writing that has made me so excited. Nicknames and anecdotes are liberally used, while hidden meanings can be found upon further inspection. I have not read a book like this since Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. P&P is my favorite novel, so this is the highest praise that I can offer any writer. I am certain that intricate details will be revealed during my next reading of the story. Every new scene offers an opportunity for readers to increase their understanding of the characters and to be astounded by the sheer brilliance in the fluid unpacking of the story.

Sadie Jones is extraordinary, and I was so happy to read The Uninvited Guests. People just do not write in this style anymore. Layering ideas and flitting through characters’ minds were the order of the day, and I am eager to read anything that she writes. She has brought back the type of writing that challenges readers and does not underestimate their capacity for thought. It is this implicit challenge to readers that has landed Sadie Jones on my autobuy list.

 

Monday, January 21st: Conceptual Reception

Tuesday, January 22nd: Drey’s Library

Wednesday, January 23rd: Olduvai Reads

Monday, January 28th: nomadreader

Tuesday, January 29th: Bibliosue

Wednesday, January 30th: Excellent Library

Thursday, January 31st: 5 Minutes for Books

Monday, February 4th: Speaking of Books

Tuesday, February 5th: Giraffe Days

Thursday, February 7th: Oh! Paper Pages

Friday, February 8th: Peppermint PhD

Monday, February 11th: All Grown Up?

Friday, February 15th: Silver’s Reviews

Sadie Jones is the author of the novels The Outcast, winner of the Costa First Novel Award in the United Kingdom and a finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; and Small Wars, a tale of love, war, and honor, which was published to critical praise on both sides of the Atlantic. The Uninvited Guests is her third novel. Sadie Jones lives in London.