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The High House

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About this listen

A stunning audiobook of the extraordinary and the everyday, The High House explores how we get used to change that once seemed unthinkable, how we place the needs of our families against the needs of others - and it asks us who, if we had to, we would save.

Crisis slid from distant threat to imminent probability, and we tuned it out like static.

Francesca is Caro’s stepmother, and Pauly’s mother. A scientist, she can see what is going to happen.

The high house was once her holiday home, now looked after by locals Grandy and Sally, she has turned it into an ark, for when the time comes. The mill powers the generator, the orchard is carefully pruned, the greenhouse has all its glass intact. Almost a family, but not quite, they plant, store seed and watch the weather carefully.

©2021 Jessie Greengrass (P)2021 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction

Critic reviews

"An extremely thoughtful and meticulous writer." (Sunday Times)

"She has a Mantel-esque way with metaphor, in which clarity of the image illuminates plot and theme." (Daily Telegraph)
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Thought provoking. Wonderfully narrated. Read it over the course of a day. Didn’t want it to end. Thoroughly recommend

Beautifully written

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A really lovely story, sad then uplifting, always engaging, but so cleverly interwoven with a clear message about climate change.
Jessie Greengrass is an exceptional writer. If you love this, definitely read ‘An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk..”, similarly brilliant book interweaving of fact and fiction.

Fabulous, intelligent, easy to listen to.

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Thought provoking. Very sad in places but also a story of love which was uplifting.

Excellent story

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A beautifully written book. Sometimes disturbing but always thought provoking and very readable .
Would recommend it.

A book everyone should read.

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I wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise is interesting - a group of people are living alone in a house, trying to survive as the rest of the world is destroyed by the consequences of climate change. There is some beautiful writing, but overall I felt the storyline lacked depth. I found the narrator who read Pauly's story irritating - he over-enunciated every word, which was a shame. The two female narrators were better, but they didn't draw me into the story.

Interesting story but poor narration

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