The House of Now and Then in Aussie Readers

Apr 26, 2023 Brenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-read, debut, aussie-authors, 3500-2023, suspense, mystery, 2023-release

4.5★s

It was December 1985 when Pippa and Jeremy, plus his girlfriend Rebecca, arrived from Brisbane to house sit in Tasmania for home owner Eloise for 10 weeks, and they had no idea how much it would change their lives. When Pippa met a young man straight off one of the Sydney to Hobart yachts, the excitement was electric. Leo was only nineteen, one of the youngest to sail in the fleet, and he and Pippa had a fun filled night after the race had finished. Soon, the two of them were inseparable; L 4.5★s

It was December 1985 when Pippa and Jeremy, plus his girlfriend Rebecca, arrived from Brisbane to house sit in Tasmania for home owner Eloise for 10 weeks, and they had no idea how much it would change their lives. When Pippa met a young man straight off one of the Sydney to Hobart yachts, the excitement was electric. Leo was only nineteen, one of the youngest to sail in the fleet, and he and Pippa had a fun filled night after the race had finished. Soon, the two of them were inseparable; Leo met Jeremy and Rebecca and the two men became close. But Leo had domineering parents who were directing his future. And Pippa was not to be part of that plan. When Rebecca left to return to Brisbane, then Jeremy flew out from Sydney to London for the next part of his life, it left Leo and Pippa alone together. The night he went to confront his parents in Hobart, was the last time Pippa ever saw him...

Thirty years later in 2017, Olivia had left Sydney after a scandal, arriving in Tasmania to rent Eloise's house and lick her wounds. When a young man from London knocked on her door, in search of a woman named Pippa who'd stayed at the house in the summer of 1986, Olivia decided to help Tom in his quest, as long as she kept out of sight. Would they be able to dig up the secrets about Jeremy, Pippa and Leo and the long ago past? And how would it affect Olivia's future?

The House of Now and Then is the debut novel by Aussie author Jo Dixon, herself having moved from Brisbane to Tasmania, and knowing the area. The two timelines worked well, with the dates at the beginning of the relevant chapters, so there was no confusion. I enjoyed the 1986 time the most, with Olivia in 2017 annoying me a little. Pippa was full of life and adventure, a "wild child", prepared to enjoy herself whatever the outcome. She was an excellent character. I did suspect part of the ending, and was right, but not the whole! Overall, a brilliant, twisty, intriguing debut, and I'm looking forward to what Ms Dixon writes next. Highly recommended. ...more

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Jan 03, 2023 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-netgalley

What a brilliant debut this one is, it was so hard to put down, wonderful characters good and nasty and there are few of those but this story is well written and pulled me on from page one, it has twists and turns as the story unfolds, it is compelling reading.

Olivia has run from Sydney and her past and the media who will not leave her alone she is hiding out in a beautiful isolated home in Devils Bay Tasmania hoping to work out how to get her life back on track, when there is a knock at the doo What a brilliant debut this one is, it was so hard to put down, wonderful characters good and nasty and there are few of those but this story is well written and pulled me on from page one, it has twists and turns as the story unfolds, it is compelling reading.

Olivia has run from Sydney and her past and the media who will not leave her alone she is hiding out in a beautiful isolated home in Devils Bay Tasmania hoping to work out how to get her life back on track, when there is a knock at the door, a man she does not know, at first she does not want to know anything about him but then she listens to his story about a woman who was a friend of his father’s, Pippa and she stayed at the very house Olivia is renting thirty years ago, can Olivia help even with her sordid past?

Thirty years ago Pippa her best friend Jeremy and Jeremy’s girlfriend Rebecca stay in this house for the summer it was the best of times for them Pippa met local, Leo and they fell in love, Jeremy had plans to leave for England at the beginning of February, Rebecca was going back to Brisbane and Pippa was staying on for a few more weeks, but Leo’s parents are controlling and want Leo away from Pippa, but when Leo leaves to meet his parents and tell them his plans he is never seen again.

Now Olivia is drawn into the mystery with Jeremy’s son Tom searching for Pippa so as a letter can be delivered to her will there finally be answers to the mystery add to that Olivia and her problems will Olivia be able to reclaim to life she knew and deserves and what will be between her and Tom will they find love and happiness?

This is a must read story, deadly secrets, controlling nasty characters and fun and loving characters all add up to an awesome story, debut author Jo Dixon has written a story that has everything a true mystery should have to keep the reader guessing and trying to get answers, she certainly had my mind jumping and the twist wow. I do highly recommend this one, huge congrats on the debut I will be eagerly awaiting more books from this author.

My thanks to Harlequin AU for my copy to read and review ...more

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Jan 26, 2023 Kathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: australia

4.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this debut set in Tasmania. The novel moves back and forth in time between two intriguing storylines. The characters are likable and the plot has an interesting mystery element. I am very much looking forward to future novels by Jo Dixon.

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Oct 23, 2023 Bree T rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, australian, mystery, hist-contemp-blend

I really enjoyed this from the very beginning. I found both timelines intriguing. Pippa is full of life in the 1986 timeline, she and Jeremy are good friends (but no longer lovers) although they have been there once or twice. They remain very close, which causes friction with Jeremy’s girlfriend Rebecca. When Pippa meets Leo, it complicates everything a lot, bringing family secrets and hostilities to the light.

I cannot imagine what it’d be like to be in Olivia’s position and have to assume that I really enjoyed this from the very beginning. I found both timelines intriguing. Pippa is full of life in the 1986 timeline, she and Jeremy are good friends (but no longer lovers) although they have been there once or twice. They remain very close, which causes friction with Jeremy’s girlfriend Rebecca. When Pippa meets Leo, it complicates everything a lot, bringing family secrets and hostilities to the light.

I cannot imagine what it’d be like to be in Olivia’s position and have to assume that not only does every new person you meet know who she is, but has witnessed probably some of her most private moments and formed an opinion on them and her. Olivia has been judged by the press and probably most of the greater public and in a lot of circumstances, been assigned the blame. She’s also being…well I guess the best word is harassed, by someone from that former life and she regards anyone who approaches her with extreme suspicion. She definitely doesn’t want to be found and when Tom shows up at the house she’s renting, she reacts very negatively. Tom acknowledges that he also made mistakes in approaching Olivia and he does apologise very profusely for that. Because he’s English, he also doesn’t know who Olivia is, which is I think, refreshing for her although she assumes that he will find out at any moment. She agrees to help him though, search for a person in order to deliver something to them from his father, who could not or would not do it himself.

I enjoyed the mystery, the two timelines were both really engaging. I liked Tom as a character and appreciated the way he owned the mistake in approaching Olivia (a result of eagerness). I also found some of the discussion around Olivia’s story interesting although I thought the book could’ve gone even deeper into the repercussions of being exposed in such a way and public response to scandals such as these. There’s a lot to be said about how blame is proportioned.

I will say I did have a bit of an inkling at the twist about halfway through but I still honestly wasn’t sure, so it wasn’t like I was sure of the outcome. I was still very much up in the air about how things were going to go and it definitely meant that I was invested and kept turning the pages! I found the atmosphere of the book in 1986 really well done – it was this mix of kind of hedonistic holiday before the rest of our lives kind of thing, mixed with friendships with blurred lines and the impending doom or bad event that you know is coming. And I didn’t pick the pure coldheartedness of one of the characters, that one was quite a surprise.

All in all – very clever and well written debut. Looking forward to Jo Dixon’s next novel. ...more

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