Home » Fiction Book Reviews » Book Review | The Child In My House by Lucy Lawrie

Book Review | The Child In My House by Lucy Lawrie

We’re delighted to be sharing Elena’s thoughts about The Child in my House by Lucy Lawrie.

Jera’s Jamboree receives payments for affiliate advertising. This is at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. As a Cratejoy affiliate I earn if you click on a link and shop from my link. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Book cover for The Child in my House by Lucy Lawrie.  A short path in shadow with a blue door in sunlight
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lucy Lawrie; New edition (05 Oct. 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 442 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 199899810X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1998998104

What if keeping her safe means losing her forever?

Juliet only wanted to see her childhood home one more time – to look at it from the street. She never intended to meet the new owners, let alone inveigle herself into a position as their new live-in nanny. But it’s too late now to tell the truth about who she really is.

Six-year-old Kitty has progressive mutism and cannot speak. Nobody knows why she keeps making silent phone calls to the police. Juliet makes it her mission to find out.

As Juliet settles into the house, nostalgia for her childhood gives way to uneasiness, as troubling memories surface. She begins to realise that her new employers have a connection to her own past, and family secrets she has tried hard to forget. And she is horrified to learn that they have a secret too – one which could blow their world apart.

Juliet faces an impossible choice. Keeping Kitty safe will cost more than she could ever have imagined.

Book Review

The Child In My House is the story of Juliet who goes back to her childhood home to take a trip down memory lane. Before long, she finds herself getting to know the current inhabitants and ends up becoming a live-in nanny for their little girl Kitty.

Kitty has progressive mutism and obviously has some secrets she’s unable to tell anyone about. When she makes phone calls to the police – obviously silent – Juliet decides she would like to find out exactly why she’s doing it and uncover whatever the little girl is hiding. 

Juliet has secrets of her own as well – her new employers don’t know anything about the fact that she used to live in their house years ago. She starts off living there by being nostalgic about her childhood home but soon some worrying memories come to the fore and her past begins to catch up with her. It appears as though Juliet and Kitty are linked in more ways than one through their secrets and as they threaten to reveal themselves she has to keep them both safe, whatever the cost. 

The Child In My House is an utterly riveting read which kept me up late into the night as I didn’t want to put it down!

Track your Book Stats up to 2030 and Beyond

With its easy-to-use layout and user-friendly design, this Google Sheet Template will help you organize and keep track of your reading.

This spreadsheet holds all the information you’ll need in one place for paperbacks, hardbacks, eBooks and audiobooks. As well as the usual stats of Title, Author, Date Published and reading progress, this book review template has data and ratings for the following:

  • series title and number
  • characters
  • atmosphere
  • writing
  • plot
  • pacing
  • world building
  • enjoyment
  • grading / star rating
Overview and Google sheet from a reading tracker

Download your copy today and keep a record to transform your love of books into an organized and enriching experience.

I really wanted to find out how Kitty and Juliet are linked and I didn’t see the twist coming at all – something I love about this book.

There is so much suspense and I thought it was really effective how the story started so calmly and evenly then built up into a fabulous crescendo I couldn’t tear my eyes from.

I would love to read more books by this author and have already passed this on to two friends to read.

A five star read. 


Lucy Lawrie is a lawyer and mum of two girls. She started writing when she was on maternity leave and unearthed a primary two homework book in which she’d stated, in very wobbly handwriting: ‘I want to be an AUTHOR when I grow up.’ Three novels later, she’s still writing as fast as she can, to her keep her six-year-old self happy.

Twitter @ LucyLawrie1

Leave a comment