The Skeleton House

Meg’s life is woven into the fabric of St. Stephens. It’s a tapestry made of two precious children, a hidden truth, and a husband whose ideas of a perfect wife do not match her own. When Meg puts her foot down on a third kid, gets a job, and is empowered by the same book group that was meant to keep her in her place, her marriage begins to disintegrate. Set in a tiny Mormon community, this is a novel about resilience and courage – the fierceness of mother-love and the power that comes with never forgetting who you really are.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘The Skeleton House is nuanced and raw.’ The Australian

‘Beautifully tense. Such a page-turner. Brilliant book and absolutely sinister.’ ABC Perth

‘It’s a brisk, well turned novel about a woman’s quest to seize belated agency over her fate.’ Sydney Morning Herald/Age

‘You will definitely cry with her as the story builds up to a devastating event. You will admire her resilience as she moves forward. The Skeleton House is well worth reading and a worthy winner of the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award. It certainly deserves 5 stars.’ Beauty and Lace

‘Reading The Skeleton House is like swallowing a seed that settles deep in your gut, quietly germinating until it twists and unfurls and nestles within you, long after you’ve consumed it.’ Writing WA

‘The Skeleton House is an impressive debut. I look forward to seeing what this author writes next.’ ANZ LitLovers

‘[Allum’s] writing has promise and I got a real emotional hit from it.’ RNZ

‘The Skeleton House is a story brimming with tension, desperation and heartbreak, told with a poetic assuredness. Allum is an exciting new literary voice.’ Books+Publishing

‘Once I started The Skeleton House, I was so absorbed, I just kept reading. A great novel about women’s lives and so relatable … my favourite type of novel. I’m sure this book will be a real hit … it deserves to be.’ Jenny, Early Bird Reviewer, Good Reading

‘Reading The Skeleton House is like swallowing a seed that settles deep in your gut, quietly germinating until it twists and unfurls and nestles within you, long after you’ve consumed it. I can’t wait to see what’s next from Allum.’ WritingWA