The Birthday House
Jill Treseder
Paperback
A friendship. A murder. A life that will never be the same.
- ISBN 9781781328798
- Published Jun 2019
- Paperback
178 x 127mm (150 pages)
The year is 1955, the location picturesque Devon.
In a house by the River Dart, schoolgirl Josephine Kennedy posts invitations to her twelfth birthday party – a party that never takes place.
Horrific violence is committed that night in the family home, leaving all of its occupants dead.
Based on a disturbing real-life crime, this compelling story explores Josephine’s fate through the prism of friends and family - the victims and survivors who unwittingly influenced the events that led up to the tragedy.
Josephine’s best friend, Susan, is haunted by the secrets of the birthday house. Can she ever find a way of making peace with the past?
Want to read it in other formats?
The Birthday House is now available on
Kindle.
Jill Treseder was born in Hampshire and lived all her childhood in sight of the sea on the Solent and in Devon, Cornwall and West Wales. She now lives with her husband in Devon overlooking the River Dart.
After graduating from Bristol with a degree in German, Jill followed careers in social work, management development and social research, obtaining a PhD from the School of Management at the University of Bath along the way.
Since 2006 she has focused on writing fiction.
"An engaging, accomplished, structurally-bold examination of a Fifties family tragedy told from the points of view of all involved, The Birthday House is also a profound meditation on grief and trauma and how it can shape us for the whole of our lives.” – Peter Stanford
"As always, Jill Treseder paints pictures in the air and brings her characters vividly to life. A beautifully written and captivating story of love and loss.” – Ian Hobbs, Devon Book Club
"Don’t be fooled into thinking that this novella is a light and breezy read. It’s a beautifully told story of childhood, friendship, love, betrayal, regret and murder and it packs a punch.” – Herding Cats Blog
"Haunting and masterfully told. The characterisations are perfection, and the writing just wonderful. I had actual goosebumps as I read...will stay with me for quite some time." – The blog of Emma Rowson
Read the Advance Information sheet for
The Birthday House here.
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