A heart-breaking account of a young girl’s experience growing up in a Catholic orphanage in 1950s Ireland, THE HOUSE CHILDREN follows the life of Mary Margaret who grows up not knowing her family, her origin or her purpose. Raised by nuns, she searches for a place to belong while trying to avoid the inherent dangers of institutional living. The story reads a bit like a diary, revealing the character’s experiences in small fragments at a time. Some parts of the story left me wanting more - more details, more emotions, more of the aftershocks of certain events - but overall I enjoyed the read. Recommended for those who love historical fiction, specifically Ireland; orphans; underdogs; and young heroines.

Story of a young girl, born out of wedlock, and raised in an industrial school in Ireland in the 40’s.

The House of Children has the air of a classic, it explores immortal themes such as family, identity, wanting to belong.

The story is set in the 1930s. Our protagonist, Mary Margaret Joyce was born at the Tuam Home in Ireland. She spent her life either in foster care or in the industrial boarding school. She was abandoned by her mother and she doesn't know a single thing about her family and why her mother left her.

In the industrial school, she gets the nickname Peg. We follow Peg's every day's life and struggles. The beginning of the novel was slow and uninteresting to me.

Not only her life takes a turn, but also the story starts being more interesting when Peg is asked to spend the holidays with a family. She doesn't know why that particular family took interest in her, but she loves them nonetheless.

As she starts to grow up, she discovers the truth about her mother and the reason why she was abandoned.

The ending of the book was as dull as the beginning. All of the excitement was depleted in the middle part of the book.

Considering that this is based on real events, I understand why the story was such as it was.

The writing style was beautiful and easy to follow.

The audiobook narrator was perfect.

Many thanks to Netgalley and OrangeSky Audio for providing me the audiobook of the House Children in exchange for an honest review.

I was hoping for good things from this, but it's too jumpy and disjointed for me. Time passes at very odd intervals with only the slightest mention. People come and go without being noticed. The story itself is good, but it's just difficult to follow, sadly.


Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. There were times when it felt a little repetitive, but the time moved quickly throughout the book so it never felt slow. I’m not much for historical fiction, but if this book was based on real societal norms and law for that time (which I believe it is), then I really liked learning about a different time and culture.
It’s a quick, easy read. It was a page-turner and I couldn’t wait for Peg to put 2 & 2 together. I think it was well written and I will consider reading other books from this author.

Once I was able to get a grasp on how the date/time jumped around a bit in the book I found it to be a very compellingly beautiful story! It was definitely a page-turner from beginning to end and a book that made me feel ALL the emotions. I loved how the book started off so dark and hopeless and grew to something full of hope. For me I love books like that where a hopeless situation is turned on its head and becomes one full of hope and joy.



I was given a copy to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

did a deep dive on the tuam home after reading this

The House Children by Heidi Daniele is an interesting novel set in 1937-1952 Ireland. During this time, children of unwed mothers were taken at birth and placed into homes. They were shamed for being illegitimate all of their lives. At the age of 5, Mary Margaret Joyce is sentenced to an industrial school run by nuns where her name is changed to Peg because they have too many Mary’s in the home. The home has over 100 children born out of wedlock and their days are rigid with prayer, chores, and studying. Peg acclimates to this new routine but doesn’t understand why she is there and grows not understanding why she was abandoned by her mother. The one thing that she looks forward to is an annual summer holiday with a family in Galway who she often wishes would keep her as their daughter.

I didn’t know about Industrial schools or this way of hiding the illegitimate children of Irish Catholic unwed mothers. The treatment of these women and their children was dreadful and there were no repercussions for the men who fathered the children. I noticed that the book was labeled a Mystery/Thriller so I was expecting something different. I don’t think there was a mystery other than who her mother was. Overall, I enjoyed this book but I felt like it ended and I still wanted to know much more about Peg and her life.

Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for the opportunity to read and review this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.