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Charles Lambert
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The Slave House (Kindle Single) Kindle Edition

by Charles Lambert (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.4 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
When Simon, a young gay English teacher, goes to work in southern Portugal, he doesn't expect to find a country in the aftermath of a peaceful revolution, nor to have an affair with Elaine, a female colleague. As both the revolution and the love affair turn sour, Simon learns the truth of the words of his friend, Luis: that revolution is an experiment you make with your own body.

Charles Lambert was born in 1953 in England but, apart from brief spells in Ireland, Portugal and London, has lived and worked in Italy since 1976. He is the author of two novels, Little Monsters and Any Human Face, and a collection of prize-winning stories, The Scent of Cinnamon and Other Stories. His new novel, The View from the Tower, and a memoir, With A Zero at its Heart, will be published in early 2014.

'Charles Lambert writes as if his life depends on it. He takes risks at every turn.' - Hannah Tinti
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  1. Print length
    63 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    22 April 2013
  5. File size
    335 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00CHLGYUU
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 22 April 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 335 KB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 63 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer reviews:
    3.4 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

About the author

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Charles Lambert

Charles Lambert

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Charles Lambert was born in England in 1953 but has lived in Italy since 1976. His first novel, Little Monsters, a Good Housekeeping selection, was published in 2008, the same year as The Scent of Cinnamon and Other Stories, the title story an O. Henry Prizewinner. Any Human Face, his second novel was described by the Telegraph as 'a slow-burning, beautifully written crime story that brings to life the Rome that tourists don't see - luckily for them.' The View from the Tower, also set in Rome, appeared in 2012, followed in 2014 by With a Zero at its Heart, one of the Guardian's top ten books of that year.

The Children's Home, a dystopian fantasy, took readers by surprise in 2016 and was followed in 2017 by Two Dark Tales and, in 2018, by Prodigal, which explores what we do to one another in the name of love and was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. The Bone Flower, a Gothic ghost story set in Victorian London, appeared in 2022. His latest novel, Birthright, a psychological thriller, was published in April 2023.

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
18 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers praise the book's excellent prose and find it a compelling read. The pacing receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as intense and immediate.

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Writing qualityPacing
6 customers mention ‘Writing quality’6 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, describing it as excellent prose and a compelling read, with one customer noting it is free from literary affectation.

"...But if you admire excellent prose, a plot that is never predictable and characters that are flawed and real, then yes, give "The Slave House" a go...." Read more

"...A languorous read, confident and engaging." Read more

"...The admirably spare prose, and eye for vivid local detail, firmly anchor his account of the day-to-day emotional lives of the characters in their..." Read more

"...And it's often very funny. A great read, highly recommended." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Pacing’3 positive0 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book engaging, with one describing it as intense and immediate.

"...A languorous read, confident and engaging." Read more

"This short piece is an intense, affecting immersion in recent history...." Read more

"...Such clear and interesting writing. It felt so immediate I was hooked from the start. Lovely stuff!" Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Mary McCluskey
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Young Man's Odyssey
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2013
    Verified Purchase
    A young man's odyssey through the the ex-pat experience in mid-seventies Portugal, not long after the short non-violent revolution. A rather different Portugal from the one visitors to the main tourist areas see today.

    The story is set against a backcloth of political intrigue and personal games playing and the central character, Simon, a young, gay guy with a lot to learn about the world (and about himself) is soon caught up in the cat and mouse games of others.

    Charles Lambert has the ability to bring characters into sharp focus with just a few brush strokes of precision detail: Elaine's hair smells of her cat; Joe Santos bounces on moccasined heels. He keeps the reader firmly anchored in time and place - Sid Vicious dies, Roger Moore is playing Bond, Bowie is still a god.

    Simon is an intriguing character, both brash and vulnerable, and the reader will be curious to see where his journey takes him.

    If you like cosy, comfortable stories with rainbows and romance and happy-ever-after themes, then this one is probably not for you. But if you admire excellent prose, a plot that is never predictable and characters that are flawed and real, then yes, give "The Slave House" a go. You'll be glad you did.
    One person found this helpful
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  • RubySlippers
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sex, booze and kittens
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2013
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    A perfect example of a story being just as long as it needs to be, The Slave House is a pleasingly unflinching portrait of callow youth in the wide world. Simon, the young man looking for adventure in 1970s Portugal, only gradually becomes aware that something politically momentous has recently taken place, but preoccupied with matters of sex and self-discovery he shies away from its import. As he veers between the safety of the familiar and the glamour of the unknown, we are reminded that the political is not only personal, it is physical too, the place we occupy always in the space between others.

    A languorous read, confident and engaging.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Lawrence Pedersen
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Slave House
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 July 2013
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    The Slave House is a short, intimate novel, set in an unglamorous and politically tense Portugal, then painfully divesting itself of fascism. It has many of the virtues that made Charles Lambert's earlier novel, Any Human Face, so memorable. The admirably spare prose, and eye for vivid local detail, firmly anchor his account of the day-to-day emotional lives of the characters in their milieu - that of downmarket foreign language schools, failed construction projects, and flooded cityscapes. The novel charts the experiences of Simon, gay, politically naïve, during his time as an English language teacher, and his relationship with another, politically committed teacher, Elaine, and her circle of Portuguese and expatriate friends. Sex is treated matter-of-factly, unromanticised; the novel as a whole is free from literary affectation. The various elements of the narrative are held in a finely achieved balance, the downbeat mood alleviated by passages of wry humour. Realism needs a shot in the arm these days, and this is just what Charles Lambert richly provides.
    One person found this helpful
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  • eric walker = no my partner ,s read / jacqui ward
    1.0 out of 5 stars the book that does not know if its gay or not yet
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2013
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    i found it completely boring ,and a muddle of a tale with a small sprinkling of bad language that seemed as though it had been put in to try and create a bit of excitement
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  • R. Bayfield
    5.0 out of 5 stars The strange pain of being in history
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 May 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This short piece is an intense, affecting immersion in recent history. Relocating to a Portugal that seems to be reconfiguring itself after an ambiguous revolution, the protagonist's unsettling experiences are a sort of drunken unspooling - compelling as a dream recovered from a partially-forgotten life. For those of us who enjoyed Any Human Face and Little Monsters, The Slave House provides a welcome extra shot from this always-surprising author.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • margery marsh
    1.0 out of 5 stars slve house
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 June 2013
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    found it a sickening waste of pages, hated it, some writings are just fantasy of sick minds, and should stay in their birth pit
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  • Wayne Harper
    5.0 out of 5 stars Completely involving
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2013
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    There's an extraordinary amount of incident and observation packed into these 60 pages - far more than most full-length novels. The framework is the brilliantly rendered consciousness of the protagonist, Simon, who keeps an emotional distance from most of what he sees and experiences directly - he once tellingly grafittied "the unexamined life is the only life worth living" - while he also goes into raptures over a Fragonard painting and cries at the death of Sid Vicious. Further interest in this story is generated by the careful and insightful depiction of a host of minor characters and the effortless creation of Portugal which is poor, dirty and suffering deeply from political schism - to which the protagonist unwittingly contributes - a far cry from Simon's romantic expectations and from "the whole southern European package he's seen in a hundred films". And it's often very funny. A great read, highly recommended.
    One person found this helpful
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  • sally MacLaren
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Political is Personal
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 May 2013
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    A beautifully written novel, neither too long or two short. It will appeal especially to those readers who, like the narrator, spent their self-centred twenties 'working' in a foreign country where they had little real understanding of what was going on around them.
    The portrayal of the main character, who is EFL teaching in Portugal after the so-called revolution in the 1970s, is searingly honest. Simon lurches from bar to bar and from one sexual encounter to another as if in some kind of drunken dream, surrounded by people who are both nightmarish and utterly believable.
    A bitterly comic and compelling read.
    7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • dirdor
    3.0 out of 5 stars Short, which is okay.
    Reviewed in the United States on 30 August 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I didn't learn to look at the length when I bought it. Short is okay, but there is not much point to the story, or maybe there is no story.
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