Having been orphaned as a child, Ruth feels isolated and alone in the oppressive, close-knit Cleary family, and her husband seems unaware of her discomfort.

On an impulse, Patrick buys a cottage near his parents' isolated manor house and sells the apartment his wife has made her home.

The Little House, a contemporary psychological thriller, was a departure from Gregory's historical novels "of tightly laced corsets, the corrugated lace of magnificently decorative ruffs, cunning plots and manipulative manoeuvres in the dangerous arena of Tudor politics"[1] The Little House was adapted for television in 2010 by Ed Whitmore as a two-part drama starring Francesca Annis and Lucy Griffiths.

Brian Viner of The Independent praised it, saying "a top notch cast, a decent script and clever moody direction make The Little House highly watchable.

"[2] Sam Wollaston of The Guardian wrote, “I knew pretty much exactly where [it] was heading…Yet it still managed to be creepy,” while Andrew Billen of The Times said, “It’s so silly it should have been shown on Hallowe’en.”[2]