Going Home
One of the Observer's Debut Novels of 2024
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3.4 • 5 Ratings
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
A best book of the year for the Guardian, Economist and Daily Express
An Observer debut of the year
'Exceptionally touching . . . A terrific reminder that what binds us to our loved ones isn't blood but the care we take to keep them close, and our ability to show up for them when we screw it up on the first go-round'
NEW YORK TIMES
'Gently comic, bittersweet'
GUARDIAN, Books of the year
'A poignant and generous story'
TESSA HADLEY, DAILY EXPRESS Books of the Year
'In an unsentimental evocation of fatherhood and male friendship, this novel explores the glory and sacrifice involved in learning to love'
ECONOMIST, Books of the year
'Pepped up and gorgeous, just bristling with life'
OLIVIA LAING, GUARDIAN
'Brilliantly observed'
NEW YORKER
'A beautiful, funny tale of lives new and old'
SUNDAY TIMES
'I loved it . . . word-perfect'
INDIA KNIGHT
'A spirit-lifting debut'
DAVID MITCHELL
'I adored every moment. The characters have stayed with me ever since'
BELLA MACKIE
Téo Erskine might have a steady job and a brand-new London flat, but underneath the surface, he's still the boy seeking approval from his father, Vic; the young man playing late-night poker with his best friend, Ben; the one still in love with the enigmatic Lia, now a single mum to a young boy, Joel.
When the unthinkable happens, two-year-old Joel finds himself at the centre of this odd constellation of men - Téo, Vic, Ben. None of them is fully equipped to look after him, but their tentative attempts at love might just be enough to offer him a new place to call home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A man finds himself caring for his deceased friend's toddler in Lamont's affecting debut. Téo Erskine, 30, holds a steady job in London, where he lives alone, and spends one weekend a month visiting his widowed father, Vic, and fellow Jewish friends Ben Mossam, a wealthy playboy, and Lia Woods, a single mother, in the northern suburb where he grew up. One Friday night at the local pub, Téo, who has a crush on Lia, agrees to babysit her two-year-old son, Joel, the next day. He brings the boy to Vic's house, and after Lia fails to answer his texts, Téo learns that she has died by suicide. The Erskines are then visited by a team of social workers, who ask Téo and Vic to keep Joel there for a few months until they can track down his father. Téo goes on leave from work and the men adjust with the help of Ben, who buys Joel a trampoline; and Sibyl Challis, a new rabbi, who takes Joel for walks. Before the social workers return, Téo is shocked by a startling revelation. Though the story takes a while to gel, Lamont offers a textured view of Téo's family and Jewish community, and he keeps the reader invested as the characters adjust to Lia's death and attempt to figure out Joel's future. Readers will be hooked.
