I’m delighted to be sharing my thoughts about Home by Penny Parkes.
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- Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK (8 July 2021)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 448 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1471180166
- ISBN-13 : 978-1471180163
A gripping and heartfelt story about overcoming the past and finding where you belong.
Anna Wilson travels the world as a professional housesitter – stepping into other people’s lives – caring for their homes, pets and sometimes even neighbours. Living vicariously.
But all Anna has ever really wanted is a home of her own – a proper one, filled with family and love and happy memories. If only she knew where to start.
Growing up in foster care, she always envied her friends their secure and carefree lives, their certainty and confidence. And, while those same friends may have become her family of choice, Anna is still stuck in that nomadic cycle, looking for answers, trying to find the courage to put down roots and find a place to call home.
Compelling, rich and evocative, Home is Anna’s journey to discovering that it isn’t where you settle down that matters, but the people you have around you when you do.
Book Review
Before I say anything anything else, I have to share with you that Anna is the best ‘lost and found’ fictional character I’ve ever read.
I found it easy to identify with her and admired her resilience. I even fell a little bit in love with her.
The format of Anna’s life in 2019 juxtaposed with her childhood and key events are really effective in building the overall picture.
Critical realisations flip us back to Anna growing up, each and every one of those giving me an emotional punch.
Anna’s journey of self-discovery is prompted by something truly terrible that has a negative impact for a while but ultimately is the anchor that forces a change. The floodgates are opened and Anna has no choice really but to move with it when she moves on to Dittisham and Bath and the people she meets there.
The characters she meets keep her moving on her path and one in particular teaches her just as much about life as she teaches them. Her best friend Kate is a solid foundation. Friendship. Such a simple word but multi-layered in action and that’s what’s at the core of Home.
There is something that I didn’t see coming that left me an emotional wreck for a myriad of reasons. I so want to talk about this! but no spoilers. Nothing is ever clear cut is it?
Penny Parkes story-telling and writing style had me from the beginning. I loved the ‘show not tell’ discoveries. She is an author who knows what makes people tick, not afraid to dive deeply into those shadows to find the light.
I loved this quote:
“<snip> she felt like a glass of orange squash, diluted down to a pale imitation of herself.”
There are a few nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the story too:
“A goal without a plan is a wish.”
As Kate’s dad would say 🙂
Home shows us that despite having choices taken away, being overshadowed by others’ perceptions and not feeling as if we belong anywhere, it is possible to find our ‘home’ (not of bricks and mortar). Main caregivers aren’t the only ones who can give unconditional love. It’s possible that there will be others who will love us unconditionally and become our home – if we’re brave enough to let them.
An uplifting and inspiring read that you really don’t want to miss. It’s outstanding.
Penny Parkes survived a Convent education largely thanks to a ready supply of inappropriate novels and her passion for writing and languages.
She studied International Management in Bath and Germany, before gaining experience with the BBC. She then set up an independent Film Location Agency and spent many happy years organising shoots for film, television and advertising – thereby ensuring that she was never short of travel opportunities, freelance writing projects or entertaining anecdotes.
Penny now lives in the Cotswolds with her husband, two children and a geriatric spaniel. She will often be found plotting epic train journeys through the Alps, baking gluten-free goodies or attempting to prove that you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks.
