Going Home: A Novel of Boys, Mistakes, and Second Chances

by Tom Lamont Narrated by Jot Davies

Overview

A funny, achingly sad, sneakily wise story of family and what happens when three men-all of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhood-take charge of a toddler following his mother's sudden death.

Boy-made-good Téo Erskine is back in the north London suburb of his youth, visiting his father-stubborn, selfish, complicated Vic. Things have changed for Téo: he's got a steady job, a brand-new car and a London flat all concrete and glass, with a sliver of a river view.

Except, underneath the surface, not much has changed at all. He's still the boy seeking his father's approval; still the young man playing late-night poker with his best friend, unreliable, infuriating Ben Mossam; still the one desperately in love with the enigmatic Lia.

Lia's life, on the other hand, has been transformed: now a single mother to two-year-old Joel, she doesn't have time for anyone-not even herself.

When the unthinkable happens, Teo, Vic and Ben-a strange constellation of men-rally around the toddler. None of them are fully equipped to look after him, but their strange, tentative attempts at love might just be enough to offer him a new place to call home.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

It’s rare to read something that captures with such unsentimentality a child’s range, their rapidly shifting obsessions, the quiddities of their language, their cunning wiles....Joel...is fully singular, tightly observed....[Going Home] has the kind of plot that feels fine tuned and long thought out....Weather systems, from a child’s tantrum to a passing burst of rain, are logged in sprightly, unexpected language briskly evading cliché....I’ve read Going Home twice now and I still don’t feel as if I’ve tapped its power. Children seem to be more alive than adults, keener, less jaded, and this novel feels the same, pepped up and gorgeous, just bristling with life.”
—Olivia Laing, The Guardian

“I will never forget these characters: so pained and funny, so brilliantly drawn, wrestled with and forgiven.”                                                                                                                                                —Helen Garner, author of This House of Grief

“A remarkably assured, moving, melancholy and funny debut.”                                       
—John Banville, bestselling author of The Lock-Up

“Going Home is a poignant yet funny novel about three men taking turns at shouldering responsibility and shrugging it off, at worrying and causing worry, at giving care and needing it. Tom Lamont writes in clear, swift prose about the power struggles that exist in even the most living of families and the longest of friendships. A lyrical, hypnotic delight.”                                                       
—Katherine Heiny, author of Games and Rituals

"A meltingly warm comedy."                                                                                    
—The Observer, "Top 10 best debut novelists of 2024"

“A debut which skilfully and tenderly explores male relationships, belonging and what we leave behind. I adored every moment. The characters have stayed with me ever since.”              
—Bella Mackie, author of How to Kill Your Family

“Bittersweet, funny and moving, GOING HOME is all this but also has a bright ring of truth which chimes on every page.”                                                                                       
—Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

“This poignant, immersive and finely observed novel”                                                    
—The Bookseller, "Editor’s Choice"

“Deftly written, GOING HOME is one of the best debuts I’ve read in a long time. Joel and Téo crept into my heart and I did not want to let them go. Lamont’s impressive skill as a writer spills out of every page.”
—Anne Griffin, author of The Island of Longing

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192502150
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	01/14/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged