Homecoming

Apr 18

Homecoming by Luan Goldie
Reviewed by Linda
📕📕📕📕

You all know by now that books that have the ability to transport me far away are the ones I hold dear (now more than ever). Spanning across two decades and traversing opposite ends of the globe from London to Kenya, we are invested in a heartwarming coming of age novel centred around Kiama.
We meet Kiama at 18, reaching out to his late mother's childhood friend, Yvonne. Much of his mother's past lies in Kenya but at this point we're not sure why this came to be or why there's some trepidation between Yvonne and Kiama or why there's so much tension between when Kiama's father is added into the mix. Luan builds this up perfectly and I just had to find out so I am not ashamed to say that I read this in one whole sitting!

There is heartbreak with a fair share of humour too and as Kiama traces his mother's footsteps in Kenya and in turn, his own heritage. But what I enjoyed most was Kiama's evolving relationship with his father. Luan explores this father-son relationship in detail and as we watch Kiama evolve we also watch his father embark on a journey of self-discovery.

LindaFictionhomecomingluan goldiehq storieswomen writerswriters of colour

Linda Malek

I've always had the urge to set up a forum and voice my thoughts after each read, but never had the confidence to do so alone. 18 months ago, I got my fellow book-loving friends involved and formed The Candid Book Club! Aside from having an exponentially growing to-read pile and deteriorating shortsightedness, we've been lucky to have been invited to publisher events and have attended several talks with our favourite authors (Thank you and long may they continue!) To take a break from the pressures of PhD Chemistry, Jess and I exchanged books all the time and in my youth, I was that kid with the first editions of Harry Potter having already read Gulliver’s travels and some Charles Dickens. At work, my desk is a library and luckily for me I sit next to another bookworm Jack who entertains all the photo-taking. I'm suffering from a chronic case of wanderlust (age-related crisis) so books which are set as far away from home as possible tend to float my boat: Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Asia...you name it. But if it's got anything to do with Egypt then I'm all over it. So you get the drift...I read all the time, everywhere (on the tube mostly), everyday, a book a week, and very quickly I'm onto the next! And then sometimes there is a book that stops me in my tracks, makes me want to swallow the pages whole, and have it next to me at all times, with some sentences staying with me forever: Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts, anything by Khaled Hosseini, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo (absolute gem of a woman), A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shuklaand and anything by Naguib Mahfouz.

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