What do you think?
Rate this book
Coming Home
Spring, 1947. In a few months' time the British flag will be lowered all over India, and with Independence thousands of those who made their lives there - as planters, civil servants, or in the Indian army - will be returning to England. Among those coming home, as everyone speaks of it, are Will and Flo Sutherland, who fell in love at the end of the war. India has been the defining experience of their how will they make a new life now? Sue Gee's new novel is filled with pathos and humour, beautifully evoking an all-but vanished world.
- GenresFiction
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
5 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Sue Gee
23 books38 followersSue Gee was born in India, where her father was an Army officer. She had a her elder brother, Robert, now a retired radiographer living in Spain. She grew up on a Devon farm, and in a village in Leicestershire, before instaled in Surrey in 1960. She lived in north London for 27 years with the journalist Marek Mayer, they had a son, Jamie. She married Mayer in November 2003, less of two years before his death on 23th July 2005. Now, she lived in the town of Hay-on-Wye in the Welsh borders.
Published since 1980, her novel Letters From Prague, was serialised on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Her play, Ancient and Modern, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004, with Juliet Stevenson in the lead role. Her novel The Hours of the Night which received wide critical acclaim and was the controversial winner of the 1997 Romantic Novel of the Year Award, an award she won again in 2004 by her novel Thin Air.
She was Programme Leader for the MA Writing programme at Middlesex University from 2000 to 2008. She is currently reading for a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia. She has been awarded a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship.
Published since 1980, her novel Letters From Prague, was serialised on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Her play, Ancient and Modern, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004, with Juliet Stevenson in the lead role. Her novel The Hours of the Night which received wide critical acclaim and was the controversial winner of the 1997 Romantic Novel of the Year Award, an award she won again in 2004 by her novel Thin Air.
She was Programme Leader for the MA Writing programme at Middlesex University from 2000 to 2008. She is currently reading for a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia. She has been awarded a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 2, 2016
I am so surprised by all the mediocre reviews of what I thought was a very evocative and thoughtfully written book. The story revolves around Flo and Will and their two children returning from India and settling back into life in 1950s England . The characters were well developed...the children especially were poignantly observed in their struggles to fit in and rise above the emotional bankruptcy of their parents... themselves struggling to fit into a society where they felt like misfits. I liked the way the book started with almost a chicklit cosy story which got darker and more troubling as it evolved. Really satisfying read..
August 31, 2013
I found this pedestrian and dull - great subject matter, but heavy-handed in the telling and a laborious read. Also, with an attempt to include 'period' detail, it felt far too heavy and creaking with references to life style elements of the 50's and 60's as if the writer were determined to include as many as she could.
March 25, 2014
Through each chapter, I was always expecting more to happen, something perhaps sinister. I kept wondering, what is this leading too. Unfortunately this book although nicely written is not really Sue Gee's best. Would rather recommend Reading in bed.
October 28, 2019
I was surprised by the negative reviews on here for this book. I enjoyed it - it's light reading, but heavily invested in the culture and doings of the time at which it is set. It is the story of Flo and Will, who met in India but returned to England just before partition as Flo is pregnant and cannot travel much later. They set up home in England, initially on a farm where they have a second child, but the hard labour isn't good for Will's heart and he has to sell up and take a more sedentary job. They then move again as he gets a promotion to suburban Surrey where Flo never really feels at home although they stay until old age. All the while the legacy of India stays with them and shapes their lives.
I'd have to say if you want fast action, or even much action this is probably not the book for you. It is gentle paced and descriptive writing without much happening for long chunks, but I found it strangely satisfying.
I'd have to say if you want fast action, or even much action this is probably not the book for you. It is gentle paced and descriptive writing without much happening for long chunks, but I found it strangely satisfying.
June 16, 2024
A mixed bag here. It’s really quite a dark tale of a couple setting up home in the UK after their initial married life in India, wreathed in sunlight and flowers. Life goes steadily downhill particularly for Flo, the main protagonist, though no one is very happy. There are some shocking events which are simply left to hang in the air.
Reading the GR ‘blurb’ I wonder if this is semi-autobiographical.
Reading the GR ‘blurb’ I wonder if this is semi-autobiographical.
December 5, 2024
This book suffered in the wake of Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Cazzalet Chronicles. Hoping for a little of more of the same. I've read Sue Gee before sadly here the writing, experience and the family just didn't measure up. I skim read the last 2/3 of the book.
July 3, 2020
A melancholic family saga with a darker heart then one might think at first. Pity that darker side isn't explored more. Pleasant lockdown read.
October 24, 2020
A story of a family who in many ways are quite ordinary, but told in such a way that makes the reader keep turning the pages. A nice comfort read.
April 1, 2021
Beautifully wrought, loved it
May 25, 2021
A take on India pre independence and of a family coming home post independence. The book travels from the 1940s to the 2000s and provides view of that period and the changes takng place. Audiobook.
December 13, 2021
COmpelling family story. Perceptive and thought provoking. No big events or murders but an engaging story of a family from 1947 to 2009.
July 18, 2018
Reading this book was a long hard slog. The end was a long time coming.
November 16, 2014
Last spring, not long after I had read The Fishing Fleet and Old Filth, I heard Sue Gee speak about this book at a literary luncheon. Colonials coming back to post-war Britain, a book inspired by the author's own parents and their reminiscences . . . yes, please . . . right up my alley.
I saved it to read at my mother's house, mostly because I knew she would probably enjoy it, too -- and she did. But it is a mixed-bag of a book, full of clipped (and sometimes truncated) narration. The plot, as such, doesn't entirely hang together. It's more like a series of snapshots of family life.
The parents in the book are of a type that seem old-fashioned and out of step -- even in their own time. As she gets older, the daughter in the novel understands them as never quite fitting in. Colonial India doesn't really feature much in the book, only in the sense that it is an ideal (for the parents) and their stories and most beloved artefacts all seem to come from there. The whole point is that they were in their element in India, and never really seem to find that equilibrium again. The mother, in particular, is a sad character; charming and kind, but also rather inept and fragile. The idea of a lost Eden plays out more than once. The father must give up farming, because it is too much of a strain on his health. Later, they must leave a beloved village because of the father's promotion. Each move is felt keenly as an emotional loss. The most profound emotional trauma is when the younger brother is sent to boarding school at 8, and somehow forms the notion that he doesn't really belong to his family. The theme of displacement, and the attached emotional trauma, plays out over and over.
I'm sure this book was poignant to write; it is definitely poignant to read. If you like family stories of the peculiarly English sort -- and the atmosphere of post-war Britain appeals to you -- it is a worthwhile read.
I saved it to read at my mother's house, mostly because I knew she would probably enjoy it, too -- and she did. But it is a mixed-bag of a book, full of clipped (and sometimes truncated) narration. The plot, as such, doesn't entirely hang together. It's more like a series of snapshots of family life.
The parents in the book are of a type that seem old-fashioned and out of step -- even in their own time. As she gets older, the daughter in the novel understands them as never quite fitting in. Colonial India doesn't really feature much in the book, only in the sense that it is an ideal (for the parents) and their stories and most beloved artefacts all seem to come from there. The whole point is that they were in their element in India, and never really seem to find that equilibrium again. The mother, in particular, is a sad character; charming and kind, but also rather inept and fragile. The idea of a lost Eden plays out more than once. The father must give up farming, because it is too much of a strain on his health. Later, they must leave a beloved village because of the father's promotion. Each move is felt keenly as an emotional loss. The most profound emotional trauma is when the younger brother is sent to boarding school at 8, and somehow forms the notion that he doesn't really belong to his family. The theme of displacement, and the attached emotional trauma, plays out over and over.
I'm sure this book was poignant to write; it is definitely poignant to read. If you like family stories of the peculiarly English sort -- and the atmosphere of post-war Britain appeals to you -- it is a worthwhile read.
September 24, 2015
The blurb on this book SHOULD have read, "the story of a young couple living ordinary lives in post war Britain".
Instead, the blurb, and the opening chapter, are about the couple's first few months together in India. I knew they were heading back to the UK, but I assumed there would be flashbacks to their Indian sojourn, or they'd end up returning there at some point - cue exotic locations and colourful characters. Or perhaps their Indian experience would have a major impact on how they cope with life in grey old England, adding some interesting psychological "meat" to the story.
None of those things happened. In fact, nothing much happened at all! I found myself reading a humdrum account of a couple setting up home, having babies, going through health challenges, moving house, etc etc. VERY occasionally, one of them would think of India - but those references could've been omitted without affecting the story.
In fact the whole Indian backstory could've been deleted from the novel and no one would've noticed. That made me feel it was tacked-on in a blatant attempt to make an ordinary story of everyday life more interesting. Which was silly, because there ARE people who like quiet domestic dramas, who would doubtless give this a good review - so why attract people who don't like that kind of novel (like me)? It's just inviting negative reactions!
Instead, the blurb, and the opening chapter, are about the couple's first few months together in India. I knew they were heading back to the UK, but I assumed there would be flashbacks to their Indian sojourn, or they'd end up returning there at some point - cue exotic locations and colourful characters. Or perhaps their Indian experience would have a major impact on how they cope with life in grey old England, adding some interesting psychological "meat" to the story.
None of those things happened. In fact, nothing much happened at all! I found myself reading a humdrum account of a couple setting up home, having babies, going through health challenges, moving house, etc etc. VERY occasionally, one of them would think of India - but those references could've been omitted without affecting the story.
In fact the whole Indian backstory could've been deleted from the novel and no one would've noticed. That made me feel it was tacked-on in a blatant attempt to make an ordinary story of everyday life more interesting. Which was silly, because there ARE people who like quiet domestic dramas, who would doubtless give this a good review - so why attract people who don't like that kind of novel (like me)? It's just inviting negative reactions!
June 27, 2014
A copy of this book was received via Goodreads Giveaways.
Will and Flo Sutherland, met and married whilst in India post WW2.
The British are leaving India and the couple return to England. Now with 2 children Will realises his dream to own his farm, however life on a farm does not met with Flo’s expectations.
Life events lead them to give up the farm and Will seeks employment while Flo decides to ‘write a book’ about her life in India.
The story progresses through the 1950’s and 1960’s following the family’s trials and tribulations.
This book was a total disappointment. There is a lot of detail relevant to this time era however there is a total lack of substance, depth and emotion in the telling. Events described are shallow with minimal explanation and are quickly discarded only mentioned briefly throughout the story.
I was brought up in this time era and was looking forward to reading this story, the only fond memories it evoked was fish fingers and Dansette record players.
Reading this was a 'hard slog' only persisting in the hope that I would be enlightened. I was not!
Will and Flo Sutherland, met and married whilst in India post WW2.
The British are leaving India and the couple return to England. Now with 2 children Will realises his dream to own his farm, however life on a farm does not met with Flo’s expectations.
Life events lead them to give up the farm and Will seeks employment while Flo decides to ‘write a book’ about her life in India.
The story progresses through the 1950’s and 1960’s following the family’s trials and tribulations.
This book was a total disappointment. There is a lot of detail relevant to this time era however there is a total lack of substance, depth and emotion in the telling. Events described are shallow with minimal explanation and are quickly discarded only mentioned briefly throughout the story.
I was brought up in this time era and was looking forward to reading this story, the only fond memories it evoked was fish fingers and Dansette record players.
Reading this was a 'hard slog' only persisting in the hope that I would be enlightened. I was not!
February 6, 2017
Disheartening, but realistic I guess. Loving couple marry in India and come home to England and have to deal with the small --and sometimes not so so small--crises of family life and just keep on keeping on. I kept thinking "Is this all there is?" The last scene --the daughter going through her mother's writings and souvenirs of India and asking herself "What am I going to do with all this stuff?" --was depressingly familiar.
Read
October 1, 2014Awful. By page 16 I was wondering why I was bothering, by page 20 I had given up. Twee, irritating chic lit - the only reason I read to page 20 was it was my book group choice and I felt I had to give it a chance. That being said, most of the other people at my book group enjoyed it so maybe it is just me.......!
August 26, 2014
Wonderfully evocative of an era that coincides with my own memories of childhood and young adulthood. The story is a bit thin but the way it captures disturbing attitudes and the whole flavour of the fifties and sixties is its strength and more than compensates for the lack of excitement. After all, this was a time when excitement was quite a rare thing, especially in a rural setting!
June 28, 2015
I enjoyed this book as an undemanding read. It deals with issues of change, loss, family relationships and touches on mental health issues. It does not go deep below the surface but the author describes quite well the ability of the parents to turn a blind eye to the difficulties their children were experiencing, and to be oblivious to the distress this caused.
June 27, 2014
Story following the lives of the Sutherland family over about 30 years. The story is nice enough but perhaps a little uneventful and overly long. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book...A First Reads book.
December 16, 2013
Far too "sweet" for me. Contrived and predictable. A disappointment.
January 7, 2015
More a three and a half, not a bad book but just a bit to rambling for me and really not much of a story.
March 17, 2016
Negligible. I could not get past p. 51.
June 1, 2016
with a few changes this could have been me with my family so it gets a five
August 12, 2016
I really liked this book and will read more Sue Gee.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews