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Home by Another Way: Notes from the Caribbean
A lovely Caribbean island and its people awaken in author Robert Benson a sense of place and home. The islanders’ warmth and welcome prompt a new understanding of ideas of beauty, community and spiritual belonging. “We live in a world where such welcome and gentleness and civility are increasingly rare. Most of the conversation between strangers is terse and quick and far too often, it is cold and rude. It can even be that way, more often than we care to admit, among people who are not strangers. And such is the way of the world that we live in that we are almost stunned by welcome whenever it breaks out around us, and we are certainly drawn to the people and to the places where we find such welcome in abundance.”
- GenresNonfictionMemoirTravel
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 18, 2006
26 people want to read
About the author
Robert Benson
93 books34 followersRobert Benson has written more than a dozen books about discovering the Holy in the midst of our everyday lives. He is a lifelong churchman, a graduate of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, a member of the Friends of Silence and of the Poor, and has been named a Living Spiritual Teacher by Spirituality and Practice. Benson lives and writes, pays attention and offers prayers at his home in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 21, 2018
This is a really sweet little book about island living, island time, island food, island sunsets.... What's not to like?
December 16, 2022
Physical book
This was a sweet, relaxing read. I'm glad I read the afterward, I was wondering if he wasn't driving tons of traffic to his paradise.
This was a sweet, relaxing read. I'm glad I read the afterward, I was wondering if he wasn't driving tons of traffic to his paradise.
February 7, 2025
light read, which is good if that's what youre feeling. I was kinna ready to be done it before the end tho.
August 11, 2010
This is the story of how Benson and his wife fell in love with a small Caribbean island and adopted it as their second home. I am a huge fan of travel books, so I couldn't really go wrong with this one. It met all my requirements for a good travel book: it let's you stay in one place long enough to become familiar with it, it was written by someone who wasn't arrogant enough to think this foreign place should adapt itself to them, and the descriptions were vivid enough that I can close my eyes and be there. I have developed these requirements over time with the reading of some really bad travel books.
The Caribbean setting was a huge plus for me because I've been there and remember the sounds and smells of the islands. The Island under discussion is St. Cecelia, which the author admits is not it's real name, but one made up to keep his favorite island from becoming too popular. From what he says though, I suspect I know the real name of that island because it all sounds so familiar and some of the landscape is just too similar to be coincidence. It made me feel a little homesick. Not that I spent that much time there, but the place get's under your skin quickly. I probably will never set foot on that particular piece of the earth again, but I will always be wishing I could.
I like Benson's writing. He has a simple, straightforward style that doesn't ask much of the reader, which can be a very nice change. All you have to do is show up and gratefully go along for the ride. I haven't read his other books, but this one is restful, gentle, calm. He has a quiet dry humour that I love and an understated way of saying things that is most appealing. I read the book in just a couple of evenings and was a little sorry to see it end. I wasn't ready to come home yet.
In addition to writing about the island , the authour tells us about himself and his wife, their relationship and how they spend their time. It's about the lives they live when they're on the island though; we only get glimpses of his "real" life in the U.S. I was glad of that because I wanted more of the island than anything else. My wishing there was less about them and more about St. Cecilia does not indicate any flaw in the book. The book is exactly what it was meant to be, the story of their lives on the island. I'm just a little too greedy for the Caribbean.
I think I'll look for a copy of this book for myself; the one I read was borrowed. I'd like to read it again, and maybe again. It may not be great literature - thank goodness there are books that aren't - but it is a quiet, enjoyable book that nicely fed my travel addiction. I recommend it to anyone looking for some light escapism.
The Caribbean setting was a huge plus for me because I've been there and remember the sounds and smells of the islands. The Island under discussion is St. Cecelia, which the author admits is not it's real name, but one made up to keep his favorite island from becoming too popular. From what he says though, I suspect I know the real name of that island because it all sounds so familiar and some of the landscape is just too similar to be coincidence. It made me feel a little homesick. Not that I spent that much time there, but the place get's under your skin quickly. I probably will never set foot on that particular piece of the earth again, but I will always be wishing I could.
I like Benson's writing. He has a simple, straightforward style that doesn't ask much of the reader, which can be a very nice change. All you have to do is show up and gratefully go along for the ride. I haven't read his other books, but this one is restful, gentle, calm. He has a quiet dry humour that I love and an understated way of saying things that is most appealing. I read the book in just a couple of evenings and was a little sorry to see it end. I wasn't ready to come home yet.
In addition to writing about the island , the authour tells us about himself and his wife, their relationship and how they spend their time. It's about the lives they live when they're on the island though; we only get glimpses of his "real" life in the U.S. I was glad of that because I wanted more of the island than anything else. My wishing there was less about them and more about St. Cecilia does not indicate any flaw in the book. The book is exactly what it was meant to be, the story of their lives on the island. I'm just a little too greedy for the Caribbean.
I think I'll look for a copy of this book for myself; the one I read was borrowed. I'd like to read it again, and maybe again. It may not be great literature - thank goodness there are books that aren't - but it is a quiet, enjoyable book that nicely fed my travel addiction. I recommend it to anyone looking for some light escapism.
September 25, 2016
You know how books will sometimes meet you where you are at just the right moment? That's what "Home by Another Way" did for me. Benson writes about the tropics with a passion much like Hemingway and caused me to feel as if I was standing beside him on St. Cecilia island. It's not winter yet, but the changing season makes this one a perfect addition for your next trip.
September 13, 2015
Heart-warming snippets of the author's true-life annual excursions to a Caribbean island with his wife. It's a fun travel memoir with some Benson-insights-into-life mixed in. I particularly enjoyed his descriptions of the rhythms of island life, and their differences with the rhythms of everyday life. Although I might not enjoy an annual month-long island getaway, I was inspired to look for ways to carve out some "island time" in my own life. Only the names were changed to protect his beloved island from becoming overrun by the rest of us!
August 13, 2011
This is not your typical "spiritual" Benson, but he is certainly dead on with his observations about everyday life. His travels to the island of St. Cecilia help us define what exactly "home" means for us and our families. While I was hoping for something a little deeper at times, it was a relaxing and enjoyable read, and one that makes you evaluate your daily routines of life and how you spend time with the ones you love.
June 16, 2009
this was a great read for the beach. He has such a refreshing outlook on life.
January 11, 2017
A sweet book about a couple who discover what it means to be home.
March 9, 2013
I loved this easy breezy beach read! A perfect read for the gray winter Michigan weather.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews