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Homesick
A stunning debut novel about an extended Sri Lankan family - a kaleidoscopic view of contemporary immigrant life, by turns darkly funny, sad, poignant, and uproariously beautiful.
From the winner of the 2009 Impress Prize for New Writers (U.K.) and finalist for the Sunday Times Short Story Award, a stunning debut novel about an extended Sri Lankan family - a kaleidoscopic view of contemporary immigrant life, by turns darkly funny, sad, poignant, and uproariously beautiful.
It's New Year's Eve 1982. At Victor and Nandini's home in southeast London, the family and their friends gather to ring in the new year. Whiskey and arrack have been poured, poppadoms are freshly fried, and baila music is on the stereo. Upstairs, the teenagers have gathered around the television to watch The Godfather again while drinking pilfered wine. Moving back and forth in time, from the 1970s to the present day, and from London to Sri Lanka and back again, we follow Victor and Nandini's children: Rohan, Gehan, and in particular dyslexic Preethi - funny, brash, and ultimately fragile. We also meet troubled Lolly and her beautiful sister Deirdre; wonderful Auntie Gertie; and terrible Kumar, whose dark deed will haunt the family.
From the winner of the 2009 Impress Prize for New Writers (U.K.) and finalist for the Sunday Times Short Story Award, a stunning debut novel about an extended Sri Lankan family - a kaleidoscopic view of contemporary immigrant life, by turns darkly funny, sad, poignant, and uproariously beautiful.
It's New Year's Eve 1982. At Victor and Nandini's home in southeast London, the family and their friends gather to ring in the new year. Whiskey and arrack have been poured, poppadoms are freshly fried, and baila music is on the stereo. Upstairs, the teenagers have gathered around the television to watch The Godfather again while drinking pilfered wine. Moving back and forth in time, from the 1970s to the present day, and from London to Sri Lanka and back again, we follow Victor and Nandini's children: Rohan, Gehan, and in particular dyslexic Preethi - funny, brash, and ultimately fragile. We also meet troubled Lolly and her beautiful sister Deirdre; wonderful Auntie Gertie; and terrible Kumar, whose dark deed will haunt the family.
202 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
Roshi Fernando
4 books6 followersRoshi Fernando grew up in southeast London and received her Ph.D. in creative writing from Swansea University. She was a finalist for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award in 2011. She lives in the Cotswolds with her family
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 16, 2012
I wanted to love this book. A friend recommended this, knowing I eat up everything Sri Lankan. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. There were whole sections where I felt yes-yes-yes! Ms. Fernando captured the unexpected, the casual defilement of innocence, the inexplicable sense of being caught "between", the moving depictions of characters. Ms. Fernando knows how to write character.
But often I found myself lost. Perhaps this reflects more on me as reader than on Ms. Fernando as writer. The strands were too frayed to really be tied together convincingly. Some of the sections read more like short stories than as part of a contiguous novel. The language often lapsed into the banal or just abrupt.
However, I'm looking forward to reading her next book.
But often I found myself lost. Perhaps this reflects more on me as reader than on Ms. Fernando as writer. The strands were too frayed to really be tied together convincingly. Some of the sections read more like short stories than as part of a contiguous novel. The language often lapsed into the banal or just abrupt.
However, I'm looking forward to reading her next book.
November 17, 2020
This one sat on my TBR for a while, as frankly I suspected DNF potential from looking through it. Well... it came in just short of that.
Not so much a novel as a series of inter-connected stories after we meet the characters at the New Years party setting of the first chapter. Don't know if it was me, or the specific arrangement of the material, but I became less and less interested the more I read. By about two-thirds of the way through I began skimming my way towards the end of the book. There are a few solid entries in this collection, but a fair amount of "Ho Hum, do I really care? Nah!" A couple of them seemed so out of place that I DNF'ed straight to the next chapter.
A disclaimer that I'm not an avid short story reader, so some of this discontent was on me. Just wish the chapters had been more consistently engaging.
Not so much a novel as a series of inter-connected stories after we meet the characters at the New Years party setting of the first chapter. Don't know if it was me, or the specific arrangement of the material, but I became less and less interested the more I read. By about two-thirds of the way through I began skimming my way towards the end of the book. There are a few solid entries in this collection, but a fair amount of "Ho Hum, do I really care? Nah!" A couple of them seemed so out of place that I DNF'ed straight to the next chapter.
A disclaimer that I'm not an avid short story reader, so some of this discontent was on me. Just wish the chapters had been more consistently engaging.
July 3, 2012
Homesick reads more like a collection of short stories that are tied together by one central family, Preethi's family. The chapters tell the story of a different character, with multiple chapters told from Preethi's point of view. Stories range from a wedding, would be terrorist, a rocky marriage, father trying to connect with his son, etc. Of course, that doesn't begin to describe the true stories that are being told in these chapters.
I was selected to receive an advanced copy of Homesick to read and review. I'll admit, when I first read the description of this book, it only sounded moderately interesting. I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. There are some words I had to look up because I had no idea what they were- arrack, poppadoms- and sometimes I had a difficult time figuring out how the character of a certain chapter was related to the central character, Preethi. Once I gave up on the latter, I enjoyed the book tremendously. Towards the end you figure most of them out.
The underlying theme of all the stories is one of belonging, although it is sometimes subtle and not the obvious or predominant issue. Fernando's subtlety is one of the things I enjoyed so much about the book. While it is supposed to be about Sri Lankan immigrants, most of the time I don't even sense that. Some of the situations are universal and I can relate to them. Even if the sense of not fitting in is cultural for the characters of the book, anyone could easily substitute it for some other personal aspect that makes him or her feel like an outsider. Indeed in one of the chapters a couple is at a company Christmas party and one of the reasons the wife feels like an outsider is because it is her husband who works at the company.
In my opinion, the writing is phenomenal. I was reading along and then a sentence or paragraph stopped me in my tracks. I would go back and read it again because it felt so profound or beautiful. For example, at the very beginning: "Victor looks at her across the party, and a tenderness for her erupts from him, and to his embarrassment and surprise, he imagines their warmth in the dark, the smell of her neck, the soft flabby skin of her stomach, crushed and stretched and worn. And he sees around her a glow of pink and mauve, which takes his breath away." Besides the fact that there are so many different emotions artfully packed into these two sentences, for me, the overriding beauty lies in something else. This is after the couple has been married for many years and his wife has had their children. The fact that he finds her stomach attractive although it is stretched and worn is just so beautiful. As a mother, I immediately understood what that meant and I loved Victor for it.
Another aspect of the book that I found extremely effective was that Fernando briefly jumps into the future, giving us a little glimpse of how everything turns out while at the same time sparking our curiosity by planting even more questions-
"It was this photograph- the one she had specifically asked her parents not to be taken, the one where Ian's synthetic laughter screwed up his features and combined with her simple yet meaningful smile- it was this photograph that was to become everyone's favourite. It would be the photograph that filled an antique silver frame at Longacre, Ian's family home; it would be hung in a dark room; and indeed, in their own Clapham castle it would sit on a mantelpiece, dutifully dusted for the eighteen years they were married. Nil walked past it most mornings of her married life and did not register it, because if she did, out of the corner of her eye, she would see the tiny patch of red at the bottom corner of the picture, the sale sticker on the bottom of her right shoe, and she would remember the things she had left undone in her life, the things she had simply, carelessly forgotten."
Why were they only married for eighteen years? What had she forgotten? Was that what broke up their marriage? Was one of them unfaithful? Did one of them die? While the issue of this chapter is resolved, it simply opens up a whole set of other issues that you know are going to have to be dealt with in the future. The book left me with so many loose ends and me antsy for the answers... sort of like life.
It may sound like boring life stories but I was surprised at how quickly I was sucked into them. I cared about the characters. I didn't want to put the book down because I had to know what happened to them. I found myself relieved, heartbroken, and so much more. At many parts I was actually teary eyed for different reasons- sorrow, beauty, relief. It is a book that I will go back and read again, underlining the quotes that seem to speak to me personally. I could have easily continued describing this book for pages because there is so much more that I have not even touched here. Homesick is a moving book that draws out a myriad of emotions and I have already recommended it to several people. I hope you consider this your recommendation that convinces you to give the book a try; I think you will find it well worth your time and like me, will eagerly await Roshi Fernando's next literary work.
I was selected to receive an advanced copy of Homesick to read and review. I'll admit, when I first read the description of this book, it only sounded moderately interesting. I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. There are some words I had to look up because I had no idea what they were- arrack, poppadoms- and sometimes I had a difficult time figuring out how the character of a certain chapter was related to the central character, Preethi. Once I gave up on the latter, I enjoyed the book tremendously. Towards the end you figure most of them out.
The underlying theme of all the stories is one of belonging, although it is sometimes subtle and not the obvious or predominant issue. Fernando's subtlety is one of the things I enjoyed so much about the book. While it is supposed to be about Sri Lankan immigrants, most of the time I don't even sense that. Some of the situations are universal and I can relate to them. Even if the sense of not fitting in is cultural for the characters of the book, anyone could easily substitute it for some other personal aspect that makes him or her feel like an outsider. Indeed in one of the chapters a couple is at a company Christmas party and one of the reasons the wife feels like an outsider is because it is her husband who works at the company.
In my opinion, the writing is phenomenal. I was reading along and then a sentence or paragraph stopped me in my tracks. I would go back and read it again because it felt so profound or beautiful. For example, at the very beginning: "Victor looks at her across the party, and a tenderness for her erupts from him, and to his embarrassment and surprise, he imagines their warmth in the dark, the smell of her neck, the soft flabby skin of her stomach, crushed and stretched and worn. And he sees around her a glow of pink and mauve, which takes his breath away." Besides the fact that there are so many different emotions artfully packed into these two sentences, for me, the overriding beauty lies in something else. This is after the couple has been married for many years and his wife has had their children. The fact that he finds her stomach attractive although it is stretched and worn is just so beautiful. As a mother, I immediately understood what that meant and I loved Victor for it.
Another aspect of the book that I found extremely effective was that Fernando briefly jumps into the future, giving us a little glimpse of how everything turns out while at the same time sparking our curiosity by planting even more questions-
"It was this photograph- the one she had specifically asked her parents not to be taken, the one where Ian's synthetic laughter screwed up his features and combined with her simple yet meaningful smile- it was this photograph that was to become everyone's favourite. It would be the photograph that filled an antique silver frame at Longacre, Ian's family home; it would be hung in a dark room; and indeed, in their own Clapham castle it would sit on a mantelpiece, dutifully dusted for the eighteen years they were married. Nil walked past it most mornings of her married life and did not register it, because if she did, out of the corner of her eye, she would see the tiny patch of red at the bottom corner of the picture, the sale sticker on the bottom of her right shoe, and she would remember the things she had left undone in her life, the things she had simply, carelessly forgotten."
Why were they only married for eighteen years? What had she forgotten? Was that what broke up their marriage? Was one of them unfaithful? Did one of them die? While the issue of this chapter is resolved, it simply opens up a whole set of other issues that you know are going to have to be dealt with in the future. The book left me with so many loose ends and me antsy for the answers... sort of like life.
It may sound like boring life stories but I was surprised at how quickly I was sucked into them. I cared about the characters. I didn't want to put the book down because I had to know what happened to them. I found myself relieved, heartbroken, and so much more. At many parts I was actually teary eyed for different reasons- sorrow, beauty, relief. It is a book that I will go back and read again, underlining the quotes that seem to speak to me personally. I could have easily continued describing this book for pages because there is so much more that I have not even touched here. Homesick is a moving book that draws out a myriad of emotions and I have already recommended it to several people. I hope you consider this your recommendation that convinces you to give the book a try; I think you will find it well worth your time and like me, will eagerly await Roshi Fernando's next literary work.
March 25, 2017
"It is New Year's Eve, 1982, and the whole gang is at Victor and Nandini's house. The Godfather is on repeat upstairs. Baila music is blaring from the record player in the lounge. Poppadoms are frying in the kitchen. And Preethi, tipsy on youth and friendship and covert cigarettes out the window, just wants to belong."
This book is essentially a collection of short stories, with several characters resurfacing later on in subsequent stories, or appearing as secondary ones in other stories. They all chronicle the lives of various Sri Lankan families and people, and their lives in Britain, as they attempt to construct a home away from home.
I wanted to love this book so much. It's practically my story, if you switched Britain for New Zealand. There aren't many novels out there that I can relate to on that level so when this book caught my eye I immediately loved the premise. And I wanted to love what was inside as well.
And I did love parts of it, don't get me wrong. Such as the writing. Let's talk about the writing. A review on the back describes Fernando as a virtuoso writer and I kind of have to agree. Every line seemed to be utter perfection. All the words, and the order she lays them in, just sit so well. Sometimes when I read, I rearrange the words in my head, but with this novel there didn't seem to be a need for that. The lines resonated. And I can't help but love that.
"She was selling dreams, and she was on the edge of them, as if an insect, buzzing back and forth from teacup to wineglass to coffee cup, and in each receptacle was a liquid of each world that surrounded her: home, Sri Lanka, school, church. When she read a book, it was familiar immediately, because she could play parts: she could be everyone. And here, in this champagne flute of an evening, she could be immersed in sparkling intoxication, and roll on to her side and look at all of these blonde, auburn, brunette heads in their jeans and shirt sleeves, their Laura Ashley dresses, with the daisy chains still in their hair, and she could imagine she was as beautiful as they were."
"The champagne flute of an evening"? That line is killer.
The writing is dense. Each line is heavy with a thousand meanings, it seemed, and I had to weigh things in my head, roll the words around, before moving onto the next one. That sounds like heavy going, and maybe it is, but I have to say it suited me just fine. It made it very real. I couldn't help but recognise characters from my own life within these pages, though they are darker, grittier, and much more . . .risque's the word I guess, than in my world. (No wonder reality is so boring.)
It's a fairly large cast of characters, all of whom rotate in and out of the stories. I read a review somewhere alluding to this aspect as a failing, saying that too many characters were introduced to really understand them. Personally, I disagree. Yes, there are a large cast of characters but the stories are designed to be read within a considerable space of time between each other. Or that's how it seemed to me. It worked well that way because, as I said, every line and word that Fernando uses seem so significant that I felt as I needed to close the book and mull over what I'd just read for half a day or so. It was sort of like being in a speeding train, heading towards a crash. And once the crash occurs you can't really get onto another train immediately. Although, in this case, you do eventually want to be get back on that train.
I think what detracted from the whole reading experience for me was the urgency of it all. Again 'urgent' is another description accorded to Fernando in one of the reviews. I can't think of a description that could be more apt. That's why that train analogy popped into my head. As I read, I felt myself being wound up, tighter and tighter, or maybe the story was winding up tighter and tighter, but there was never that explosion in the end. It was incredibly frustrating! I kept waiting for the resolutions, for the urgency to disappear, or at least be placated but no such thing happens. Maybe Fernando intended it that way. In reality, the pressures of life don't just disappear and maybe she wanted that to seep into her stories. In which case, she succeeded. I was never fully satisfied with all of her stories - mabye some more so than others - but I don't think there was a single one that actually left me completely happy. And again, just as in life, maybe that's how it should be.
In any case, she got under my skin. A lot. I mentioned in my last review of Stuart: A Life Backwards the kinds of stories that make you simultaneously hate and love them. I think this novel is going to be one of those.
January 29, 2024
A collection of well-intended and semi-meaningful short stories, messily interconnected, that falls short of reaching its intended messages and potential.
April 19, 2011
Roshi weaves a series of short stories about the lives of Sri Lankan immigrant families into an excellent, readable and thought-provoking composite novel. It is beautifully written, easy to read and has a depth of feeling and thought that is not overplayed but still hits hard. I hope she writes more - she could be one of the greats.
June 11, 2017
This is a surprising book of interconnected short stories following the lives of different people in the Sri Lankan community - they retain their identity in the midst of war at home and their children's identity in rascist London with its dual personality of the place that is a haven of safety for them. The stories range from 1983 to present day - the children all confront identity issues in different ways, sexual identity - gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, whether to conform to the compelling drive of their parents to succeed in this foreign land, to maintain their Sri Lankan roots while having "normal London friends". Preethi, Rohan, Victor, Lulu and the full cast of family and extended family and relatives live vividly. As do the memories of Sri Lanka - the fullness and richness of home. It resonates with my own knowledge of the Caribbean community in London, how proud we all were in the 1980s of the victorious West Indian cricket team - and here in a couple stories, how the Sri Lankan team is "us" for the migrant community - binding grandfather, grandson and son. This is a wonderful collection of short stories. Brilliant.
February 1, 2022
A dizzying collection of well written short stories linked together by the Sri Lankan civil war, sexuality and gender issues, identity, race and belonging. Some stories are heartbreaking and visceral, others stand alone in their brilliance….
February 18, 2024
more short stories, loved most of them.
provides some interesting ways to think about character development form a writing perspective
provides some interesting ways to think about character development form a writing perspective
March 4, 2017
I stuck it out as long as I could. Just couldn't get into the writing style. Some of the stories I couldn't find a character to be invested in. It happens. On to things that I find more enjoyable.
September 9, 2012
Homesick by Roshi Fernando comes very, very close to being the novel her publisher (Random House) claims right on the cover that it is but alas… a novel it is not. However it isn’t quite the dreaded interconnected short stories either. It is more a series of life studies and it is wonderful. How is that possible when it isn’t successful as a novel or a short story collection?
In Homesick, Preethi is a part of the large, extended Sri Lankan family living in London. Her journey from child to adult is the underpinning for Homesick. Each chapter is devoted to a family member or members. Sometimes Preethi figures directly into the story of this relative sometimes not. As the title indicates these loosely written studies all draw on the immigrant experience.
The details of both the physical and emotional lives of her characters that Fernando packs into Homesick are impressive and intriguing. There is a vivid emotional range explored in Homesick that resonated for me. These lives that are not yet at home in London and no longer at home in Sri Lanka have compelling stories. Immigration is not a common occurrence in most of our lives but we’ve all been homesick. Fernando makes this experience as seen by families and individuals joyous, heartbreaking, sinister and always interesting and sympathetic.
The physical manifestations of the characters new and old lives are a fascination throughout the book. Locations, foods, products, clothing, games, slang, pop culture and traditions are all prominent hallmarks in Fernando’s tales. These elements all work together to create an inescapable flux in these lives.
So what goes on here? As I’ve said Homesick is wonderful but it is not successful as a novel or as a short story collection. Why? In both cases Homesick is too sketchy, unfinished, unpolished to work when judging it by either form. But…when you take it for what it is an examination of lives undergoing massive change told in a disjointed storytelling way it’s really quite marvelous.
I will absolutely read what Roshi Fernando writes next. My dissatisfaction with the form of Homesick was far outweighed by my enjoyment of her writing while reading it.
And yes. That is a beautiful cover.
February 23, 2013
Roshi Fernando is a relatively new Sri Lankan novelist. Her comfort zone is short stories- she won the Impress Prize for New Writers in 2009 and was a finalist for the Sunday Times short story award.
Homesick is about the lives of a Sri Lankan family living in London, and the people they encounter. The author herself lives in London, and I feel she accurately portrayed what it's actually like to be an immigrant family- that sense of always being a second class citizen, of struggling to make ends meet, the experience of culture shock and even racism some families face when they move overseas, hoping to catch a big break. The story revolves around several Sri Lankan immigrant families and the people they come in contact with. The parents listen to C. T. Fernando, drink arrack, and reminisce about Sri Lanka while the more Westernised kids sneak upstairs to smoke and drink bottles of wine.
The reason this book works so well is that Roshi sticks to what she knows. She too grew up in London- and so she doesn't try to set her book in Sri Lanka, except near the end. Because of that, while her characters view the civil war with a very 'us vs. them' mentality, it comes off authentic.
One of my favourite story arcs was actually about the least likable character, Kumar, because it so effectively portrayed the miscarriages of justice, the social pressure and general difficulty an impoverished Sri Lankan faces when moving to a third world country. I found myself sympathising with him despite his despicable act. I also liked the tough, adventurous Preethi.
Lots of reviewers have said this book reads more like a series of short stories. You could say that, but personally I felt that all the stories tied together better than, say, Monica Ali's Alentejo Blue. At one point, I did lose the thread a little, but that may have been because I was reading something else at the same time.
Towards the end, Roshi does move one of her characters to Sri Lanka in a slightly fantastical situation, which I felt the story could have done without. Nevertheless, this section wasn't overemphasised, so I suppose it wasn't too bad. This book was very readable as well. I'd actually give it three and a half stars. A good read- looking forward to her follow-up novel.
Homesick is about the lives of a Sri Lankan family living in London, and the people they encounter. The author herself lives in London, and I feel she accurately portrayed what it's actually like to be an immigrant family- that sense of always being a second class citizen, of struggling to make ends meet, the experience of culture shock and even racism some families face when they move overseas, hoping to catch a big break. The story revolves around several Sri Lankan immigrant families and the people they come in contact with. The parents listen to C. T. Fernando, drink arrack, and reminisce about Sri Lanka while the more Westernised kids sneak upstairs to smoke and drink bottles of wine.
The reason this book works so well is that Roshi sticks to what she knows. She too grew up in London- and so she doesn't try to set her book in Sri Lanka, except near the end. Because of that, while her characters view the civil war with a very 'us vs. them' mentality, it comes off authentic.
One of my favourite story arcs was actually about the least likable character, Kumar, because it so effectively portrayed the miscarriages of justice, the social pressure and general difficulty an impoverished Sri Lankan faces when moving to a third world country. I found myself sympathising with him despite his despicable act. I also liked the tough, adventurous Preethi.
Lots of reviewers have said this book reads more like a series of short stories. You could say that, but personally I felt that all the stories tied together better than, say, Monica Ali's Alentejo Blue. At one point, I did lose the thread a little, but that may have been because I was reading something else at the same time.
Towards the end, Roshi does move one of her characters to Sri Lanka in a slightly fantastical situation, which I felt the story could have done without. Nevertheless, this section wasn't overemphasised, so I suppose it wasn't too bad. This book was very readable as well. I'd actually give it three and a half stars. A good read- looking forward to her follow-up novel.
February 18, 2013
There's so much to love about this book and some aspects that fail and put a damper on the good parts.
It's told as a series of connecting short stories, the first story introduces the entire host of characters that come into play later on and are re-introduced in other ways. Some are very disconnected and have no connection to the central storyline e.g. the turtle. I loved the stories that focused on Preethi, throughout different stages of her life and I feel the book as a whole would have been more successful if the stories focused on the central characters, there's so much more depth to explore with these people. Stories like "the turtle" although poignant and meaningful lose that thread of connection.
The good parts :-)- her language is gorgeous and facilitates that sense of connection you feel with these characters especially Preethi, this was largely evident in her stories and particularly in "meta general". However, I feel it also gets muddled along the way sometimes and in these instances she is not so successful at conveying emotions like other writers (e.g. Jhumpa Lahiri) are.
I did like the book, I haven't read a lot of books about Sri Lanka - indeed the only other book I think I've read was Anil's Ghost- so those aspects were interesting and educational. I look forward to reading her other works.
It's told as a series of connecting short stories, the first story introduces the entire host of characters that come into play later on and are re-introduced in other ways. Some are very disconnected and have no connection to the central storyline e.g. the turtle. I loved the stories that focused on Preethi, throughout different stages of her life and I feel the book as a whole would have been more successful if the stories focused on the central characters, there's so much more depth to explore with these people. Stories like "the turtle" although poignant and meaningful lose that thread of connection.
The good parts :-)- her language is gorgeous and facilitates that sense of connection you feel with these characters especially Preethi, this was largely evident in her stories and particularly in "meta general". However, I feel it also gets muddled along the way sometimes and in these instances she is not so successful at conveying emotions like other writers (e.g. Jhumpa Lahiri) are.
I did like the book, I haven't read a lot of books about Sri Lanka - indeed the only other book I think I've read was Anil's Ghost- so those aspects were interesting and educational. I look forward to reading her other works.
September 25, 2012
So many characters were introduced in so few pages that I had trouble keeping them straight. And when I did learn more about them, I didn't like them and, ore importantly, didn't care what happened to them. For me, that means the book is a failure. The writing was disjointed, probably intentionally so that the various stories come together. To me, it just seemed choppy.
The story was filled with cruel people doing stupid things. I've read quite a few novels about emigration and assimilation or lack thereof, and I like reading those stories, so I expected to like this one. However, between the writing style and the characters, this one just didn't work for me. Reading it became a chore.
I was given an advance copy of the book for review.
The story was filled with cruel people doing stupid things. I've read quite a few novels about emigration and assimilation or lack thereof, and I like reading those stories, so I expected to like this one. However, between the writing style and the characters, this one just didn't work for me. Reading it became a chore.
I was given an advance copy of the book for review.
June 18, 2016
Sri Lanken expats and native born ethnic Sri Lankans born English are who this books centers around. Others have said they are interconnected short stories but I thought it was a novel. What is home? Is it where you are born? Is it where you grow up? Is it your family? Can you long for a home that you have not been to? The characters become real for me and I felt their pain and longing. There is a fairly large cast of characters and I wished I had learned more about some of them. I did learn something about Sri Lanka and it's war which sadly, I knew nothing about.
I would definitely read another book by her.
I would definitely read another book by her.
February 19, 2013
This book is labeled a novel but it doesn't work as one. After 100 pages I accepted it as a collection of short stories and that worked slightly better. But in fact it's supposed to be a novel. So after flopping between the genres I give it a moderate rating. The characters aren't developed enough to care about them and the stories do not come together even in the final two chapters when lives become intertwined. But the theme of immigrants not belonging in either of their countries and family members not belonging among family is intriguing.
September 22, 2012
I liked the writing and the first chapter (story), in which we're introduced to a community of Sri Lankan expatriates in London. Subsequent chapters
are devoted to individuals in the community over a span of time. The quality of the stories varied, and many of the characters' lives turned out
badly. I wouldn't recommend this book, but I'll keep my eyes open for new books by this author in the future.
are devoted to individuals in the community over a span of time. The quality of the stories varied, and many of the characters' lives turned out
badly. I wouldn't recommend this book, but I'll keep my eyes open for new books by this author in the future.
September 13, 2013
An extended family in Britain gathers to celebrate New Year's Day in South London. They are immigrants with some children native born British. In a format that is similar to short stories locked inside a novel, individual members of the family tell their story. The book is not chronological and can be confusing at times but I found the book well worth the effort. There are many characters here and they all have stories to tell.
June 14, 2016
Homesick is about Sri Lankan immigrants to Britain and the problems they encounter with assimilation. Each chapter focuses on different people or another time and place for the same people. It made for a lot of back and forth between chapters trying to place the characters. This is not a style I enjoy. Roshi Fernando writes beautifully with an astute social commentary. I would recommend this book to readers who are open to an unstructured storyline or who appreciate short stories.
March 1, 2013
Still a bit confused about some of the character's and how the fit into it all... like kumar and the time, reason and when he left prison... the turtles and the eggs... like uhhh.. i nuh get it.. help me understand.. or do I have to read the book over?... shed silent tears when Preeti almost killed herself... was an ok book...
August 8, 2013
Short stories based on people who have links to Sri Lanka. I did get a bit confused with who was who but really enjoyed most of the stories. It was interesting to see how the characters evolved over the years but all the time the sense of not belonging prevailed. Some lovely descriptions of Sri Lanka.
October 23, 2012
I was never able to connect all of the stories in this novel - or really, collection of stories. It bounced around characters and timelines a little too much. I enjoyed many of the stories, especially the last few.
January 1, 2013
Best described as a series of snapshots, loosely connected by related characters. I enjoyed reading once I stopped trying to connect people/timelines/places. This book captured the feeling of London, in the perspective of a culture that I didn't experience while I lived there.
August 19, 2012
Vignettes about Sri Lankans living in England, We see various characters at various times of their lives ranging from childhood to old age.
September 20, 2012
Characters were confusing at times, however, I really needed this book and I'm glad of the world it let me crawl into.
Read
June 1, 2013Got bored, didn't finish
August 22, 2015
Quite sad but beautiful stories of humanity and relationships.
January 9, 2017
Too many people to keep track of (I failed) and too much jumping around. And, really, what was the point of this book?
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Homesick - Nevisande : Roshi Fernando - ISBN : 1907605029 - ISBN13 : 9781907605024 - Dar 202 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2010
April 14, 2017
Didn't like the book. Didn't finish it all. Too much bad language for me.
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