Review: The Road Home
The Road Home was written by Rose Tremain and published by Hachette Book Group. It won the 2008 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction. This is the second book I’ve read for the Book Awards II Reading Challenge.
Lev is a 42 year old from an unnamed Eastern European country. After his beloved wife dies and he loses his job because the local lumberyard closed, he falls into a depression and he and his daughter become dependent on his mother for support. He finally decides that he must immigrate to London to earn enough money to improve their lives. When he gets to London, he finds that it isn’t as easy as he imagined. He manages to get a job in popular restaurant, all the while struggling with a new culture and never quite fitting in. He works hard and sends money home and keeps in touch with Rudi, his dear friend at home. When Lev finds out that a dam will be built, displacing his hometown, he comes up with a plan to take care of his family and friends.
Rose Tremain’s narrative is captivating and her character development is outstanding. I really cared about Lev and wanted him to succeed, even though he is a flawed character. The only complaint (and it’s a small one) I have about this book is that the ending was a little too predictable. This is a great read.
Click here to purchase this book from amazon.
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Good morning. Cross-commenting here. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I love to add book blogs to my reader and glad I’ve found yours. Looks like you have reviewed some good books I hadn’t found. Also enjoyed the post about the post-it notes. We are such booklovers in my family. I sub some and the worst part for me is if I see a kid writing in a textbook. I always tell myself not to be the woman on the front page of the paper who attacked the poor 5th grader for defiling a book!
Sounds great 🙂 I really want to hear more about Lev. I’m adding this to my wishlist, thanks!
I reallyreally want to read this. Thanks for the review 🙂