Sadly I struggled with this book and in the end it became a DNF. The premise,the child, the language of the child, most of the characters became an "I do not care and am annoyed".
Other reviews have loved the story telling style but it did not ring special for me. The best way I can explain is - if this was a TV show I would become bored and turn it over.
Not for me, sorry!

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy

Having read ‘Frank & Red’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought this would be similar and just as heartwarming. Sadly, it did not cut the mustard. However, it was good, I finished it and liked it.

Reading the blurb and glowing praise about this book I really expected to enjoy it. Sadly ,I quickly came to the conclusion I could not agree with the reviews and found it very slow and boring. I gave up after 25% of the book.

While the author’s writing is undeniably beautiful, the story itself didn’t resonate with me. The premise begins intriguingly: Joel, a 2-year-old, is left in the care of his mother’s friend, Tao. Through a series of events—including the tragic passing of Joel’s mother—what was supposed to be a brief babysitting arrangement turns into an extended and life-altering responsibility, shared between Tao, his father, his close friend Ben, and a rabbi. The narrative alternates between the perspectives of the adults and commentary from Joel, which is an interesting storytelling choice.

However, I struggled to find the story believable, and I couldn’t quite connect with the characters. Despite this, the strength of Lamont’s prose makes me open to exploring his other works in the future.

Absolutely loved this story, from Teo, trying to do the right thing for his dada and for Lia and for her son, despite it throwing his life into disarray. I loved the fiercely independent voice of Vic, struggling with his every day life and his illness but determined to step up for Joel, who is written so perfectly to capture all that is adorable and frustrating about a toddler!
The story touches on the relationship between Ben and his dad and the way his dad feels about his various friends from his youth as well as their relationship with their faith, all while building a beautiful picture of each character (especially Joel) and the difficulties they are facing in their battles with each other and with social services and the outcome is touchingly written.

This book was very cleverly written and it broke my heart in so many ways on many occasions. I thought that Teo and Ben were perfectly flawed and oh so relateable. Whilst the book primarily focussed on relationships with other people, it also intertwined relationships with religion in its many forms or indeed a lack thereof. It highlighted the importance of family life and how it shapes you and makes you the person you become in so many ways but doesn’t always define you. and highlights the importance of strong friendships.

Very emotionally upsetting and uplifting at the same time.

What I didn’t like about the book so much was the author’s style of writing and his use of language. I found it to be a little stilted and not free flowing. However I have the feeling that it was deliberately written this way to showcase the youth of the characters in both age and mindset.

Wishing the author every success with this book - much deserved.

I enjoyed every minute of this quirky tale of navigating through the joys and dilemmas of childcare from a male perspective. When Lia tragically leaves behind her two year old son, Joel in the care of inexperienced Téo, the trials and tribulations of unexpected fatherhood abound. Alongside best friend Ben, the rich, carefree playboy, relationships grow and turn as the young men try in their own way to do what’s best for Joel. The prose and dialogue are a delight and Lamont captures the speech patterns of the developing child brilliantly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I did not enjoy this book and it was nothing like I expected from the blurb. After about 25% (and it was slow going) I skimmed so I might have missed good bits.

In general I felt the characters were thinly drawn. There is a lot in the book about the child Joel. If you like to read about child rearing in the gentle parenting way where the child rules the roost then you might enjoy this. I did not. I found Joel's use of language to be quite different - unrealistic even - from the (admittedly small) number of 2 year olds I know. and I found this very annoying. I also found Joel himself very annoying.

I was amazed and indeed envious of the long absence, presumably paid, that Teo was given by his employer. I worked for an employer with generous family policies but they would not have been as generous as Teo's employer, even their sick leave latterly was not as generous as what was I assume, compassionate leave for Teo..

There is a recurring theme throughout about what it means to be Jewish. I found this interesting but thought it sat awkwardly within the story. I will say that I liked the rabbi character a lot but was not totally convinced by her and Ben.

There is a very long and dull bit about going to a football match which, along with the Scotland trip seem to be just padding.

I can see that other people liked this book a lot and I hope it does well but I did not enjoy it at all. I don't often give 2 stars but in this case, there was so little enjoyment for me in both plot and writing that I feel that I must.

Love, love, LOVED this book. Tender, beautiful and incredibly honest about the failings of humans. Little Joel stole my heart from the opening page. Raw and unflinching, each and every one of the characters is a bit of us all at one time or another. I can be as stubborn as Victor as arrogant as Ben, as unhappy as Lia and as patient as Tèo! Truly relatable and I loved the train ‘journey.’ I can’t wait to read Tom’s next book!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. A deserved 5 stars! 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Oh what a tender and beautiful read. I flinched at the same time as a flew with this book. It's such an apt description of humans. Similar to all of us and none of us at any one time. We are all the same in our need for attention,love andnsupport. We are all changed when guilt,shame or inadequacy builds jn is either by ourself or forced upon us by others.
It's a wonderful tale of how love conquers. Not just as an outright in the moment key to all things. But also on how it shows up in all we are,all we feel and all we go on to be. How traditions and the need for approval can make us or break us. We all face flaws. And sometimes from one person to the next it comes out in different ways. But again...love is key.
I won't give too much away. But the character in this book are so geniously written. You want to hug them(mostly the boy) all.

A delicate, charming, unflinching, funny view of life and death in the north London Jewish community of Enfield where a little boy is unexpectedly adrift and some adults find that he is a life raft.

Entranced from the get-go, the novel enchanted and engrossed me. It is the best book I have read in ages. Tom Lamont’s descriptions often took my breath away. The child, well, the child is simply marvellous, utterly huggable. The cast of characters engaged me in a way I don’t recall for a long time – they will stay with me and I so want to know what else happens in this child’s life.
Just read it!

I loved everything about this book!! The prose was beautifully descriptive - simple yet easily able to convey a mood or a scene - in lots of ways it reminded me of the prose of Jon McGregor. The characters were portrayed with all their flaws too which made it very believable. From Teo and Ben as troubled young men for very different reasons - the first partly because of unrequited love and a certain amount of guilt arising from leaving home and "abandoning" his ageing father and Jewish roots - and the second because of parental abandonment and an almost childlike need to be wanted and to stay as a wilful teenager without responsibilities. In their own ways neither was prepared for the rush of love that comes with caring for a toddler and the sheer hard work it involves. And interwoven through it all was Joel who was portrayed in a very believable and empathetic way - even down to the way he constructed his first sentences and let his imagination start to run wild.
I also really enjoyed learning more about the Jewish community with the battle between expectations of traditionalists and newcomers. The spiteful betrayal by a frustrated Vic towards the end of the book followed by his heartfelt remorse and deteriorating health only served to tie me even more closely to the characters. This book will stay with me for a long time.

Fathers, Sons and Friends : Better in concept than execution 1.5 rating, DNF

I was pleased to request this book based on the level of praise from writers I value. It certainly sounded interesting, an exploration of masculine dynamics, and the challenges of fatherhood. I have read many excellent books exploring parenting from the female perspective.

However….I’m afraid reason for the praise is beyond me, I felt I was reading a completely different book, the voice of the small child, (about 2 ½ when we first meet Joel) both too young and way too old. The cock of the walk figure of feckless, charismatic Ben, pretty well a cipher from the start, Theo, the good guy, the very different acolyte, a little despised by Ben and his fast set, who nonetheless need his spaniel like admiration. Then there’s the one girl, broken, cool, a bit dangerous and predictably seen as hot by all. Victor, Theo’s aged, infirm father, stricken by Parkinson’s.

Plot lines, predictable from the off. Too many unrealistic manipulations and coincidences which strain credulity too far

I’m afraid this all felt like a collection of short ‘creative writing exercises’ Ok –‘let’s have a riff on the football game’ ‘Vic making Sunday lunch scene’ ‘making the trampoline as an exercise in character revelation’ ‘what can you do with a train journey’

I’m sorry to say, but I could not help wondering, if the author was not ‘ an award-winning Observer and Guardian journalist’ would this book have garnered the type of positive reception it has?

I gave this plenty of time to reveal itself as the book all the plaudits were suggesting, but finally gave up on that train journey at 75%

Going Home is the debut novel by Guardian journalist and writer Tom Lamont, and it’s a charming, bittersweet tale set in a jewish community in Enfield, North London about fatherhood, friendship, faith and grief. (The book uses the lower case for jew and jewish throughout hence me using it here).

Thematically it reminded me of About a Boy by Nick Hornby, albeit without the music (it’s completely absent of music actually, riffing on this very fact during one scene) but it has the same London vibe and gentle wit. Scene-stealing Joel, the child at the centre of the novel is impossibly cute and lovable.

Téo lives a self-contained life in central London, away from his ailing father Vic and his friends who still live in his home suburb of Enfield. He’s on a visit home one weekend when something happens that results in him having to stay and take care of 2 year old Joel, the son of his friend Lia.

Completely unprepared for caring full-time for a toddler, Téo muddles through with the support of his well-intentioned, fumbling father and local new rabbi Sybil, and despite the chaotic influence of his oldest friend Ben who goes on his own journey in the book.

A gorgeous story about just doing the right thing, and finding a way to help others do the right thing, Going Home feels real and true in a way that many books don’t.

Going Home was a Guardian and Economist book of the year, and an Observer debut novel of the year for 2024. It was published last summer in the UK but it’s out in the US this week (January 2025). 4/5 ⭐️

*Many thanks to Sceptre Books/Hodder Books for the arc via @netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.

Téo Erskine begrudgingly makes his way home to Enfield once a month to visit his ailing, resentful father, Victor. Whilst there, he reconnects with his circle of old school friends, going through the motions of poker nights and trips to their old local while counting down the hours until he can return to his real life. One night, he finds himself thrown back into the orbit of troubled single mum Lia Woods, the lone girl in their group at school and the woman whom Téo has always fantasised about saving from herself and whisking away to a happily ever after. In an effort to win her favour, Téo gamely offers to look after Lia's young son for the day, only to find that, when she fails to collect two-year-old Joel, he is caught in a web of tangled relationships and histories, binding him tightly to the place he used to call home.

Going Home, the debut novel by Tom Lamont, is a moving, beautiful story of family, fatherhood and friendship, peopled by complex, painfully human characters.

The story is told by four narrators: Téo; his well-intentioned but struggling father, Vic; his childhood best friend, handsome, self-centred Ben; and the progressive new local rabbi, Sybil. Each brings a different perspective on the story, and sheds light on life in the specific setting of a Jewish community in the north London suburb of Enfield.

At the heart of the story is the prickly, fractious relationship between Téo and his father, a thoughtful portrayal of the generation gap which keeps the men at arms length from each other. Vic feels that he was a good father because he provided for his family, even if he wasn't always present or emotionally available; he is of a generation in which men repressed their hurt rather than allowing themselves to feel it, let alone seek help for it. We see this manifested in his inability to accept his growing physical limitations, as well as his refusal to relinquish his independence to his son. Seeing Téo work through his feelings about his father, and find his own way to be a father to Joel, is one of the most affecting parts of the novel.

Going Home is also a refreshingly sensitive, non-judgmental portrait of depression and suicide. Even as they deal with the ramifications of Lia's death, those she left behind have nothing but empathy and compassion for her; they know that the 'choice' she made was the only one she felt was left to her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

Going Home by Tom Lamont is a moving and occasionally humorous novel about four adults who unexpectedly find themselves caring for a young child. Téo enjoys his life in London but returns to Enfield to visit his ailing father, Vic. There, he reconnects with old friends Ben and Lia. Lia is a struggling single mother raising her son, Joel. When a tragic event thrusts Téo, Vic, Ben, and the local rabbi, Sybil, into the responsibility of caring for Joel, their lives are forever changed. The relationships among these characters and their bond with Joel are portrayed with depth and authenticity, making for a heartwarming and engaging story.

This is an incredibly tender and moving novel with a set of characters whose complexity makes them jump off the page - all are well drawn enough to be incredibly compelling and mostly sympathetic, even when not acting as their best selves. A beautiful story about what we owe to the people in our lives and one which doesn't take the easy way out in terms of plot. Highly recommended and many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Going Home by Tom Lamont is a poignant and, at times, funny novel about four adults who find themselves responsible for a young child.
Téo loves his life in London, he has a good job and his freedom. He goes back occasionally to Enfield to see his elderly sick dad, Vic, which gives him a chance to catch up with old school friends Ben and Lia. Lia, is a struggling single parent raising her son Joel. Ben and Téo are mates but the relationship isn’t always friendly and they sometimes end up fighting. Téo, Vic, Ben and the local rabbi, Sybil lives change when an awful event results in them being responsible for Joel. The relationship between the four characters and Joel is beautifully written and authentic. I thoroughly enjoyed this heart warming story.

'Going Home' is an outstanding debut novel by Tom Lamont - a beautiful, moving, sad and funny novel about four adults who find themselves caring for a young child.

Téo Erskine has escaped the North London suburb of Enfield where he grew up, but still comes back once a month to visiting his father, who is suffering from a degenerative disease. When possible, he tries to see his schoolfriend and long-term crush, Lia, and sometimes helps out by babysitting Lia's two-year-old son Joel. Following a shocking and unexpected event, Téo finds himself responsible for Joel until a more permanent solution is found.

Lamont cycles between four narrative perspectives - Téo, his curmudgeonly father Victor, Téo's privileged and carefree manchild of a friend, Ben Mossam, and the local progressive rabbi Sibyl Challis, who are all drawn into Joel's orbit and respond in different ways: Téo is initially apprehensive and terrified of getting it wrong but determined to do it wrong, while Victor relishes the sense of purpose that caring for Joel gives him in spite of his own failing health, and Ben does his best to shirk any responsibility.

Both the characters (including Joel, who is at the heart of the novel) and the situation are so well-realised that it is impossible for the readers not to become deeply invested in their predicament. The novel explores multiple father-son relationships (both biological and surrogate) and Lamont includes so many incisive observations about these. At one point Victor reflects that 'Joel was the only person in Vic's life who did not hold his age or his illness against him' because 'Joel viewed anybody older, taller, as expert. If you knew where to find the sticking plasters (this was how Joel gauged the world) then you knew everything.' At another point when Téo has had his first experience of separation from Joel, Lamont describes how he resolves to 'observe the boy more carefully this time, revising him and collecting better memories for their next time apart.'

Above all, this book has so much heart. It is one of my favourite books of 2024 so far - many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.