Hmmm, I'm not sure on this one. I came to it wanting to love it: family drama, a mysterious murder, an Italian setting, but it just dragged on too long for me. Unfortunately I didn't end up finishing it as I found the middle bit dragged so much, and the characters weren't likeable. The writing is beautiful, but the plot didn't have enough to keep me caring about the outcome.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I am really not sure what to say about this book and think it is best I leave this to others. I like this author but this one was hard going.

This was an excellent read on a very long flight. Engrossing, not too heavy and a very nice use of defferent perspectives to see a situation. and events.

For me, the middle section went on a little too long. But, this is a very clever and nuanced story telling. You are gently led up a garden path to discover it is a dead end and then re-directed. The skill of Rachel Joyce that this was not annoying but refreshing.

Having been quite gloomy and disturbing at times all ends well. Always a bonus.

Sadly, the most interesting character, Bella Rae, has the least to say. I would have liked to know a great deal more about her.

This was an enjoyable read.

When popular artist Vic Kemp drowns in the lake near his holiday villa in Italy - which he shares with his newlywed (and much younger) wife, Bella Mae - his son and three daughters head out to find out the truth about what happened, and, in particular, track down his will and last painting. But they find out more than they bargain for, particularly about each other, about their father and their relationships within the family.
It's a long time before the reader and the siblings meet Bella Mae. It's a bit like in the film Jaws where we don't encounter the shark for well over an hour. The anticipation builds up for the big reveal although with Bella Mae it's substantially less of a shock.
Through their interactions with each other, and with the grieving widow, the siblings reveal unpleasant sides to themselves which create conflict in this bohemian and close family. The overbearing presence of the father they all adored is very evident throughout the novel, even though he is dead.
I came to this book with so much hope, as I have enjoyed Rachel Joyce's previous novels very much. There's something about them - quirky, eccentric, funny and full of humanity, wrapped up in off-beat situations - which makes them a warm and satisfying read. The Homemade God, however, is much darker, and populated by unlikeable characters coming to terms with loss, what might have beens and the place they have made for themselves in the world.
The novel is well written, good on dialogue and setting and, ultimately, hope but not enough of the latter for me, sorry.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance reader copy of this book.

I loved the Italian setting where a large part of the story unfolds. There were some great descriptions and I felt I’d like to go there. However, although I finished the book, it wasn’t a favourite. I felt there was a depressing edge to it and I couldn’t relate to any of the characters who all seemed a bit extreme in different ways. The author hints at wrongdoing and murder and the whole thing made me feel on edge. The ending did assuage my worries and we finally had explanations for a lot of previously unresolved issues.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review.

4.5 stars
I loved this but hated the siblings. Every single one of them was insufferable and damaged, but their love for each other is as pure and admirable as anything. This book was written so delicately and with so much care, it felt almost wrong to read as if I was reading someone’s personal diary or inner thoughts. I also enjoyed the switching of POVs, this made it a lot easier to understand each siblings actions and their reactions to their father’s death and everything that followed.

While there was no massive plot twist, the ending unraveled and revealed itself in a way that was achingly simple but also made sense. I loved Goose’s final chapters and his reflections on his sisters and family. This was a truly beautiful story told with a tenderness that leaks off the page.

"Once you start, time will have to keep spooling backwards, reversing everything that has happened. Because in truth so much had already been put in to place before he even heard Bella-Mae’s name.

A new Rachel Joyce book is always worth look forward to.

The Homemade God is a fascinating addition to Rachel Joyce's collection. Her books focus on the small details between family and friends - the minutiae- the everyday details and actions of life - that build to form the bigger /greater emotions and reactions.

This is a story of four siblings- Netta, Susan, Goose and Iris. Having lost their mother at a young age, they were 'raised' by their father - a renowned artist of questionable skill and fame but with a larger than life personality and a joie de vivre for wine an women. The four children vie for his attention, love and recognition.

When their father in his seventies announces he is love with a woman in her late twenties (Bella-Mae), the brother and sisters are baffled- especially as they don't get to meet her. The four try to find out more about this elusive figure.

When their father travels to the family home on a small island on Lake Orta in Italy with his new love (where the children spent childhood holidays) to paint a ' new masterpiece ' they discover he is married and then shockingly and mysteriously is found dead in the lake.

Initially, the book feels that it will be a murder mystery - was Bella-Mae a killer? Who was the cousin who was with her on the island?

But this novel is much more subtle and nuanced.This is a story of a family in meltdown, unsaid thoughts and feelings and the illusions that families create between themselves.

The first half of the novel builds the dynamic of the siblings and their relationship with their father and the unseen damage within their supposed' ideal lives'.. but it is when the brother and sisters go to meet Bella-Mae on the island the story really explodes. Four different personalities and perspectives on life and events - that have never been confronted.. Things unsaid..

After an initial reservation as to whether the book would be enjoyed where it was leading(actually what genre is it?), the reward is in the second half - as the facades are peeled away and truths are revealed.

There will be a television executive wanting to create this for the screen- no question - and it would work well.

Rachel Joyce's talent as an author take the reader once again in to the frailties of the human condition but also gives hope - love should conquer all

I’ve enjoyed all of Rachel Joyce’s previous books. She’s adept at exploring the human psyche in an engaging and often intimate way. Her characters are compelling and relatable. The Homemade God is very different and whilst I’m not averse to an author changing style or subject, I found this tale very dark. An artist dies in Italy, his latest masterpiece has disappeared and he’s married a much younger woman. His children travel to Italy to find out what happened, but once there, they start to unravel. I didn’t like any of them and found it difficult to engage with the plot or the characters.

Maybe it’s not the right time for me to tackle this tale. It is well observed and well written but I just didn’t enjoy it.

This is very different from Rachel's previous books. It is very dramatic with lots of family drama. A tense read

Four siblings try to make what their artist father was truly like, who they are, what they mean to each other and if their father’s young wife is to be trusted.
Written in a cinematic way, The Homemade God is relevant and contemporary and does not lose its literary quality.
I found it quite enjoyable.
Prose and plot 3.5 stars
Mood 4
Characterisation 4.5

I love Rachel Joyce's writing and was excited to read this. It's different from her previous work, but that's no bad thing. Recommended!

Goose and his three sisters gather at their father's home by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy. Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece; now he is dead. There is no sign of his new wife and no sign of a painting.Always close, all that the siblings come to understand, about themselves, their father and their new stepmother, Bella-Mae, will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father's legacy truly is.

A completely different novel from Rachel Joyce around a family dealing with the death of their famous father. It has all the complexities and family dynamics needed to keep you entertained.

Rachel Joyce has spread her wings and written something completely different from her previous books - and it is a great success.

I very much enjoyed this tale of four siblings as they navigate the death of their overpowering father. There is a slow build up to madness as the siblings pretend that they are in control of the situation, their control is eroded by jealousy, grief and good old paranoia.
I thought the 'well this is how you could have seen the situation' as a very clever twist at the end of the book. But then I suppose that might not have been the full story either!

Great read!

I think there is a whiff in the literature zeitgeist of svengali artist fathers who provide both lynchpin and destruction in their families. Thinking particularly of Charlotte Mendelsson (The Exhibitionist) and Marina Kemp (The Unwilding) but several more come to mind. As I read this novel I did feel like I had been here before and, sadly in more capable hands.

I found this an unexpected route for Rachel Joyce but do enjoy writers taking their readers in different directions. This is largely a family story of the fallout after the death of the patriarch. The main action takes place in Italy in the home Vic bought in the early years of his artistic success. From what was said. I imagined Vic as a Jack Vettriano style painter.

I enjoyed the development of the characters of the siblings - Netta, Susan, Iris and Goose, all of whom had deep problems but overlaid with privilege and entitlement. I think that if the narrative voice had been rotated rather than the omniscient, birds eye view, there would have been the space for the reader to inhabit the characters, whereas we end up being told the story.

The perspective does slightly shift when we are asked to "see" things another way. I had been wanting to see things differently long before this and, in my head, had already been doing this. It felt too little, too late, too third person for any impact.

Despite my misgivings, I did enjoy reading the book. I just think it could have packed a bigger punch if told in a variety of voices.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK for the opportunity to read and review

Rachel Joyce is one of my favourite authors and I thought this book was wonderful.
Her storytelling is incredible and I love the depth she brings to all her characters.
The tale is told by four siblings who travel to their family holiday home in Italy, following the sudden death of their father who had recently married a much younger mysterious woman.
Was his death a tragic accident or something more sinister?
This book started off quite slowly but as it unravelled we got an insight into the siblings relationship with their father and each other.
It’s raw, it’s real and the ending was most satisfying.
We thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Homemade God tells the story of four siblings, their father and his much younger new wife. As the family gather, at their ramshackle villa on an island by a lake in Italy, life as they know it ends. Relationships are fractured and the siblings become estranged from one another. Complex and compelling, dark but with some humour, this is part mystery and part family drama.

It reads very differently compared to the author’s other novels, it seems darker and altogether more serious. Despite feeling I disliked all of the characters for the majority of the book, the last chapters drew it all together so skilfully that to my surprise I ended up rooting for them all.

I can well imagine a successful film adaptation will follow. (Anya Taylor-Joy for Bella-Mae?)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy

I loved this well-written and compelling book. The story wasn't quite what I expected, but it was an excellent exploration of family relationships, and the damage which families can cause. I think Rachel Joyce is an excellent writer, and this is one of her best books in my opinion.

This felt like a different step for Rachel, and I'm here for it.

Goose and his three sisters gather at the family's house by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy. Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece. Now he is dead and there is no sign of a painting.

Although the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn - about themselves, their father and their new stepmother - will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father's legacy truly is.


I'll start by saying that none of the characters, apart from Goose, were particularly likeable, but their flaws were the making of the story. It's a tale as old as time - you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family. It was moody, melancholy and depressing yet funny, uplifting and entertaining. It's part mystery and part family saga. Who is this young woman that married their father, and can she be trusted? What secrets is everyone keeping?

Rachel Joyce is a gifted storyteller, and it is no secret that I am a huge fan. I've read everything she has written and loved them all. Is this my favourite? Probably not. Did I love it all the same? Yes!

Thanks for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This is a fantastic family drama but I found it quite dark which made it harder for me to engage with it. Four siblings who have a very close relationship in part due to their difficult childhood find their relationships become increasingly fractured after the sudden death of their father, his recent marriage to a woman younger than any of them further complicates the situation. All four are grieving in such different way and the impact their fathers death has on each of them probably highlights each of their most difficult traits, not helped by the subtle manipulation of their step mother. Interestingly the time after his death makes each of them reconsider their own futures but it takes a lot of negativity to reach that point. I think I found the core relationships between each child and their father quite difficult as each was troubling in its own way but they couldn’t necessarily see that so I found some elements quite uncomfortable but equally that’s the beauty of this book too as it really looks at the absolute core of the relationships and what has made each child the person they are today.

Another masterpiece by Rachel Joyce!
Big fat 5 stars from me!
Huge thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC