Going Home

A Novel

De: Tom Lamont

Narrado por: Jot Davies

Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men—all of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhood—take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss

Téo Erskine, now in his thirties, has moved on from childish things: He has a good job, a slick apartment in London, and when he heads back to the suburbs on the occasional weekend to visit his old friends, he makes sure everyone knows he can afford to pick up the tab. So what if he asks a few too many questions about Lia, the girl of their group, wondering if she will come out, if she’s seeing anyone, if she might give him another shot? Téo is hazily aware that something possibly happened between Lia and Ben Mossam, Téo’s closest friend and his greatest annoyance, but he can’t bring himself to ask. Lia, meanwhile, has no time to indulge their rivalry. She’s now the single mother of a toddler son, a kid named Joel that Téo occasionally (and halfheartedly) offers to babysit.

Téo is home for one such weekend when the unthinkable happens—a tragedy in the heart of their group—and he suddenly finds himself the unlikely guardian for little Joel. Together with his father, Vic, Ben Mossam, and Sybil, Lia’s beguiling rabbi, they bide time until they can find a proper home for Joel, teaching him to play video games, plying him with chicken nuggets and waffles, and learning to sing him lullabies at night. But when a juvenile mistake leads to a terrible betrayal, Téo must decide what kind of man he wants to be. Wise, relatable, and blissfully laugh-out-loud funny, Going Home is a captivating first novel that explores the mysterious ways children can force us to grow up fast while simultaneously keeping us young forever.

©2025 Tom Lamont (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“It’s rare to read something that captures with such unsentimentality a child’s range, their rapidly shifting obsessions, the quiddities of their language, their cunning wiles....Joel...is fully singular, tightly observed....[Going Home] has the kind of plot that feels fine tuned and long thought out....Weather systems, from a child’s tantrum to a passing burst of rain, are logged in sprightly, unexpected language briskly evading cliché....I’ve read Going Home twice now and I still don’t feel as if I’ve tapped its power. Children seem to be more alive than adults, keener, less jaded, and this novel feels the same, pepped up and gorgeous, just bristling with life.”—Olivia Laing, The Guardian

“A bittersweet and moving debut that beautifully explores male friendship and what it means to be a father.”—Good Housekeeping

"A meltingly warm comedy."—The Observer, "Top 10 best debut novelists of 2024"

Beautiful story; wonderful narration

The most moving book I’ve read in months. Richly drawn characters, well-plotted, fantastic. The audio narration is one of the best I’ve heard in years. I loved his character vocies, which were distinct, very corny. Excellent production all around.

Great Story

Tom Lamont has taken a set of characters who deftly change from bad to good or vice versa. The language is beautiful. Listen to it!