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svmitche's review against another edition
4.0
Turning for Home is a really interesting book, in that it takes its starting point from large, International affairs, but then distills down to an intimate look at two people dealing with huge personal issues, while trying to navigate an annual family gathering.
Robert’s story, where he has been ‘something in Government’, and thought it all behind him until a University project begins talking to former IRA personnel, was compelling because of his connection to world events. There are twists and secrets here, but it also follows him on a personal level as he deals with the death of his wife, which seems to have been sudden for him as she has successfully hidden her illness.
This is played out alongside his granddaughter Kate’s story, in which we learn that grief and a difficult family relationship has led her to being admitted to hospital. This is her first time at the annual party for three years – was it a mistake?
Barney Norris is a really interesting author as he writes quite slim volumes that pack a mighty punch. Kate’s story contains some incredibly distressing things, and yet is handled with a sensitivity that allows it to unfold in a way that helps you to completely understand her. Her complex relationship with her family will have elements that familiar to many of us – although, perhaps not quite so fraught!
There is an innate sadness in this book, but it resolves in such a joyful and hopeful way, that it makes it ultimately rewarding to read. Just excellent.
Robert’s story, where he has been ‘something in Government’, and thought it all behind him until a University project begins talking to former IRA personnel, was compelling because of his connection to world events. There are twists and secrets here, but it also follows him on a personal level as he deals with the death of his wife, which seems to have been sudden for him as she has successfully hidden her illness.
This is played out alongside his granddaughter Kate’s story, in which we learn that grief and a difficult family relationship has led her to being admitted to hospital. This is her first time at the annual party for three years – was it a mistake?
Barney Norris is a really interesting author as he writes quite slim volumes that pack a mighty punch. Kate’s story contains some incredibly distressing things, and yet is handled with a sensitivity that allows it to unfold in a way that helps you to completely understand her. Her complex relationship with her family will have elements that familiar to many of us – although, perhaps not quite so fraught!
There is an innate sadness in this book, but it resolves in such a joyful and hopeful way, that it makes it ultimately rewarding to read. Just excellent.
marypboa's review against another edition
4.0
Turning for Home by Barney Norris 4*- although inspired by the “Boston Tapes” (an oral history project about the Irish Troubles) this novel was more about family bonds and a grandfather’s and his granddaughter’s life stories. Although slightly disjointed in the telling, the author was superb at sympathetically handling the themes of guilt, abandonment and bereavement. The writing is fabulous and I was totally engrossed.
eleanorfranzen's review against another edition
3.0
It's very hard to describe what Turning For Home is "about", because in the conventional sense it is virtually without plot: an old man, Robert Shawcross, has a birthday party, his troubled granddaughter Kate attempts to reconcile with her mother, and a figure from the past reappears at the party to complete some unfinished business related to Robert's career as a civil servant, during which time he served as a diplomatic backchannel between U.K. government and the IRA. It is a book much more concerned with states of mind: Robert's grief at the recent loss of his wife, his shock at the discovery that his contact was far more involved in IRA business than he realised; Kate's struggle with guilt over an ex-boyfriend's life-changing car accident, which manifests in an eating disorder that nearly kills her. This sounds a bit melodramatic, and occasionally Norris's plot and character choices are, but for the most part, his writing lifts the events from pot-boiler territory. Instead he shows us ways to find beauty, and the keys to memory, in absolutely everything; for all the trouble in its pages, it is a very uplifting book. I preferred his debut, Five Rivers Met..., but will be recommending this to lovers of introspective literary fiction.
molekilby's review against another edition
3.0
This was picked up from the library as a wrapped Valentines surprise. I enjoyed it and not a book I would have chosen. It was easy to invest into the characters and see parallels between The Troubles, and the familial troubles under the surface.
Interesting twist in the end and one that makes you think a bit more carefully. Sometimes the ‘sections’ seemed a little long, but I guess that’s down Tomy reading style than anything else.
Interesting twist in the end and one that makes you think a bit more carefully. Sometimes the ‘sections’ seemed a little long, but I guess that’s down Tomy reading style than anything else.
paulsnelling's review against another edition
5.0
An ageing patriarch and his wounded recovering granddaughter narrate the last of a family tradition and reveal what brought them here, what formed them. Realisation of cause and effect, the power of understanding what’s important, and finally, making peace with the past and moving on. Lyrical, moving.
suebarsby's review
4.0
This is a slow read. And, for anyone reading advice about writing books that show and don’t tell, it breaks all the rules. Told in the first person by two alternating points of view, Robert and his granddaughter Kate, Turning for Home is nonetheless a fascinating account of the interior world.
So what’s it about? It’s about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, about the effect we can have on other people, about loss, mental illness and it’s about not eating.
Robert is a retired member of British Intelligence who worked in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. He is celebrating his 80th birthday when a former contact comes to see him at home to ask about a new investigation the British government are carrying out following a series of interviews of former combatants on both sides – a project undertaken by Boston College. The interviews brought out more secrets than anyone wished and there is danger of trouble stirring up again. Both men are afraid of repercussions, bother personally and politically.
Among the party guests is Kate, Robert’s granddaughter, who is recovering from a near death experience following an eating disorder. Kate is Robert’s ally, and he enlists her help to have his meeting uninterrupted. In return, he has always stood by her in her difficult relationship with her mother, a relationship seen by Kate as a possible trigger for her mental disorders. The two characters narrate the events of the party day to us, reminiscing over the past and recapping difficult decisions, painful memories and explaining slowly how they came to this point.
The book was inspired, if that’s the word, by the idea of eating – or, more accurately, not eating – as an act of control by the desperate, as a political act and as a personal one. It’s a loose thread but enough to hold the novel together and is thought provoking without the author hitting the reader over the head to make his point.
Both characters are real – grubby, sometimes mistaken, pig headed but ultimately loving and supportive to each other. I especially liked Kate and it can be the case that male characters mess up writing women, but Kate is perfectly done.
It’s a slow read and I think some may be tempted to give up before finishing, but I recommend sticking with it. It’s absorbing and rewarding in ways few books are these days, not an awful lot happens and yet we cover a lot of ground. It’s also worth saving it for a few days when you can devote a chunk of time to each chapter, rather than fleeting pages on the bus or whatever. It’s an intelligent book and asks questions of its readers.
So what’s it about? It’s about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, about the effect we can have on other people, about loss, mental illness and it’s about not eating.
Robert is a retired member of British Intelligence who worked in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. He is celebrating his 80th birthday when a former contact comes to see him at home to ask about a new investigation the British government are carrying out following a series of interviews of former combatants on both sides – a project undertaken by Boston College. The interviews brought out more secrets than anyone wished and there is danger of trouble stirring up again. Both men are afraid of repercussions, bother personally and politically.
Among the party guests is Kate, Robert’s granddaughter, who is recovering from a near death experience following an eating disorder. Kate is Robert’s ally, and he enlists her help to have his meeting uninterrupted. In return, he has always stood by her in her difficult relationship with her mother, a relationship seen by Kate as a possible trigger for her mental disorders. The two characters narrate the events of the party day to us, reminiscing over the past and recapping difficult decisions, painful memories and explaining slowly how they came to this point.
The book was inspired, if that’s the word, by the idea of eating – or, more accurately, not eating – as an act of control by the desperate, as a political act and as a personal one. It’s a loose thread but enough to hold the novel together and is thought provoking without the author hitting the reader over the head to make his point.
Both characters are real – grubby, sometimes mistaken, pig headed but ultimately loving and supportive to each other. I especially liked Kate and it can be the case that male characters mess up writing women, but Kate is perfectly done.
It’s a slow read and I think some may be tempted to give up before finishing, but I recommend sticking with it. It’s absorbing and rewarding in ways few books are these days, not an awful lot happens and yet we cover a lot of ground. It’s also worth saving it for a few days when you can devote a chunk of time to each chapter, rather than fleeting pages on the bus or whatever. It’s an intelligent book and asks questions of its readers.
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
4.0
Every year the family descends on the 'big house' to celebrate Robert's birthday. This year both Robert and his granddaughter Kate have more cause than usual to reflect. For Robert, having recently lost his wife, actions from the past re-surface. He was involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the release of the 'Boston Tapes' means that old allies are coming out of the woodwork. Meanwhile Kate has her own demons to conquer, after an accident that robbed her of her love she has suffered from anorexia and is now drifting through life working in a call centre. Both use the opportunity afforded by the party to reflect and for both there is the chance to move on.
This is a short book but rather than being sparely written, it feels detailed. This is a difficult thing to achieve and the quality of the prose is exceptional. Norris is sympathetic to Kate and the reader feels elated that she finds some peace. The handling of the sections about the Troubles are deft and factual. This is a terrific book from a writer to watch
This is a short book but rather than being sparely written, it feels detailed. This is a difficult thing to achieve and the quality of the prose is exceptional. Norris is sympathetic to Kate and the reader feels elated that she finds some peace. The handling of the sections about the Troubles are deft and factual. This is a terrific book from a writer to watch
snoakes7001's review against another edition
5.0
The Evening Standard have described Barney Norris as 'A rare and precious talent'. They're not wrong.
With a beauty and sensitivity that is becoming characteristic of his writing, Turning for Home explores themes of grief and bereavement.
It's Kate's grandfather's 80th birthday and every year the whole extended family congregates to celebrate. This year however, they both have reasons to dread the event.
Deftly switching the narrative between the octogenarian Robert and his granddaughter, Barney Norris fleshes out their back stories and the events that have led them to this point in time. He writes about love and loss, loyalty and betrayal with an aching delicacy and an underlying thrum of anger.
Stunning.
With a beauty and sensitivity that is becoming characteristic of his writing, Turning for Home explores themes of grief and bereavement.
It's Kate's grandfather's 80th birthday and every year the whole extended family congregates to celebrate. This year however, they both have reasons to dread the event.
Deftly switching the narrative between the octogenarian Robert and his granddaughter, Barney Norris fleshes out their back stories and the events that have led them to this point in time. He writes about love and loss, loyalty and betrayal with an aching delicacy and an underlying thrum of anger.
Stunning.
thereadingparamedic's review against another edition
4.0
A story of family, told from the perspective of Robert & his granddaughter, Kate. Both Robert & Kate have elements of their past that are raising their heads around the time of the family’s festive party. Robert is faced with coming to terms with his involvement in the Boston Tapes & Kate must face her mother for the first time in a long time.
As with Norris’s debut novel, Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain, Turning for Home is beautifully written. A lovely read & one I recommend.
As with Norris’s debut novel, Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain, Turning for Home is beautifully written. A lovely read & one I recommend.
kellyyou_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5