Scan barcode
peterp3's review against another edition
5.0
Very well written. This is an intriguing blend of soul-searching introspection by the author searching for her roots and for meaning in life, combined with a powerful critique of the impact of Britains’s deep-rooted system of property ownership, which gives far too much power to those that own property, at the expense of those who don’t.
yveeruth's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
snoakes7001's review against another edition
5.0
Homesick is the story of how Catrina Davies wound up living in a shed in West Cornwall. Stuck in Bristol doing grinding work for the minimum wage, she longed for the Cornwall of her childhood and dreamed of being a writer and musician. At a time when much of the publishing industry is wringing its hands at the lack of working class voices in literature it's a timely reminder that, for most people, security comes before art. If you have to work your fingers to the bone to keep a roof over your head, you have little time or energy to work on anything else, however fulfilling it might be.
Reading this gave me mixed emotions. First there's the inevitable anger at the injustice of our current system. The housing crisis that existed in Cornwall when Catrina wrote this book has intensified hugely since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Holiday homes are left empty for much of the year, private landlords make fortunes from people who scrape a living in low paid seasonal work, there is nowhere near enough social housing, and the laughably named affordable housing that is being squeezed into ever last bit of green space is poorly constructed and out of reach of most people living and working in the county. It's always been a given that Cornish residents will tolerate lower wages for the bonus of living in a beautiful place, but now that it is possible to work remotely and earn a higher wage from an upcountry firm the demand for, and therefore the price of, housing is rocketing.
Alongside the anger and sadness, I also suffered huge waves of jealousy for I totally understand the hiraeth that brought her home. I was fortunate enough to live in West Cornwall for a few years and when I left, a part of my soul stayed lodged on the windswept cliffs. And while we would never swap our home for such basic accommodation as a shed, the compromise we had to make in order to own a home was to move away from the coast into the once industrial heartland of the county.
Catrina is an engaging and vibrant companion, and happily things seem to be working out for her personally. Homesick is a very personal journey through the housing crisis and well worth reading.
Reading this gave me mixed emotions. First there's the inevitable anger at the injustice of our current system. The housing crisis that existed in Cornwall when Catrina wrote this book has intensified hugely since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Holiday homes are left empty for much of the year, private landlords make fortunes from people who scrape a living in low paid seasonal work, there is nowhere near enough social housing, and the laughably named affordable housing that is being squeezed into ever last bit of green space is poorly constructed and out of reach of most people living and working in the county. It's always been a given that Cornish residents will tolerate lower wages for the bonus of living in a beautiful place, but now that it is possible to work remotely and earn a higher wage from an upcountry firm the demand for, and therefore the price of, housing is rocketing.
Alongside the anger and sadness, I also suffered huge waves of jealousy for I totally understand the hiraeth that brought her home. I was fortunate enough to live in West Cornwall for a few years and when I left, a part of my soul stayed lodged on the windswept cliffs. And while we would never swap our home for such basic accommodation as a shed, the compromise we had to make in order to own a home was to move away from the coast into the once industrial heartland of the county.
Catrina is an engaging and vibrant companion, and happily things seem to be working out for her personally. Homesick is a very personal journey through the housing crisis and well worth reading.
angie1306's review against another edition
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed the imagery of the shed and Catrina's life and friends in Cornwall. I didn't particularly enjoy all the political references.