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A review by thebobsphere
Homesick by Jennifer Croft
4.0
The title Homesick, in translator Jennifer Croft’s novel, takes on many meanings and it is worth exploring them as it also helps the reader understand what the book is about.
Essentially, this is a coming of age novel. The book documents the lives of Amy and her younger sister, Zoe. In other words, from A to Z. Early on in the Zoe is diagnosed with a brain tumour. Hence the first example of being sick at home. This leads to the siblings being home educated, with one defining moment where a tutor is asked to come over and teach them Russian and Ukrainian. This leads to another pivotal event which could be caused by another type of sickness.
Eventually Amy, declared a child genius is enrolled in college where the more traditional definition of homesickness occurs at the same time Amy is learning life lessons.
The novel concludes in a heartfelt manner with Amy grown up and reconnecting with Zoe.
Allegedly semi autobiographical and told in vignettes, Homesick is a tale about the power of sibling relationships, both good and bad. Although both sisters are complete opposites they have an unbreakable bond and this is brought out in the novel. There moments of tragedy, other are gently funny and, as stated, the ending is the equivalent of having a hot soup on a cold day. I also appreciated the fact that Jennifer Croft managed to take the coming of age genre and give it a unique spin. The short chapters give the novel a breezy feel but also complexities of Amy and Zoe’s relationship comes out perfectly. My only gripe is that I discovered that the US edition has photographs (as Amy has a polaroid and likes to take pictures) and I think it would have given the Charco edition I have an extra dimension but this is a small quibble as Homesick is an excellent novel.
Essentially, this is a coming of age novel. The book documents the lives of Amy and her younger sister, Zoe. In other words, from A to Z. Early on in the Zoe is diagnosed with a brain tumour. Hence the first example of being sick at home. This leads to the siblings being home educated, with one defining moment where a tutor is asked to come over and teach them Russian and Ukrainian. This leads to another pivotal event which could be caused by another type of sickness.
Eventually Amy, declared a child genius is enrolled in college where the more traditional definition of homesickness occurs at the same time Amy is learning life lessons.
The novel concludes in a heartfelt manner with Amy grown up and reconnecting with Zoe.
Allegedly semi autobiographical and told in vignettes, Homesick is a tale about the power of sibling relationships, both good and bad. Although both sisters are complete opposites they have an unbreakable bond and this is brought out in the novel. There moments of tragedy, other are gently funny and, as stated, the ending is the equivalent of having a hot soup on a cold day. I also appreciated the fact that Jennifer Croft managed to take the coming of age genre and give it a unique spin. The short chapters give the novel a breezy feel but also complexities of Amy and Zoe’s relationship comes out perfectly. My only gripe is that I discovered that the US edition has photographs (as Amy has a polaroid and likes to take pictures) and I think it would have given the Charco edition I have an extra dimension but this is a small quibble as Homesick is an excellent novel.