The Homemade God

The Homemade God

A Novel

About the Book

With sparkling wit and insight, this powerful new novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry reminds us that family is everything, even when it falls apart.

There is a heatwave across Europe, and four siblings have gathered at their family’s lake house to seek answers about their father, a famous artist, who recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his long-awaited masterpiece.

Now he is dead. And there is no sign of his final painting.

As the siblings try to piece together what happened, they spend the summer in a state of lawlessness: living under the same roof for the first time in decades, forced to confront the buried wounds they incurred as his children, and waiting for answers. Though they have always been close, the things they learn that summer—about themselves, and their father—will drive them apart before they can truly understand his legacy. Meanwhile, their stepmother’s enigmatic presence looms over the house. Is she the force that will finally destroy the family for good?

Wonderfully atmospheric, at heart this is a novel about the bonds of siblinghood—what happens when they splinter, and what it might take to reconnect them.
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Praise for The Homemade God

“Sparkling and addictive . . . Rachel Joyce is so incredibly good and wise on families and siblings, pacing out a story’s secrets so that you have to read one more page. I couldn’t love it more.”—Harriet Evans, author of The Stargazers

The Homemade God is an enthralling, thought-provoking, layered novel, seamed with a delicious dark humour. And, as in all the best redemptive stories, through the rubble of grief glimmers hope, acceptance and love. Truly wonderful.”—Sarah Winman, author of Still Life

“Lyrical, shrewd and, ultimately, as indecently satisfying as a four-course Italian lunch, The Homemade God tells of four siblings surviving an artist father none can admit is a talentless monster and how the fallout of his death obliges each to shatter and rebuild their life. My life is a little emptier now that it’s over.”—Patrick Gale, author of A Place Called Winter

“A new novel by Rachel Joyce is always a cause for celebration and this was no exception. This terrific novel absolutely refused to be cozy and provided all sorts of misdirections and a sense of foreboding throughout. At first I could hear echoes of My Cousin Rachel and feel my anxieties and sympathies being expertly manipulated as I tried to work out whom I was rooting for, but it was so much more subtle than that—none of the characters are wholly good or bad or dislikeable, because Rachel always shows us why they behave as they do. The missing picture was a neat image of the siblings’ struggles to see their childhood with any kind of clarity. Another triumph of insight and empathy!”—Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

The Homemade God is a beautiful portrayal of family, art, and the things we inherit from our parents, both creative and emotional. Joyce writes with great emotional acuity about the complexity of sibling relationships in a richly woven family drama, with all of Joyce’s trademark compassion and insight. It’s a wonderful piece of storytelling.”—Hannah Beckerman, author of The Forgetting

“Rachel Joyce’s latest novel is an absolute humdinger. Gripping, atmospheric, psychologically rich storytelling that gets to the absolute heart of parental love and loss. It’s also very funny. I haven’t been able to put it down.”—Emily Howes, author of The Painter’s Daughters
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About the Author

Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and Perfect. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was short-listed for the Commonwealth Book Prize and long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and has been translated into thirty-six languages. Joyce was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards New Writer of the Year in 2012. She is also the author of the digital short story A Faraway Smell of Lemon and is the award-winning writer of more than thirty original afternoon plays and classic adaptations for BBC Radio 4. Rachel Joyce lives with her family in Gloucestershire.

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