The Road Home - Books (Rose Tremain, Hardcover)

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Customer Reviews of The Road Home

21st November 2008

how did he ?
Hey guys , I read the book but from my own experience in learning a foreign language i found it a bit too strange for Lev to learn english
so quickly as he learned . I mean , at first he couldnt even speak but after a short time he was fluent in the language already ?

mrs_ratbert
Brighton, UK
21st November 2008

A gripping story but sometimes inauthentic
This is a gripping story with lots of great characters and motivations bubbling under the surface. I thought the beginning, when Lev first arrives in the UK, was cleverly balanced - I was constantly surprised by him, and wondering what characters to trust and what on earth was going to happen next, and the same could be said of the ending: it's exactly what you want to happen, but still comes as a surprise.

In criticism, I'm not sure the male narration always comes across as authentic - for the most part its done well, but there are a few sections when some facets of Lev's thinking just screamed female to me.

All in all an excellent read, highly recommended as good escapism.

Mariam Zahedi
London - UK
10th November 2008

Entertaining Read, But Unoriginal and Easily Forgotten
I'm stuck between giving this book a 2 star rating (because, I know that in a few hours time I'll never think about it, or any of the characters again), or a 4 star rating (because, despite it's faults, it did provide me with entertainment for the past few days). So I think I'll settle with a cowardly 3/5, though, if I'm honest, it probably deserves less.

I feel that Tremain had all the foundations for a brilliant, life altering, inspiring + revitilasing novel, but realised none of these opportunites and instead decided to tell a stereotyped story with no originality or new depths, purely a piece of toss-away fiction. All the characters had been done 1000000000 times before, there was no originaliy to be drawn from anywhere. Lev, the hard workng immigrant sending money home to his family. Ina, the mother set in her old ways. Christy, the irish drunk. Marina, the perfect, beautiful wife etc. The only character to really intrigue me was Lev's best friend Rudi, but we didn't see or hear enough of him for his personality to save the day.

And the stereotypes don't end there either. London is described in it's worst possible light (why do writers think that being negative about everything is the only way to be original?!), why almost every single person Lev meets is fat I don't know, for, as a Londoner myself I can undoubtlebly say that though though there over-weight people in this country, there are far more people of healthy weight walking the streets of London as well. And it's not as if only the UK and US have over-weight citizens either, and I also say this as someone who's parents immigrated from the middle-east 20 years ago and have returned there on holidays every few years since I was born.

Then theres the fact that Lev seems to be a girl (and guy)-magnet, though he is certainly not the youngest or fittest spanner in the box, and has grey hair. Yes, a handsome face does wonders but does not mean that every woman you meet (specially younger ones) want to sleep with you. Jeez! And then theres the fact that people from different cultures all, every single one of them, seem to embody the stereotypes of their cultures rather than be characters in their own right. I've already mentioned Christy, the irish heavy drinker. There are two indian women in this book, both of who wear sari's on a constant basis (as if once you move to another country you can't buy a new change of clothes), Sophie, the typical brit chick who is easy to bed and only after a famous boyfriend, then Simone, a young black girl who writes menus with 'street' language as if she doesn't know how to talk otherwise. It's actually quite insulting to analyse and makes me think that perhaps I should have given the book a 2 star rating.

The plot can't be taken all that seriously either (I am especially peeved with how Tremain treated Lev and the two chinese boys relationship), with Lev getting far more than his fair share of good luck with regards to chances, moeny, jobs, friends etc. But what can I say, perhaps that's how Tremain meant the novel to feel like, a feel-good book, not to be taken seriously at all. Then why pick such an emotive, interesting backdrop to set her story upon?! Who knows.

As I've said, the books ok, it's entertaining, it sweeps you away with the characters, but once you put it down you firget about Lev, Christy, Rudi etc immediately and I don't think I;ll be re-reading this one again. Not worth my time.

S. Golding
Sheffield UK
9th November 2008

Enjoyable read but not my favourite Rose Tremain novel
I enjoyed this book, however, out of the four Rose Tremain novels that I've read, this is my least favourite.

I couldn't understand why Levs' home country was fictional, and felt that the only reason could be was that Tremain couldn't be bothered to do her research this time, and did she feel obliged to bang a story out quickly simply to please her agent and readers?

The approach taken with 'The Road Home' is in stark contrast to, for example, 'Music and Silence' which, in my view, was so well researched, and well written that whilst immersed in it's pages I almost felt as if I were a part of the story.

Like I said though, I found 'The Road Home' to be an enjoyable read, just more on a par with the chick-lit style holiday novels one usually finds in the airport departure lounge book shops.

Emma Louise Burgess
Ibiza
9th November 2008

A surprisingly good read
Having never read a Rose Tremain book before, I was slightly off put by the title and cover of the book - but as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. I was truly caught up in the trials and tribulations of Lev, who struggles, and succeeds in some ways to "make it" in London as a Polish migrant worker. Armed with very few English words - "I am legal", "May I help you", he faces many difficult times before he is helped out by people he meets along the way. A great read with a fantastic cast of characters.