The Road Home: From the Sunday Times bestselling author

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Lev’s friend Rudi is a more lighthearted Eastern European who longs for the amenities of the West. In what ways do Lev and Lydia, too, seek pleasure? Considering Lev’s abiding love for his late wife, is his relationship with Sophie surprising to you? How is he conflicted about the liberties the urban West has to offer? Bit by bit, Lev gets himself on his feet and so begins a peripatetic, sometimes comic, often painful, journey through London, which Tremain uses to illustrate broader themes: how it really feels to be a foreigner and the rage that being dependent on others can induce. Lev is rescued from the streets by Lydia, who is now staying in the comparative paradise of Muswell Hill with Tom, an English psychotherapist, and Tom's girlfriend, Larissa, a yoga teacher from Lev and Lydia's country. Tremain handles this culture clash with adroitness and humour: sitting on Tom's lavatory, Lev relieves himself 'as quietly as he could. The idea that he was taking a shit in the flat of an English psychotherapist made him feel very mildly afraid'.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain | Goodreads The Road Home by Rose Tremain | Goodreads

As is the experience of the majority of the immigrant population, Lev is sceptical of his destination and is emotionally attached to his own country, which he thinks will continue to be the place where his heart is. The constant need for a cigarette, while obviously a result of his addiction, is also reflective of his underlying anxiety as people who are dependent on a substance usually feel the need to consume them during stressful situations. The momentary comfort of the cigarette is not only the sole source of comfort that he can hope for in this daunting journey, but it also provides him with a sense of familiarity, being one of the few remaining physical connections to his life in Auror.

Lydia paused in her knitting. She held the 'jumper' up to her chest, to see how much further she had to go before casting off for the shoulder seam. She said: 'Now I'm interested in that journey. Did you reach your home?' Sleeping upright was not something Lev was practised in. The old seemed to be able to do it, but forty-two was not yet old. Lev’s father, Stefan, sometimes used to sleep upright, in summer, on a hard wooden chair in his lunch break at the Baryn sawmill, with the hot sun falling onto the slices of sausage wrapped in paper on his knee and onto his flask of tea.’ He falls for a young, plump kitchen worker in an upmarket restaurant where he does the washing up. She speaks of 'emporia'! Really? I doubt she'd know the word, and if she did, she'd say 'emporiums'. There is something astonishingly cloth-eared in the dialogue, as if all the accents and dialect Tremain gives her characters came out of a handbook. Death of a Partner – The other theme that the chapter focuses on is the experience of losing one’s partner, through Lev’s memories of his dead wife, Marina. Theirs was a loving marriage, and consequently, Lev is traumatised by her death, feeling guilty about being alive despite her death and not being able to face his own reflection. Significant Cigarettes | Characters There is so much in the media about immigration these days, sadly, much of it giving a very negative view, and quoting soulless numbers and statistics, but how often do we get to meet the people who make up those numbers?

The Road Home: From the Sunday Times bestselling author

Rose Tremain has said that she was advised against making The Road Home“too glum.” How does she use humor to lighten Lev’s trials? Which scenes did you find particularly funny?Yes,' said Lev. 'By dawn we were there. We were pretty tired. Well, we were very tired. And the gas tank was almost empty. That car's so greedy it's going to bankrupt Rudi.' Tremain is clearly a talented writer with very descriptive writing, good dialogue, good pacing (I found the story enjoyable and interesting albeit not compelling) and the ability for good and complex characterisation and story line. The descriptions of the restaurant were surprisingly engaging (unlike the modern art and plays described), Rudi a strong character (although his complete breakdown when the dam is proposed in contrast to his usual confidence is not really explored) and Ina’s ability to make Lev guilty and downcast well portrayed. Finally, after many ups and downs, Lev develops a compelling vision to sustain him, as yet another splendid novel by Rose Tremain wends towards its moving and satisfying climax. We immediately learn that Lydia is highly educated, as she was a teacher. She struggles to understand Lev’s informalities: This is the tale of Lev an immigrant from an unnamed Eastern European accession country comes to London to seek his fortune, He is 42, his wife has recently died and he leaves his daughter, Maya with his mother. There is an element of the fairy tale about this and we see London as a foreign and unfamiliar land through Lev’s eyes.

The Road Home Summary | SuperSummary

If that were all, I would have said this was an average story told in an above average way and moved on. However, that isn't all. More than once I read things in this otherwise average story that still make my skin crawl just thinking about them. Our main character nearly strangles his romantic interest at a party, and later forces himself on her in a child's bedroom. It's left intentionally unclear whether or not the act was consensual. He laments to his friend that he's pretty sure he raped this woman, but this is met with little more than an "oh, darn", and the book fully expects us to still be sympathetic to his character. This extract is the start of the novel. Lev is on a bus from Eastern Europe to London. He is alone in the beginning but then he starts talking to Lydia, who is sat next to him. Lev tells us about his unemployment and that he decided to go to London to support his family. context In terms of writing - the characterisation is second to none and the pathos is interrupted with some truely hilarious set pieces that dont seem too convulted. The mobile ringing in a concert performance was one such moment. Informal language is language that is not perceived to be grammatically correct, whilst formal language is the standard form. Tremain...has written a worthy addition to the growing body of work centered on the loneliness and frustration of the immigrant experience." - Library Journal.Newcomer Lev's mobile phone rings during the opening of a fancy classical concert; he runs away. Mortifyingly idiotic. Rose Tremain's prodigious talents as a prose writer are on full display in The Road Home, and her novel never loses sight of what is truly important in the lives we lead. The labor in a restaurant kitchen is realistically depicted by Rose Tremain, as is the hard work of those immigrants who grow and harvest the food served. Were you surprised by the various demands of both endeavors? How does Lev use his low-end jobs to inspire and achieve his dream of returning home?