Going Home (Hardcover)

"Boy-made-good Tâeo Erskine is back in the north London suburb of his youth, visiting his father--stubborn, selfish, complicated Vic. Things have changed for Tâeo: he's got a steady job, a brand-new car, and a London flat all concrete and glass. ... Except, underneath the surface, not much has changed at all. He's still the boy seeking his father's approval; still the young man playing late-night poker with his best friend--unreliable, infuriating Ben Mossam; still the one desperately in love with the enigmatic Lia. Lia's life, on the other hand, has been transformed: now a single mother to two-year-old Joel, she doesn't have time for anyone--not even herself. When the unthinkable happens, Joel finds himself at the center of a strange constellation of men--Tâeo, Vic, Ben--none of whom is fully equipped to look after him, but whose strange, tentative attempts at love might just be enough to offer him a new place to call home"-- Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men--all of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhood--take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss

Téo Erskine, now in his thirties, has moved on from childish things: He has a good job, a slick apartment in London, and when he heads back to the suburbs on the occasional weekend to visit his old friends, he makes sure everyone knows he can afford to pick up the tab. So what if he asks a few too many questions about Lia, the girl of their group, wondering if she will come out, if she's seeing anyone, if she might give him another shot? Téo is hazily aware that something possibly happened between Lia and Ben Mossam, Téo's closest friend and his greatest annoyance, but he can't bring himself to ask. Lia, meanwhile, has no time to indulge their rivalry. She's now the single mother of a toddler son, a kid named Joel that Téo occasionally (and halfheartedly) offers to babysit.

Téo is home for one such weekend when the unthinkable happens--a tragedy in the heart of their group--and he suddenly finds himself the unlikely guardian for little Joel. Together with his father, Vic, Ben Mossam, and Sybil, Lia's beguiling rabbi, they bide time until they can find a proper home for Joel, teaching him to play video games, plying him with chicken nuggets and waffles, and learning to sing him lullabies at night. But when a juvenile mistake leads to a terrible betrayal, Téo must decide what kind of man he wants to be. Wise, relatable, and blissfully laugh-out-loud funny, Going Home is a captivating first novel that explores the mysterious ways children can force us to grow up fast while simultaneously keeping us young forever.