Home Fires

by Elizabeth Day

A stunning, delicate portrait of a family bookended by war, Home Fires explores the legacy of loss, the strictures of class and the long road to redemption.


Max Weston, twenty-one, leaves for his first army posting in central Africa. What happens to him changes the lives of his family forever. At home, his parents struggle to cope. The overwhelming love Caroline has always felt for her only child is now matched by the intensity of Max's absence. The silence is broken by the arrival of Caroline's mother-in-law, Elsa, who at the age of ninety-eight can no longer look after herself. After years of living in fear of putting a foot wrong in front of this elegant, cuttingly courteous lady, finally, Caroline has the upper hand.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Psychological, Historical, British Literature, Adult Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2013

About the author

Elizabeth Day is the author of The Party and other books, as well as one of the most influential podcasters at work today. Her show, How to Fail, has become a go-to hitmaker, launching authors such as Meg Mason and Glennon Doyle onto the bestseller list in the UK. She divides her time between London and Los Angeles.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Elsa is a young girl when her father returns from the war, a man much changed, prone to fits of anger and despair. A father Elsa no longer knows and a father of whom she is scared.

We again meet Elsa years later as an old woman whose mind is being taken over by Alzheimer, and we travel with her as she sees things through a different and corrosive lens of this disease.

Andrew and Caroline have only had one son, a son who is declared dead after his first posting in the army.

All these events connect in this intense but gently told story. The effects of shell shock on our veterans throughout the years and all the wars. One of the most poignant and powerful rendering of a mother's grief at the loss of her son. A travel through the mind of Alzheimers and a frightening look at the confusion and forgetfulness of the sufferer. An intense look at the effects of war on all involved. Yet life must go on for the living and these characters must find a way to do just that.

ARC from NetGalley.

[☕Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caroline Weston has lost her only son, Max, aged 21, in the Sudanese conflict. Still reeling with grief, she learns that her 98 year old mother-in-law, Elsa, increasingly incapacitated both mentally and physically, will be coming to live with her and her husband Andrew. Elsa, as she feels her memories, her independence and her very self slipping away, is haunted by recollections of her own father, who returned from WWI a broken man.

This is a beautifully told narrative of family, love, loss, war, anger, fear and regret, which eloquently depicts one family's story through glimpses into four generations.

[Maryna Zamiatina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Очень хорошая грустная книга о сыновьях, мужьях и отцах, которые возвращаются или не возвращаются с войны и о женщинах с разбитым сердцем. Заодно о классах и свекровях.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a novel that spans the years from the close of World War One to a modern war in The Sudan, we see the effects of battle on one extended British family's life over generations in subtle, but meaningful ways. The story is essentially that of Elsa, a small child when her father returns from the "Great" War, her son Andrew and his wife Caroline, and, to a lesser extent, their son Max. This is a novel of relationships, of attempts to live with and understand (or not) others, to deal with what life throws at you and some how move on.

Elizabeth Day does what I find to be an excellent job of moving inside her characters, presenting their thoughts and emotions, their visceral reactions in what seem very real ways. This is a largely interior novel so any reader looking for action will be disappointed. Those looking for studies of character, aging, loss, will find much to enjoy although much that is also sad.

A very strong 4 to 4.5 rating

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher for review through NetGalley.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd probably give it 3.5 as it's really well written but in the end a bit slight in terms of plot for me. I read it in one sitting but I wouldn't call it a page-turner.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

horrendous subject matter sensitively dealt with. It never quite gelled for me though

[Hayley Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Well constructed, not overworked and interesting critique on family life.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home Fires is the story of two women, Elsa who was born during the First World War and Caroline who is her daughter-in-law. Both women had their lives defined by war. Elsa's father returned to the daughter he didn't know a damaged and brutal man. Caroline's son Max decided to join the army.

The story is gentle but powerful, full of richness with the intensity of feelings, and what can happen when the layers of finesse are stripped back. All the relationships in this book are authentic; Elsa's with her daughter-in-law, Elsa with her Grandson, Caroline's suffocating love of her only child Max and her shifting love for her husband Andrew are familiar yet unique. Told in narrative by Caroline in the present day and Elsa in flashbacks to the 1920's this is a sumptuous book full of detail as well as touching without being mawkish.

I read Scissors, Paper, Stone and thoroughly enjoyed it and Elizabeth Day has proved herself to be an author to watch for those of us who enjoy depth and a deft hand with difficult subjects

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am ambivalent about this book. The story is mainly told from the point of view of two women, Caroline and Isla and Andrew, the husband of Caroline and son of Isla. Isla story describes her relationship with an abusive father who returns from WWI suffering from shell shock, her coldness and her ultimate decline into old-age and dementia. Caroline struggles with the death of a loved son blown up by an IED in Sudan while Andrew struggles to deal with the two women he loves, his declining mother and grieving wife. The story is unrelentingly depressing and as it is told from different points of view in different time frames is also confusing to follow. Despite this, the writing is beautiful and the issues discussed are moving although disturbing.

[Christopher Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written and sensitive book about a couple who lose their only son when he joins the Army and is blown up by a landmine on his first deployment. A parallel story involves the mother of the father who is 98 and suffering from increasing health problems following a stroke. Her own childhood had been affected adversely when her father returned from the First World War suffering from likely PTSD. Not quite sure how the relevance of this to the main story was meant to be seen but the pain and damage to a marriage caused by the loss of a child are starkly portrayed.

[mrs kindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK but not as good as others by the same author, in my opinion. I would have liked more information on the father returned from WW1 and how this had such a massive impact on Elsa. Where was Alice and why did she not protect Elsa. I think that the father’s character could have been written more sympathetically. Caroline comes across as an unformed and very shallow person. The ending all seemed a little rushed as if the author had got fed up with writing and just wanted the book to end.

[Pat B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished Home Fires by Elizabeth Day. Her novel took me into the heart of a woman’s grief after her son died in combat. I did not agree that the arrival of her ailing mother-in-law filled a gap; it only complicated her grief. She got obsessed with Max’s inadequate body armor and was sure there was a conspiracy to keep her son unprotected to save the government money. Her pain was made so real that I wanted to stop reading.

The same morning that I finished the book I read a Washington Post article by Robert H. Scales, a retired Army major general. He recounted how 50 years ago he was with his buddy in Vietnam when he was killed by a cheap IED, a few weeks before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. He reflected, “Today, the president’s budget contains hundreds of billions for missiles, fighter jets, satellites and exotic electronics. But most Americans who die at the hands of the enemy die from cheap things such as mortars, IEDs and AK-47s. Perhaps we should do more to shield those in harm’s way from death by cheap things.”

The 2 readings spoke with one powerful voice. I can begin to understand how losing your child to crazy wartime events can enrage a mother. I did not raise sons, but I can understand how being so powerless can turn to rage. Unfortunately, when you’re enraged, you’re not open to the comfort that is available to you.

[El · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Day writes beautifully and knows how to tell a story. This work relates the experiences of a family adversely affected by wars: Elsa, the victim of her father's Great War experiences and Caroline, mother of a son killed in the modern Sudanese conflict. We see the consequences of war on those who are not directly involved in it. Elsa suffers great abuse from her father and Caroline's all-consuming grief at the death of her only, beloved son threatens to destroy her world. Elsa, nearing the end of her life, is suffering from Alzheimer's and the depiction of this condition is unerring and hard to read. However, I felt that there was an imbalance in the telling of this tale, that we needed to know more about why Elsa's father behaved the way he did and why her mother didn't defend Elsa from his actions. The story, for me, lacked depth in certain areas. Max was shown through his mother's eyes but not enough through his own. And the ending was rushed. It needed more detail, more elaboration. On the whole, though, I found this work an interesting study of grief and would recommend it.

[Frank Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a story about the impact of war and the loss that comes from it in ways other than death, it is essentially about family relationships. The story spans several decades and is told through the eyes of the three main characters, dealing with the effects war and loss. Topics also include the impact of Alzheimer's and parental relationship breakdown that can come from the loss of a child, in this case in the war in Sudan.
I found the narrative rambling, at times, and the ending seemed rushed - although I was pleased when the book ended. There was not a great deal to encourage me to turn pages but i wanted to read it to the end having started it. The last quarter of the novel became particularly laboured and the author seemed to lose her way.
Definitely not as well written as The Party but really neither has huge narrative appeal. Having said that, Day does write well in terms of description - hence the three star rating.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intense, almost claustrophobic at times, exploration of social class, parental and marital relationships, shame, loss, grief and the mourning process, as well as the long-lasting effects of dysfunctional relationships and traumatic experiences. The author's psychological insights and incisive observations of the three main characters behaviour and interactions capture the insidiously destructive nature of spoken, and unspoken, truths as they renegotiate their relationships following the death of son/grandson, twenty-one year old Max, recently killed by a landmine whilst serving in the army. The economy of the author's prose serves to intensify the almost unbearably poignant sadness which is central to this moving story but I know that it's one which will remain in my memory for a long time.

[Librat · Rating 3 out of 5]

parallel stories of Caroline, her husband Alexander, their relationship (she is from lower class and always feels inferior to his mother), and Alexander's mother Elsa suffering from childhood of harsh fathering and worsening Alzheimer's, plus each of their appreciation of Max beloved son/grandson and mourning his death in combat

[Ruth Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Elizabeth’s writing. Her prose is so beautiful, even when dealing with difficult or upsetting scenes. The way in which she presented the characters, flitting back and forth, made for quite the emotional ride as I fell in and out of love for each individual. By the end of the book, I think all three of them had a place in my heart!

[Bookshop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly engaging although some plots can be expanded to provide a more satisfying read. Eg: what happened to Elsa's father during the war was too brief to explain his behaviour; Max's chacater was focuses from the point of view of Caroline but not Max himself. But overall, a surprisingly good read. Finished in one sitting.

[Moira Gibbons · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry but I did not enjoy this book at all! The story was bland, boring & virtually non-existent. The characters were one-dimensional, unrelateable and unlikable. The only positive thing I can say is that Elizabeth Day has a good writing style and given a good plot, has potential to produce a good story but sadly, this is not it.

[Sara Rourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Magpie written by the same author, so went on the search for other books by her. This one is an earlier book, and I had no expectations when I started it. The author brings you right into each character as if you were there. There is a lot of grief in this story, which I think would be hard to read about if you have recently lost someone

[Rosemary C. Fellmeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat predictable

From all of the reviews I expected Homefires to be terrific. It was ok. Predictable. At time I was somewhat bored with the story. Would have loved for the story to be about Elsa. She was the most believable character.

[Merrilie Rowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really disliked "The Party" so it was with mixed feelings that I brought this home from the library. I just couldn't put it down. Some very insightful writing about death and loss and I found myself totally engrossed in the stories of the different family members.

[Lizzie Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mesmerising story of how trauma affects the lives of those around it in mysterious ways.

Beautifully written, I was hooked from the very first chapter and the characters are so well designed and flawed in unique ways.

100% reccomend and I'll be rereading this one for sure.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just an OK book for me-Maybe the subject was a little too depressing for post-Christmas reading. I just did not feel the characters wer real people and some of the situations were just too unrealistic.

[Madkindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting about grief and desire for retribution. Son killed as soldier. Mother wants justice.

[Karen Bahal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home Fires explores the emotions and feeling of those who are affected by wars past and present.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storylines don’t really develop and there’s a weak conclusion.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book I've read and enjoyed by this author. Her writing is fab.

[Fatmah H. · Rating 1 out of 5]

the only interesting part of this book was the chapters related to elsa but overall it was a boring book and I forced myself to finish it.

[renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small but intense novel.. The Happy Endings of her stories begin to annoy me, but this was worth my time and energy