Home is a Made-Up Place

by Ronit Plank

Home is a Made-Up Place invites readers into the lives of people grappling with emotional injuries and confronting the past to become who they wish to be.

Set in NYC, the PNW, New England, the Southwest, and rural Alaska, a single mother fights to protect her son, a daughter tries to forget her missing mother, a couple struggles to keep a marriage together and their children safe, and a family must face the truth about their father.

Bracing and intimate, Home is a Made-Up Place is a collection of stories about fighting for personal power, recognizing the difference between what can and cannot be changed, and the pull of familial attachments despite the toll they might take.

Home is a Made-Up Place was named winner of Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award for short fiction. Stories in this collection earned awards, honors, and special mentions in journals including The Iowa Review, Hunger Mountain, Narrative, Third Coast, and American Literary Review.

Genres: Fiction, Relationships, Short Stories, Contemporary

150 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2023

About the author

Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations.

Her weekly podcast LET'S TALK MEMOIR features interviews with memoirists and writing teachers about craft, the creative process, and the writing life and is available on all podcast platforms. LET'S TALK MEMOIR is also a free newsletter on Substack.

Kirkus Reviews calls Ronit's debut memoir When She Comes Back “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". When She Comes Back was named a Book Riot Best True Crime Book, won a 2022 Book Excellence Award and was named Finalist for memoir in the Housatonic Book Awards, Best Book Awards, and other indie awards.

Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review and teaches memoir widely.

Find links to her writing, upcoming workshops, and other projects at www.ronitplank.com and on social media @ronitplank.

Reviews

[Nursebookie]

TITLE: HOME IS A MADE UP PLACE
AUTHOR: Ronit Plank
PUB DATE: 02.28.2023 Now Available

REVIEW:
Home is a Made-Up Place is a collection of short stories that captures a snapshot into the intimate lives of people’s hopes, fears, dreams, disappointments, and sometimes the surprising strength that surface when it’s called upon.

I found each of the short stories a compelling read in awe of how quickly Ronit Plank immerses the readers in the midst of the story, swiftly introduces the characters, and in a mere few pages, the reader is already rooting and invested into the lives of these characters.

Whether it be a mother doing her best for a child riddled with skin ulcers, or a mother in the middle of Alaska wilderness with an absentee father surviving the elements, a disappointing father, or the story of a man in a moral dilemma whose eyes opened after his job in sales causes a tragedy - each of these stories are thought provoking, unsettling, and whose endings are open to many possibilities.

Amazing collection.
I highly recommend

[David Morgan]

Who, what and where do you call home?
In this collection of short stories the author focuses on this topic. Each story is unique and offers a different glimpse into the lives of the characters in that story. The writing is emotive with richly drawn characters and stories that capture your imagination and feelings. Although this is a relatively small collection, the stories contained within say a lot about the human condition and are also very relatable. I really enjoyed the fact that by its length, (135 pages) I didn't feel rushed and was able to sit with the characters for a while and take my time with their story. I applaud the author for packing such a wallop with each individual story. If you're looking for something thought provoking and whose stories can be read on your break or while waiting for an appointment or your car's oil change, I highly recommend this collection.

Thank you to the author, Motina Books and Suzy Approved Book Tours for the gifted copy and including me on this tour.

[Diane Merritt]

I love short story books and this one was perfect! Each story unique I its own way..
Perfect for a lazy day reading.


Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley

[Gry]

Home is a Made-Up Place by Ronit Plank is a collection of short stories surrounding familial and personal struggles. What first attracted me to this book was the title, which I thought was just beautiful – and the stories inside definitely didn’t disappoint. It’s a shame that I didn’t begin reading short stories until a few months ago, because they might just be my favourite type of stories! The ability to tell interesting stories in just a few pages seems almost magical to me, and Ronit Plank has a gift for it.

My favourite stories were “Not at Home” and “The Plan”. I really love how Plank writes people and especially their emotions and thought processes. I have barely anything critical to say, only that I might have wanted a few of the stories to go on for just a page longer, to get fully interested in the characters. Other than that, I really had a blast reading this!

I’d recommend Home is a Made-Up Place for anyone who enjoys short stories and stories about the human experience. Struggling, whether with family, friends, or something else entirely, is something we’ve all experienced and can relate to – and reading about other people with similar problems is such great catharsis. I hope you’ll check it out and give some support to the author!

As always, Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Alyson]

What a beautiful collection of short stories from Ronit Plank. The book centers around something my life, and I think most of our lives center around, what is family? What is home? How do we know when we've found it? And how do we grow up and into ourselves when we are lacking it?

It's a book that approaches this question from a variety of angles and gives no easy answers, instead offering true and complicated ones. I loved all the different characters and locales and the deep dive into each. I feel like I know these families, some found, some families of origin and the bittersweet complexities baked into being in relationship with people we love, admire, want and need.

Well worth the time. Really enjoyed it.

[Jocelyn Jane Cox]

The stories in Ronit F. Plank's new collection “Home is a Made-Up Place” are ominous yet hopeful. All of them took me on an unexpected ride, but in my two favorite, a young man takes a questionable job in telemarketing in New York City and a young mother tries to make the best of her move to rural Alaska. When faced with difficult situations, they both make bold decisions.

I love the vivid settings here. And the dynamics are crystal clear, but the characters are unmoored, their home or their sense of home is in flux. I get the feeling that, after the story, everything’s about to change…I hope for the better but I’m not quite sure. Highly recommend.

[Jennifer Holloway Jones]

I was first drawn to the cover of this book and think that it really captured the feel of the stories and the people that are definitely struggling during these points in their life. The characters are well written and I became invested in the stories that were told regardless of the length of the story. The description really makes this book stand out and the stories were very cohesive as a group, although very different. I want to definitely read more from this author. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley. This was a great read.

[Pat Fayo Reviews]

In this book you will be introduced to characters who are as intricate and real as your own family. The short stories showcase dysfunctional family situations that many of us have experienced or know others that have, making the stories very relatable. There is love, discord, heartbreak and many other emotions the reader will feel and experience throughout the book. Feelings of loneliness and anxiety are very strong and make these stories very human. Loved the book! The book is probably as real as it gets!.#suzyapprovedbooktours

[Debi]

I held my breath reading this insightful collection. Several times, in the complicated and broken characters Plank reveals, I saw glimpses of the dysfunction of real people I know. Her ability to capture the nuances of gaslighting, fraught moments of ego and fragility, and sudden bursts of clarity in her subjects is uncanny. It’s a collection of stories from the real world, broken and promising all at once.

[Bookish Heidi]

What does home mean to you? Is it a place? A thing? A person? This book gives you glimpses into different aspects of human emotions and really makes you question what home means. Short stories full of depth that bring on the feels in just a few pages.

[Christy Taylor]

This is a powerful collection of short stories. Some gutted me. Some inspired me. All of them tugged at my heartstrings and made me think. The Plan was the one that will stick with me most. What a collection!

[Lisa Grønsund]

I've received an advanced digital copy of this book, courtesy of the author and publisher, via Netgalley, for review consideration.

RTC

[Ronit Plank]

Five stars to celebrate the news that Home is a Made-Up Place is now available for Pre-order in both e-book and paperback. Excited for the official release date on 2.28.23!

[Megsbookclub]

This was released last month and at only 135 pages is a quick read. It’s a fantastic collection of short stories that are all so compelling, emotional and each one very different. I really enjoyed her writing style and knowing that we all question what family means kept me reading straight through.

[Sue]

Whether faced with difficult past or threatening present circumstances, the characters in Plank’s sharply drawn stories, do what they can to to save their relationships, their children, and themselves. I highly recommend this often heartbreaking collection.

[Gry]

Home is a Made-Up Place by Ronit Plank is a collection of short stories surrounding familial and personal struggles. What first attracted me to this book was the title, which I thought was just beautiful – and the stories inside definitely didn’t disappoint. It’s a shame that I didn’t begin reading short stories until a few months ago, because they might just be my favourite type of stories! The ability to tell interesting stories in just a few pages seems almost magical to me, and Ronit Plank has a gift for it.

My favourite stories were “Not at Home” and “The Plan”. I really love how Plank writes people and especially their emotions and thought processes. I have barely anything critical to say, only that I might have wanted a few of the stories to go on for just a page longer, to get fully interested in the characters. Other than that, I really had a blast reading this!

I’d recommend Home is a Made-Up Place for anyone who enjoys short stories and stories about the human experience. Struggling, whether with family, friends, or something else entirely, is something we’ve all experienced and can relate to – and reading about other people with similar problems is such great catharsis. I hope you’ll check it out and give some support to the author!

[Rachel A]

Home is a Made-Up Place is a well-written collection of short stories and I enjoyed reading it. In this short story collection, I am amazed at how Ronit can create so many different stories, characters, and plots and make them all feel equally real and compelling and full. Ronit's short story collection does this so well, making it easy to immerse myself into the lives of each of the protagonists. I felt everything (and maybe more than) they did. Her descriptions make you feel like you are in these places and I really felt transported --this might be my favorite thing about her writing, is how well she paints the scene.

Short stories can be hard because they are too short (duh!) and I always want to know what happened next or I want the story tied up with a "happy ending" bow, but there's also a magic in being able to decide for myself how their stories ended.

[Virginia Alice Crawford]

I love short stories, and this compilation of short stories does not disappoint. Ronit Plank does an excellent job of telling each story in a few short pages. After reading each gripping story, each one with its own surprising plot twist, I was left with a new perspective of family, love, and loss. If you enjoy short stories, I highly recommend Home is a Made-Up Place; you will not be disappointed. Each story is stand-alone, and yet each one encourages you to read the next one and then the next one after that. Once you get started reading, you won’t want to stop.

[Mariam Mirza]

I want all of these short stories to be written as full novels. I don't mind if it takes years but I want it. I don't know how the author did it, but in basically one chapter, they hooked me for each story. The level of depth and ache I felt for the characters was amazing. The heartbreaking feeling for one story, where the mom had to stay for months at a time without her husband.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy!

[Helya]

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴 —𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 / 𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃

✂️ P L O T L I N E
A collection of 6 short stories that are so very different from
One another,yet explore the same questions: What is a home? What is family? How do you find yourself and become who you want to be?

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I was approved for this book on @netgalley a while back, but silly me forgot to download it in time. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to read this book so I had to purchase it! I’m so glad I did. What a beautifully written book. Ronit Plank does wonders with making you feel everything so deeply with so few words. The stories do have ambiguous endings which leaves you to ponder what becomes of these people after the stories end. Not a happy book by any means, but one with so much substance that allows you to examine humanity and what you want for your own life.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Emotional and thought provoking reads that make you reflect on your own life 🤔
💫Identifying trauma, grief, hardships and desperation in humanity 💔
💫Raw and compelling reads that leave a mark on you and keep you wanting more 😢
💫Stories that DO NOT have concrete endings with pretty little bows ❌💝

⚠️Trigger warnings: strained family relationships, loneliness, divorce, child hood trauma⚠️

🍽️𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🍽️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: “𝒮𝑒𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅 𝒾𝓃𝓋𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒.”

[Betty Reed]

From the first sentence to the last, Ronit Plank has infused each short story with palpable tension. In the first story she creates a vivid setting in Alaska with succinct details that say so much more than the object (i.e., the rusted car engine on the front lawn.) The neighbors’ mistreated dogs are a mirror of the husband’s emotional mistreatment of his wife. And we root for her as she frees the dogs. We know then, that she will leave her husband.

In two stories we feel a teenager’s deep longing for her absentee mother, and an adult man’s hardened acceptance of his absentee father. The dialogue is natural and terse, capturing the dysfunctional adults and conflicting feelings they produce. The settings in Arizona, Massachusetts and New York are clearly defined by history and character. I loved the Pittsfield, Massachusetts description: “The poor river looks so cold in February” and “It still has PCB’s from the GE plant that was here thirty years ago.” I can feel the cold, gray dreariness of the town and the teenager’s prospects.

Having read the author’s memoir “When She Comes Back” I expected the author’s attention to structure and craft but was surprised by the variety of the situations and the range of emotional weight every story elicits.

Bravo to Ronit Plank for creating a collection of short stories that will stay with the reader for a long time!

[Susan Ballard (subakkabookstuff)]

It takes an excellent writer to bring forth tension and emotion within just a few pages. So it’s no wonder that Home is a Made-Up Place was named winner of Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award for short fiction.

I found all of these short stories to have a similar tone, one of longing and desperation. Yet each story has unique characters facing different struggles - all scattered across the United States.

These stories deal with relationships and our connections at a very core level. I found myself relating, in some way, to each story. I’ve felt trapped and unloved, like the dogs (and wife) in 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 and wanted to be noticed like the girl in 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦.

𝑨 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and @ronitplank for a spot on tour and a gifted book.

[Catherine Shields]

Ronit Plank’s book, Home is a Made-Up Place, was an intriguing collection of short stories about dysfunctional family situations. Plank masterfully creates these lifelike characters who struggle with challenges and grapple with decisions. The stories are set in different parts of the country, with rich, vividly depicted scenes.

My favorite of her short story collection was “Rick’s Wax Hands.” The author has skillfully illustrated a familiar situation where a woman finally gets fed up and recognizes the ways in which she has trapped herself in her relationship, and bravely decides to seize her power to make a permanent change.

I recommend Home is a Made-Up Place – an enjoyable read from this accomplished author.

[Kara Tatelbaum]

Since I loved Ronit's memoir When She Comes Back, I was really excited to read Home is a Made-Up Place. I'm happy to say it did not disappoint! Ronit drops us into each story with confidence and ease. Her writing style is relaxed and detailed with unexpected twists. I read the whole book in one sitting and even reread the first story twice! Ah! That first story just got me. You have to read it to see.

The stories are so vivid with characters who experience specific and relatable struggles from motherhood, to moving, allergies, and love. Ronit is a writer's writer. It's no surprise she's an integral part of the writing community from her podcasts to coaching. I can't wait to read whatever she's cooking up next!

[Joelle Tamraz]

The stories in this collection are as poignant and suggestive as the broken plate on the book cover. In each, the protagonist tries to find that elusive, symbolic place we call home while wrestling with a lack of safety and belonging.

The last story, “The Plan,” is a particularly powerful read for someone who has experienced the deceptive nature of the personal development industry.

I picked up this collection after reading the author’s memoir, and I’m so glad I did. Her fiction is as moving as her life writing. I normally prefer immersing myself in a longer book, but these stories were such a pleasure to read. Highly recommend!

[Debbie Rozier]

This is a collection of 6 short stories that all hard hitting looks at life and relationships. Each story shares feelings of unfulfilled yearnings in very different settings and among very different characters.

All of the stories are great, but the last story titled “The Plan” about a man working in a high pressure sales job was my favorite. In this world of instant fixes, I thought that this story felt very relevant.

The collection won the Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award for short fiction.

[Kim]

This is an intimate and thought-provoking collection of short stories that paints in detail the emotional lives of its characters, as well as the situations in which they find themselves. Each protagonist is lovely and vulnerable; each goes through a sudden realization about the most important people in their lives; and each must decide, in some way, what to do next. Self-awareness and reliance are themes, and so is loss, resilience, love for oneself and one's children, and hope. Highly recommend.

[Alice Ikeda]

This collection of stories feel like the composer Debussy's musical subject of "the sea". Like the waves of his music, Plank's writing forms a powerful surge of undulating emotion and melancholy. Beautifully written, the characters in these stories live the imperfect lives that most of us live but instead airbrushing the pain into an idealized reality, they struggle to find power in those imperfections. A read that will pull at emotions that can be deeply buried.

[Stephanie Weaver]

I have two confessions. The first is that my concentration has been TERRIBLE for months and I hadn’t read a book in nearly a year. The second is that I didn’t think I liked short stories. Turns out, short stories are mini novels AND they are perfect for people with trouble concentrating. And THIS collection is just phenomenal!

[Kelly Kilpatrick]

Such an emotional and thought provoking read! At 135 pages this was a quick read with very relatable short stories. The characters were well written and made me want to continue on with each story. The stories show different types of dysfunctional families and not everything is always what it seems. I’m really excited to see what else comes from Ronit. Of the stories, The Plan was my favorite!