Belonging: Home Away from Home

by Isabel Huggan

Book by ISABEL HUGGAN

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Canada, Travel

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Isabel Huggan (born 1943, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), is a prize-winning Canadian author of fiction and personal essays.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is wonderful!

the majority of the book is a memoir of place - the search for home. not just the physical: the location and the structure, but also the feeling. feeling one is home is a big deal. at least it is to me, anyway. it's been something i have been hoping to find my whole life.

huggan gives voice to this search, this sensation and does it so beautifully and naturally. there's a lot of excavation of memory that goes on in the telling and it felt very much like i was just listening to huggan in conversation. also contained in the story are small snippets of huggan's writing life, something i really appreciated. at the end of the memoir, 3 short stories are included and for me they were a bit of a revelation. i always feel like i don't 'get' short stories - that i have either been left hanging (THAT'S IT??) or that i have missed something (WHAT HAPPENED?). here, these three short stories are each like a wee vignette - nothing major happens, but a slice of life is examined.

i think this will be a book i buy and give to people. a lot. it was an affecting read.

[Avery Moffatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the privilege of meeting this author in the Toronto airport in September, introduced through the discussion of good books while waiting for our flights. Through our brief discussions then and now reading this book, I have decided Isabel is one of the coolest people I have ever met. Her wisdom, kindness and appreciation for life fills the pages of her memoir chapters and her talent for writing is evident in her short stories. The life experience she has is incredible, as she has lived all over the world, and I loved learning through her eyes. I really enjoyed this book because it felt like we were back in the airport sharing stories again, and my personal connection made this read extra special.

[Marina Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentle and wise, combines rationality with emotions and captures perfectly the life of a global nomad and that tricky question about home. Mordant wit, lyrical intensity and a genuine openness, curiosity and desire to understand. Beautiful.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Nonfiction, Travel, Canadian)

Canadian author Isabel Huggan & her husband fell in love with southern France on a holiday trip there and decided to relocate their home to where they had left their hearts. They intended it to be ‘home’, not a holiday house nor a second home but their permanent residence.

I choose to think that those of us who settle here permanently—définitivement—are more kindly looked upon than those who just drop in for a few weeks of sunny weather. But I may be fooling myself.

Huggan explores the concept of ‘belonging” not only in relation to fitting in and becoming a part of the French community, but also in relation to no longer ‘belonging’ in Canada when they visit.

Although I had initially thought that the part about acclimatizing to France would be the bit that ‘spoke’ to me, her thoughts on no longer belonging to her native land resonated more with me. I was born and raised and lived the first 48 years of my life in Ontario, but now that we have been in Nova Scotia for nearly 15 years, we find Ontario to be a foreign country when we visit.

It’s well worth reading this lovely narrative.

4 stars

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just re-read this, 20-some years after first encountering this book. I enjoyed it again as much as I remembered enjoying it first. It is in turn funny and sad, often thought-provoking, and always compassionate. As a long time expat only recently returned to Canada, it offers echoes of my own experiences, a balm for homesickness and insights into what belonging means to me. As such it is a useful tool by which to measure my own journey, but above all it is a delightful read.

[Ann B White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a friend, and it was not quite what I expected. I was thinking travelogue, but it’s really more about the concept of belonging, and how you can feel that way (or not) regardless of where you are. It is beautifully written, but intentionally meanders around places and times rather than following a story arc. Very enjoyable, as were the three short stories at the end of the book.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charting the author’s experience of travelling the world and living in various countries, she outlines the process of belonging…though not as deeply as I had hoped for. Lyrical descriptions of life in France were pleasant but did not for me satisfactorily answer the question of how do we come to belong when displace from our ‘home’ - whatever home is….

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful book. The author writes about her life starting in Ontario and ending up in France by way of Kenya and the Philipines. Her writing is descriptive of place, but more so about feelings and emotions related to those spaces. I found myself smiling many times.

[Maha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read: appealed to my yearning to travel and see more of Europe. Her language in places was effective and successfully transported me to the places she wrote of, even though I have yet to visit them.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable mixture of memories and life in France.

[Molly Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book to feed my cheesy soul searching traveling soul!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome summer read.

[Happpy Flower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sensitive, insightful and delightful!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot believe how slow I was to discover this treasure of a memoir!

[Kim Hakkenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books, especially the first essay on 'home'.

[Kangelani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. It made me want to move to Cevanne and experience what she described so perfectly. Some sad, some happy memories for the author. I felt privileged to be able to read them.

[Glynis Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sensitive memoir of the places Isabel lived and called home.

[Renee Brazeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir resonated with me in a time where I am questioning where I want to “settle down” and build a home. Some insightful perspectives around the idea of building connection to place and how place informs self. I appreciated the descriptive language about place, and the personal/philosophical interpretations of belonging. The author tells a bunch of stories about how different places and people informed her understanding of self and her history. The stories told in the last few chapters seem disjointed from the rest of the book, which left me feeling confused. But other than that and enjoyable and easy read.

[Natalie Longarini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book written by Isabel Huggan that I've read so I didn't know what to expect. She writes beautifully and poetically, which is what kept me from not finishing it, although I did come close a few times to giving up on this book.

Despite being a talented writer, I found her to be pretentious and ignorant while describing her conversations with others and her experiences living overseas. She came across as one of those self-entitled "your country is inferior to my country" well-off individuals. The Philippines were too hot, her French neighbour's outhouse was too unsightly, the delivery man who refused to risk his life in an ice storm to deliver her package was too wimpy, the snow in France was nothing compared to Canada but of course Canada is better than France so we don't allow our country to shut down, etc.

The second half the book is far superior in my opinion to the first half of the book. She became less egocentric and became more reflective while discussing her mother, her friendships and her place in the world.

The best came after her personal story ended and the short stories at the end the book began (I had no idea there would even be short stories included in the book!) I found the short stories much more enjoyable than the memoir. They actually reminded me of Margaret Atwood's style of writing, particularly the way she writes her short stories.

She won an award for her novel, "The Elizabeth Stories", which I'll definitely try to read when I get the chance. I'll also be looking for her second collection of short stories, "You Never Know".

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part travel book, part memoir, Belonging describes the landscapes and people Huggan meets in her travels to Canada (the home to which she returns), France, Kenya, the Philippines, Australia and the south of France where her husband wishes to settle. What does it mean to feel at home anywhere? The travel stories are interspersed with reflections on her life and in particular her relationship with her mother who died young. Somewhat fragmented and dissatisfying because of this, despite her calling on Kenko (a Japanese writer) to justify her style.

[Naomi Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for school, it has a slow start, mainly because it's non fiction, but as you read on it gets really interesting. Isabel Huggan talks about life, childhood, and home, and what they mean to her, and it's a book that is really easy to relate to.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huggan uses such beautiful language to describe her experiences, memories and travels. A must read for anyone who has ever felt a sense of wanderlust or belonging in a place they had never been before.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite!

[Cari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, very slow going!

[Peggy Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This month's book club book - a sensitive memoir about what makes a home and the experiences of moving away from Canada. A great book club read - provoked lots of discussion.