Well this is my first book by Lisa Duff and I honestly can say I absolutely enjoyed.
Such a great cast of characters. What I really loved about this book was the fact that it touches so much on how people have to deal with life on a regular basis and how to cope and at times trying to fit in. I definitely will be looking for more from Lisa Duff.
Well done!!

There is a feeling of home about this book although there are tragedies as well - we all have them don't we? Libby lives with her father, Bent, in a 3 apartment building owned by her Aunt Lucy who lives on the third floor with Libby's Aunt Desiree. A newcomer, Quinn, moves into the first floor apartment. Quinn's husband had disappeared before she moved in and Bent, who had been in the service with Quinn's husband, helps her move into the apartment.

The characters in this book are both well-developed and believable, though they are flowed. I think I would like to have them as my own neighbors. The writing is well done and pleasurable to read. The story entwines PTSD, addiction, loss, love and family in a way that is not corny or mauldlin. I enjoyed my time with this book.

Thanks to Lisa Duffy and Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Libby Winters and Quinn Ellis take turns narrating this book and between the two of them you get a full picture of how a family reacts to their loved ones returning from contemporary war. Libby Winters lives with her father and he returned from war with physical and mental scars, he became a police officer and is living a mostly normal life. Quinn Ellis' has been abandoned by her husband who returned from war with major mental scars and may never heal from what he saw abroad.

I enjoyed reading about the real impacts that people feel from going to war and how it not only affects them but also affects their families and friends. War is no joke and what they see, feel and experience lives within them forever. This book really hits home on how different people react different ways to what happens to them while at war. Not to spoil, but the puppy dog story that Quinn finds out about just really made me stop and think about everything.

This was both a hard book to read but also necessary. If you have an inkling of wonderment of how people are affected by war then pick this up. If PTSD is a trigger warning for you, then I would possibly avoid this one. It was well written and put together quite nicely.

This novel was a great joy to read; completely unexpected and wholly heartfelt. It's a group of misfit characters muddling through life attempting to understand that they actually do fit, it's just the where and how that's tripping them up. The author very eloquently and honestly delves into tough subject matter without laboring on those topics. She acutely makes them a living part of the story to showcase how those matter leave lasting effects on the effected. Lisa Duffy's writing engages you in her story perfectly. She never tells you anything but shows you the very ordinary lives of these people and the adjustments they make for each other.

The plot is woven together with some mystery and allure, romance and longing, grief and elation. It's a family story. A patchwork quilt of quirky, illuminating characters that fill your reading heart from beginning to end. Self discovery is abundant. Understanding and acceptance profound. Letting go and moving on essential. The two characters from whom we get duel perspectives are seeking understanding, security, and a keen sense of self. They grow together throughout this book in a myriad of ways with the unsolicited help of the motley crew of eccentric secondary characters.

I would classify this as contemporary women's fiction. There's seeds of romance planted throughout but it's not even close to the main component of this story. Love, loss, and growth are tangled up together to create just a really refreshing, honest story of hope. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

4 stars

I thought this was a really enjoyable and worthwhile novel, the first I have read from Lisa Duffy. The title just as well could have been “What Is Home?” as the story makes that clear. It’s not where you are or if you are with blood relatives or not. It’s where you are with people you care about and who care about you, and it’s a place you can build out of the rubble of your life.

Quinn has it rough. She loses a set of precious twins through miscarriage and essentially loses her husband to PTSD. Her parents are gone. Things look bleak. This is her starting point. The reader goes on the journey with Quinn as she wades through even more difficult times on her way to finding her home.

Libby is 16-years-old and is being raised by her solo dad who is a cop. She and her dad have had to move in with her two aunts in order to make things work after her mother dies. Libby has her own set of problems. And so does her dad Bent (short for Bentley) and her aunts Lucy and Desiree. And we haven’t even talked about Madeleine. You will have to read the book for her story.

This is a touching, heartwarming, fast read about a group of well-characterized people whom I really cared about, especially Quinn and Libby. After a slow start, it picks up considerably at around 15% and maintains good pace to the end. The main theme of the search for security, happiness, and stability is handled wonderfully and with beautiful prose. The book gets extra credit for having an epilogue.

If you are looking for a feel good, life-affirming story with a healthy dose of people caring for and looking out for each other, pick this one up. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Net Galley, Atria Books, and Ms. Lisa Duffy for an advanced review copy. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Every once in a while, a book comes along that absolutely stuns me, blows me away and makes me want to savor every chapter. As a naturally speedy reader, forcing myself to slow down is tough, but This is Home had me so utterly gripped that I did not want this book to end. Told in beautiful writing, I was gripped from the beginning with this story of father/daughter duo Libby & Bent and their downstairs neighbor, Quinn. Uniting this family is their military bond and shared experiences with PTSD and abandonment. Told in alternating perspectives from Libby and Quinn, you truly feel these characters jumping off the page and that you are living the story - a hallmark of an amazingly written book..

This is the first book of Lisa Duffy's that I have read but she has earned must-read status for me after this one and I cannot recommend this highly enough. Plot, prose & strong characters, this book has it all and you can pick this up and be sure to thank me later.

Thank you to Atria for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

My Review: This one deals with some hard topics such as PTSD and the loss of a parent via Cancer. I have to say that this one touched home and I felt for all the characters. It was interesting to see how each live weaved in and out of the others and this is another one of those titles that I think would make a great movie. I fell in love with the family dynamic and just how everything played out. This one will really make you think of what family means and how every family is a little different and that it doesn't have to be perfect.



Go Into This One Knowing: PTSD, Loss of a Parent, Cancer, Family Dynamics

This is Home is the story of the people who live in the three apartments in a triple decker home near Boston. Bent (short for Bentley) and his teenage daughter Libby live in the middle, his two sisters live in the top unit, and Quinn Ellis is the newest, first floor, tenant. Bent is a policeman and former platoon leader of Quinn's husband John. Quinn and John are separated as John deals with PTSD. She didn't want the separation especially given her current condition. Quinn's closest friend has been acting strange and no one seems to understand except for the brother of her friend. Libby's aunts are loveably quirky - I enjoyed their supporting rolls in the novel. There's drama, everyday life, heart-breaking events that Lisa Duffy wove into a novel that left me feeling upbeat as I turned the last page. It was the right book at the right time. Recommended.

This book was a solid 3 star read for me - there were things I liked and I enjoyed the story, but it could have been better. I really liked the two perspectives of Quinn, the military wife, and Libby, the teen who lost her mother. The story touched on very deep, complex issues - losing a parent and PTSD in particular. I felt the character development could have (and should have) been deeper. Overall, an enjoyable and quick read!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 WARM AND FUZZY STARS!

This is Home is about friendship, love, and family. Most importantly, it is about those who are there to pick up the pieces when all else fails--no matter what.

Libby is 16 years old and lives with her police officer father, Bent, and their large and lazy dog, Rooster. After her mother dies, she and Bent moved from their home to a 3 family house, owned by her aunt Lucy. Her aunts Lucy and Desiree live on the third floor, and recently, a woman named Quinn moved in on the first floor. Quinn has a lot on her plate--her husband who has PTSD left her and she is dealing with the fallout. Libby and Quinn form an unlikely bond and friendship enabling them to heal from the tragedies of their pasts.

This is Home was a pleasure to read. I thought that this was going to be an emotionally messy family drama, and while is emotional and there are some messy situations, it really is just a lovely book and I felt happy while reading it. The characters are the best thing about this book--they are well developed and felt very real! They are all loveable in their own way, but Rooster the dog stole my heart. I wanted to be friends with these characters and be part of their world.

I admire Lisa Duffy’s ability to create such characters and storyline without being overly sappy or cheesy--sometimes these types of books cause me to groan and roll my eyes a lot, but I am happy to report that there was no eye rolling this time around! I highly recommend for a feel-good read!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

Where is home really? Is it with a husband with PTSD, who is withdrawing daily until he just ups and leaves? Is it with your dad and aunts? Is it with just yourself?
This is a touching novel about two people-a young girl and a lonely, confused woman-who find each other at just the right time in their lives. Quinn moves into the apartment/house where Libby lives with her dad and shuffled up to her aunt’s house above them when her dad works. She is looking for freedom of sorts from the mundane life she lives. Quinn is looking for her husband and Libby’s father, Brent, knows where he is. Brent was Quinn’s husband’s supervising officer in Afghanistan.
Libby and Quinn form a friendship when both of them need it most.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you are in a reading slump, if you want to feel good, if you want to read a book with well-developed characters dealing with real life issues - READ THIS BOOK!

I'm not going to say too much about the plot as the book synopsis nails it. What I will say is what worked for me. I was immediately drawn into the world of these well-developed characters who had their own quirks and distinct personalities. Some were entertaining, some were interesting, some were lovable, some you wanted to shake, but either way they all were beautifully flawed and felt extremely real. Their relationships with others felt believable and I loved some of their eye rolling interchanges.

Lisa Duffy took real life issues such as soldiers experiencing PTSD, addiction, being a single parent, love, loss and grief, and wrote a beautiful novel about people the reader grows to care about dealing with and supporting each other through these issues. There are some sad parts, some heart break, some endings, but there are also beginnings, and new starts.

I love books which cause me to think and feel. I was cheering for some characters, feeling heartbroken for others during various parts of the novel. I was happy when they were happy and felt anxious during certain scenes. This is to the Author's credit. She can pull the heart strings of her readers by making us feel for her characters.

I found the pacing to be spot on. There was never a dull moment and to tell the truth when the book was over, I wanted more. This book became a page turner for me as I read most of the book today in one sitting.

Highly recommend.


Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

And in my mind, I’d think, dying isn’t the only way someone dissappears.

Sixteen-year old Libby knows all about disappearing loved ones, having lost her mother to cancer. Then, the home her father Bentley and Libby shared with her mother went too, forcing them with no choice but to reside in the middle apartment of her Aunt Lucy’s triple-decker. Above them, her father’s siblings eldest sister Aunt Lucy and youngest Aunt Desiree complete the circle that makes up their odd little family. But it’s overwhelming, nosiy, there is no privacy! Then there is the dog Rooster Cogburn, a rescue they saved from the euthanisa hit list, the mut a temporary addition that has become as much blood as any of them. But now, Libby is meant to tolerate a strange, creepy woman living downstairs because of her father’s gerousity? Moving her into a house already overstuffed, too many people in her business! Why add another person when they are meant to find their own home?! It’s inconceivable! She could well be a serial killer, like the one on tv! Who moves in with a strange family like hers anyway?

Quinn Ellis, aka the creepy new tenant, is living with the silence of her husband John’s departure. Nay, abadnonment! After the fighting, there is no way she can continue to live in their apartment, not according to the landlord. Worse, he left her to shoulder the aftermath and move alone! Untreated PTSD has wrecked havoc in John’s life, and now everything is spinning in Quinn’s with no one to lean on, until Bentley, John’s former Sergeant, now a local policeman steps in. Quinn’s life is nothing like she long ago imagined. John once assured her it was safe joining The National Guard, but the was until the deployments and Iraq. They were so young when they had big choices to make, and now, they are so far from who they once were, veritable strangers to themselves and each other. Were they really ever meant to be? Was it all just too hasty and rushed? It feels like another lifetime enitrely. How is she to fix their problems, pick up the pieces when he’s vanished on her? Does she really want him back? Were they happy before he went away? These are hard questions she must confront and there is a far more more pressing issue she has to stomach.

The seaside town of Paradise doesn’t hold shiny happy memories for everyone. It has it’s dark corners, as all towns do. Places people go to escape their pain, places young people sniff out to seek thrills and highs. These are haunts where stories merge. Libby’s memories of her mother have shadows over them, as much as Quinn’s time with John has it’s storms. Pain may well draw the two into each other’s orbit, and create a love they both sorely need. Each have their own secrets, the biggest ones they keep from themselves but soon Libby and Quinn form a bond. Libby is dealing with her own relationship issues involving her best friend Flynn and his new girlfriend, even stranger still her feelings about his older brother Jimmy, once a deeply troubled youth before joining the military. Something is going on with Flynn, and Libby naturally gets tangled up in it, while Jimmy doesn’t miss a thing. Jimmy knows all too well the sort of dangers and temptations lurking in the town of Paradise, places he has fled. Can he forsee dangers before it’s too late?

Beautifully written are the different transitions of military life. John and Bent are older, dealing with how to support their brothers in arms while still doing the right thing. Too, they must cope with their own wounds, be they war related or civil life and losses. Jimmy is a young man whose character has a turn for the better at the start of his service. It is a perfect fit. With John we see the domino effect PTSD has on relationships, friends, and family. John and Bent are as much brothers as blood realted Jimmy and Flynn, each wanting to support one another.

Quinn and Bentley are attracted to each other, but could it just be loneliness? Things could get really messy. Both Quinn and Bent have lost their spouses, in different ways and both have hearts as hungry as the ocean is vast. Can they all learn to open themselves up, despite their misgivings? This Is Home is a cast of flawed, realistic characters just trying to figure out where or with whom home is.

Publication Date: June 11, 2019

Atria Books

This book just made my heart feel good. I adored the characters and their connections and the way each person grew and changed throughout the novel. And of course I loved the military aspect. Lisa Duffy wrote a memorable cast of characters and I found myself cheering them on as I turned the pages. 3.5 stars.

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I knew after reading Lisa Duffy's book The Salt House in 2017 that she was a special writer—the kind who writes a book that just grabs at your heart and leaves such an impression because it's so deeply moving and heartfelt. I knew then that I'd read anything Duffy wrote, a feeling that was deepened after reading her exquisite new novel, This is Home.

Lucy, Desiree, and Bent are three adult siblings who share a three-level apartment home along with Bent’s 16 year old daughter Libby.  Bent, ex-military and now a police officer, works really late nights and doesn't want Libby to be left alone. Under her aunts watchful and wildly different styles of nurturing and her dad's tender yet tough parenting, Libby is a teenager a bit adrift, trying to find her own way, and wishing for a home of their own.

Then there is Quinn, the new neighbor who is renting out the bottom floor of the house. In her own way, she's lost and looking for a place to call home since her husband John, who served with Bent in Iraq, has deserted her after returning from his last tour a much-changed man. She has no idea who the man she married is anymore.  

Duffy's characterization is just perfect and so memorable—I'm not going to forget these characters for quite some time. I found myself connecting with each of them in some way but especially with Quinn since I understood some of her struggles as an ex-military wife since my own husband served 3 tours in Iraq. It's a hard thing being a military spouse and serviceman, and I think Duffy captured this with great effect and raw honesty. 

Duffy's writing is profound and captivating as she brings the small town of Paradise and its inhabitants to life. Duffy so wonderfully captures the struggles of her characters but also reminds us that home is where we least expect it because of the connections that are forged with people in the unlikeliest circumstances. Even more, the prose is gorgeous, and this is truly beautiful literary fiction. The writing is effortless, fluid, and so elegant. Duffy is a true storyteller, and it was an absolute pleasure to read this novel.  

The novel made me laugh and cry because it filled me with happiness while also filled me with moments of absolute heartbreak, but I love books that are able to wreak havoc on my emotions because that means the author knows and understands people. 

This is Home is one of those novels that touch your heart and soul, and I found myself lost in the story about family, connections, friendships, love, and relationships. This is one novel that can't be missed this year and will be on my list of favorites for 2019—I'll be savoring this book for a really long time and recommending it to everyone I know for much longer.

**Thank you, Isabel DaSilva, NetGalley, and Atria Books for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.**

interesting premise and characters. Not sure about writing style as I prefer more intricate sentence and paragraph structure.

3.75 stars. Thank you Atria books and the author for an ARC. A great follow up to the author’s outstanding debut (2017 The Salt House). A story about what and who makes a home as well as a family with a great group of characters. Started a little slow for me but got stronger as it went on and the last third was wonderful.

People leave people behind everyday. Sometimes they just walk out the door, sometimes they die, sometimes they go off to war and sometimes even when they are with you, they have already abandoned you. The alternating narrators have the latter in common. Sixteen year old Libby’s mother died of cancer, but Libby is perceptive enough about her life to reflect on the reality of what happened. “And in my mind I think, dying isn’t the only way someone disappears.” Quinn’s husband, suffering from PTSD after Iraq, walks out the door one night. Like Libby, she comes to understand what has happened. “ He hadn’t left her on that night, she realizes, because he hadn’t really come home.” But yet they still struggle to come to terms with different ways of being abandoned and how to move forward and find their home. Quinn moves into the bottom floor of the three story house where Libby and her Dad share the middle apartment and where her two Aunts live on the top floor. Living on different levels of the same house couldn’t keep these characters from touching each other’s lives.

Libby, Quinn and the other characters are relatable dealing with realistic struggles and it’s heartening that sometimes it just takes a single connection with one other person to lift you from despair. Duffy doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of PTSD for both the person who suffers from it and on the lives of those close to him. Nor does she shy away from family dysfunction or addiction. It’s through friendship and family that a sense of belonging and the meaning of home are ultimately defined.

This ARC was provided by Atria via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Libby, who is almost 17, lives in a small-town building with 3 apartments. Her two aunts live in one, she and her dad live in another, and the third has a new tenant—John, a man who served with Libby’s dad, Bent, in the military, and his wife, Quinn. John, who suffers from PTSD, leaves suddenly, not telling Quinn where he is going, and as the story unfolds, we learn more about this couple . This is more than a coming of age story, even though it is a wonderful one. It is Quinn’s story, of her marriage to a man she no longer knows when he returns from deployment. It is the story of Quinn’s boss, Madeline, and Bent’s sisters, Lucy and Desiree, and Libby’s friend, Flynn. A compelling story line with every character fully developed, it reminded me of some of Richard Russo’s best writing. I’m definitely going to look for Lisa Duffy’s earlier book, The Salt House, since I liked this book so much.

Emotionally moving novel.

John & Quinn Ellis' relationship started in high school and glided into marriage. Everything seems fine until John's return from active duty in Iraq left him with PTSD and no longer feeling that home was with Quinn. John's vet buddy, Bent, rescues Quinn by moving her into the first floor apartment of his sister's triplex creating emotional turmoil for Bent's 16 yr old daughter Libby.

The various plots mingle and flow as topics of teenage alcoholism, after effects of death of a mother from cancer, serving in war are all explored.

Finding the place of 'home' is something everyone needs to accomplish.