The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce 3-11-25 Review by Shirley W.

Three sisters and one brother have been close since childhood. Their mother died after the youngest was born. They are grown adults when Vic Kemp, their father, runs off to Italy with his new wife, who is 30 years younger than him, to get married. The siblings have never met Bella Mae, despite trying to! Netta, Susan, Iris and their brother Goose talk by phone often. None are invited to the wedding. They are all angry and suspicious as they traipse to the beautiful, family home on a lake in Italy.

Vic intends to paint a final masterpiece after his long, semi-successful art career. The siblings had a scattered childhood at the lake for many summers. Each is grappling with their past as their lives and experiences are so very different. The present is confused by their own worries about the autopsy, about where the will is, and what and where Vic’s great masterpiece painting is.

Author Rachel Joyce has a unique way of writing that pulls you in with beautiful words, phrases and perception. She is adept with explaining complex feelings of the characters and the situations that change at the lake.

I received a free advanced copy of this book from Net Galley. This is my honest review.

I have read, and thoroughly enjoyed, the author’s previous novels. They were character-driven, and very compelling.

This book felt like she was trying to break out a bit and deliver something different, but it didn’t work for me. My favorite novels all have strong, vibrant ( good or evil) characters, and this book failed to d3li Dr that to me. I was curious regarding the father and his marriage, but by book two, I really didn’t much care.

I am often happy with a book where “ nothing happens,” but Ms. joyce disappointed me with this novel.

Tense, atmospheric, and utterly engrossing, this novel captures the simmering unrest within a family grappling with grief, betrayal, and long-buried secrets. Set against the backdrop of a blistering European heatwave, four adult siblings reunite at their family’s lake house following the sudden death of their father — a renowned artist who recently remarried a woman half his age before retreating to Italy to complete his long-awaited final masterpiece. But now he’s gone, the painting is missing, and the siblings are left to untangle the truth — about their father, his new wife, and themselves.

The novel thrives on its tension. The siblings, once close, are now forced under the same roof for the first time in years, and their strained dynamic is palpable. Old wounds and unresolved resentments quickly resurface, and the house — filled with their father’s lingering presence — becomes a crucible for long-overdue confrontations. The author does an exquisite job of peeling back the layers of each sibling’s personal turmoil, subtly revealing how their father’s larger-than-life persona shaped and sometimes fractured them.

Adding to the mystery is the enigmatic young stepmother, whose presence hangs like a storm cloud over the lake house. Is she merely a grieving widow, or does she know more about their father’s death — and the missing painting — than she’s letting on? The constant question of her role in the family’s unraveling adds a delicious undercurrent of suspense to the narrative.

What sets this novel apart is the sharp, evocative writing and how the author captures the suffocating tension of a family on the brink of collapse. The summer heat, the claustrophobic setting, and the ever-present shadow of their father’s legacy amplify the story’s slow-burn intensity. Readers will find themselves turning pages as quickly as possible, desperate to uncover both the truth about the missing painting and the depths of the siblings’ personal fractures.

But this is more than just a mystery — it’s a haunting, beautifully rendered exploration of grief, identity, and the complex ways family wounds can bind and destroy us. By the time the summer comes to a close and the final, shattering revelations come to light, readers will be left breathless and aching for these characters.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm such a fan of reading about sibling relationships and this story has that. The book explores how four siblings get on living together as adults after their father dies. There are such complex scenes and a lot to unpack within the pages. I was captivated. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Vic is a famous artist with 4 adult children. When Vic summons the siblings, he tells them that he is marrying Bella-Mae, a mere 27 years old to his 76 years old. The siblings are in shock and of course worried that Bella-Mae is after their father's money. When Vic suddenly passes at his summer house in Italy, even more questions are raised about his brief marriage to Bella-Mae. The siblings travel to the summer house in Italy, determined to figure out what happened to their father. With the siblings all together with Bella-Mae, their relationships are tested. In a nutshell, the story is about how losing a father disrupts family dynamic.

This book started out quite slow for me. I almost gave up quite a few times. The last 30-40% really picked up and was quite good. By the end, I was invested in the siblings and curious to see how things would pan out.

I have not read a third person omniscient point of view book in a while. While not my favourite style at all, sometimes, they are done really well and essential to a book's makeup. However, I really think this book would have benefited from the first-person POV, perhaps with chapters from different POVs (ie alternating chapters between the siblings and Bella-Mae). In my opinion, this omniscient POV really took away from what the story could have been and made it difficult for me to become involved or invested in the characters.

I really wish the author dived more into Bella-Mae. She is an interesting character but was never fully developed. I was left wanting more from her and some explanations to her actions.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Random House | The Dial Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of my favorite writers - the prose is stunning and you cannot help but care deeply about the characters as they uncover family truths.

Vic Kemp meant the world to his four children, Netta, Susan, Goose (short for Gustav), and Iris. When he announces he will be marrying 27-year-old Bella-Mae, all are skeptical of her true intentions. Vic runs off to the family villa on Lake Orta in Italy to marry Bella-Mae without telling the four of them and their world and relationship with their father starts to crumble from there. Susan soon gets a call saying that Vic was found dead in the lake after he drowned and the Kemp siblings converge on the villa to find out what happened to their beloved father. After many weeks in their family vacation home, they begin to realize Vic was not who he seemed. They spend the summer on Lake Orta trying to figure out what happened to their father, where his last masterpiece painting might be, and what Bella-Mae knew about their dad. The grown children also realize they must now learn how to be more than just a son and daughters and what to do now that their world will not revolve around Vic Kemp. 
I went into this book thinking it would be more of a thriller rather than a family drama. I’ll be honest, when I realized this was not going to be a murder mystery, I was a bit disappointed. The first half of the book didn’t catch my attention, but towards the end, when things really started to heat up between the siblings, I began to enjoy it a lot more. I also really appreciated Rachel Joyce’s descriptive writing and the world she painted for us. I felt like I could feel the Italian summer heat, see the crystal blue lake water, and visualize the island the villa was on. I felt transported to this Italian lake town, and I love when I can feel fully submerged in a book’s setting.
Something I kept returning to when I finished the book was that I wish we had gotten more from Goose and Iris’ POV. I felt like Susan and Netta were the only ones telling the story and that we only really got an insight into their characters. Although for Iris, I guess it makes sense for her character to not have as much time to say what she feels. She mentions how she feels like she can’t compete with her siblings. Netta and Susan are the smart and beautiful ones, and Goose is the only boy so there is no competing with that. By the end of the book, I ended up wishing the entire story was from Goose’s POV. We learn that Goose tried to be an artist like his father, but had a small breakdown when it came time to show his art in a gallery. I just feel like there is so much for him to say when it comes to his complicated relationship with his dad because of this breakdown and his fear of being an artist, and his dynamic with siblings since he is the only boy with three very strong-willed and passionate sisters. He is always the one trying to make everything alright and keep everyone together. I would’ve loved to see more of the end of the book from his perspective, especially with the way his sisters start to unravel since he is that fixer. The end of the book was the best part for me and my main takeaway was that Goose deserves the world and is such a sweetheart. He loves his sisters so much and knows ha the no longer needs them, but they are still the most important people in his life. Even though he and the girls are fractured and his family will never be the same after that summer on the lake, he loves them with all of his heart and he says he would endure anything for them. I am a sucker for sibling relationships and the way they can break, grow, or stay stagnant, so the ending of the siblings’ story was perfect to me.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and gave it three and a half stars. To me, that means I enjoyed reading it and know it has merit, but didn’t love it. As I mentioned before, the last half grabs you when things start to crumble around the siblings, but it just took a bit too long for me to start to really be entertained by it. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read! Definitely a family drama but thoughtful and relatable. I would read more from this author having enjoyed this one!

A dysfunctional family, a loving family, a sad and joyous look at families. 4 siblings, a artist father and a much younger wife over a summer on an Italian island. A deep look at families in all their glory.

This is very slow to get going and the pace continues to be sluggish throughout. However, Joyce is very adept at creating interesting characters and studying the way these siblings relate to one another. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce.

This book blew me away.

Exquisitely written. Heartbreaking. I'm already rereading it.

Rachel Joyce portrays difficult family dynamics really well in this. The Homemade God is the story of four siblings—Netta, Susan, Goose, and Iris—and their relationship with their eccentric artist father, Vic. When Vic suddenly announces he's marrying the mysterious Bella-Mae, a woman younger than his youngest child, and suddenly dies a few months later, everything begins to fall apart. The siblings must travel to the Italian villa in which they grew up and try to manage after their father's death, which uncovers more than just the ugly truth about the kind of person their father actually was, but the ugly truth's about themselves. Without their father, they don't know who they are to each other, but most importantly, to themselves. This story is a great portrayal of the way familial relationships impact one's identity, as well as how you can carry so much from your childhood into your adulthood. I was invested the entire time and couldn't believe how each character seemed to make bad decision after bad decision. Joyce does characterization very well. I will say though that I did not feel as emotionally connected to the characters and felt that the ending was a bit anti-climactic given all the buildup with Bella-Mae and the storyline. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it for those who love reading stories about family dynamics!

Thank you to the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Homemade God is a tender and emotionally propulsive family drama about four siblings - Netta, Susan, Goose, and Iris - grappling with the sudden death of their semi-famous father, Vic. They come together in Lake Orta, Italy where they must not only confront his late wife, Bella Mae, who was fifty years his junior, but also face the truth about his art, his legacy, and the unrealized wounds he's inflicted on them all. They spend the summer suspended in a sort of waiting game where they have to await his autopsy results as well as navigate the fractures that are being exposed in their close-knit family dynamic. It is both a book of bonding and a book of unraveling.

I am always drawn in by stories about family relationships, and I appreciated the intricate complexity with which Rachel Joyce paid to her quadrant of siblings, for they were equal parts close and distant, connected and disconnected, and loved completely but not always understood. I liked being along for their journey of grief and self-discovery, painful though it could be at times. Accusations became pointed and turned ugly. Secrets were revealed that lead to shock and distrust. And hurt feelings led to sibling estrangement but also to an opportunity for them all to cut restrictive tethers and be free to be a different version of themselves.

It was not a happy story per se, but a harrowingly realistic one. It's the kind that leaves you grasping at how to cleave then mend the gap of siblinghood in your own life.

Worth a gander! 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This free reviewers copy from Net gallery was highly anticipated by me. I have read most of Rachel Joyce's books and really enjoyed all of them. Miss Benson's Beetle is an absolute favorite of mine. I have been reading The Homemade God for a long time because I just don't look forward to reading it, so it is taking a really long time to read. I am now at 30% read and have decided I can't go any further.
The book about 4 siblings goes no where for 27% and finally when the dad, a very unlikable figure is found dead things seem to start happening. Perhaps the book is more exciting after the first quarter but you have already lost me.

Rachel Joyce’s “A Homemade God” is a gripping tale of four siblings, their father, and his younger wife. Tragedy strikes when the father dies, and the siblings gather at their rundown villa on an Italian island. Trust is shattered, and they drift apart. This darkly humorous mystery explores complex family themes. It’s a heartfelt read about love, grief, and family.

After their father dies, four siblings gather in Europe. They can not find his final painting and and his recently married much younger wife is there as well. Family drama comes out in full force here. The setting of this book was prefect, the writing and tension was so strong, and the characters are complex. This book was terrific!

This book is about 4 siblings and their father and what happens when the siblings, who have competed their whole lives for his love and attention, find out he is getting married to a much younger woman he met 6 weeks previously. I loved the premise and it definitely had some good moments. But overall, even though the writing is strong, the characters were so dysfunctional that I could not relate to any of them or care about how they were feeling or even like any of them. It feels like reading a book about characters rather than a book about people. I did enjoy the way she wrapped it up at the end. Rachel Joyce is such a talented writer though that I’m going to seek out some of her older titles to see if this book is an anomaly, character wise.

This was an interesting read. While most families have some level of disfunction, the Kemps took it to a whole new level. Vic’s children have created a homemade god of their father. Each desperately seeking his approval and living in the pecking order they have been relegated to. Despite this, the kids were all very close until Vic dies suddenly. With their family bond broken, they spend many years not communicating. Unfortunately the man they thought their Dad was wasn’t near the reality. While not communicating, they all finally grow into themselves and the joys in their lives that were missing. A beautiful story with descriptive imagery and well developed characters.

I just became an even bigger fan of Rachel Joyce! This book was such a gift. Four adult siblings learn a lot about themselves as they uncover the mystery of their father. It was equally plot and character driven, humorous at times, powerful, and atmospheric. Most likely one of my favorite books of the year already!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall I liked the premise of the story. Four siblings dealing with the sudden marriage of their dad to someone very young and then his suspicious death and the fallout that comes from that.

There is SO much disfunction in this family and I found it really hard to like any of the characters. That was probably the author's goal with this story as it is all about conflict. She did a great job of making me despise all of the siblings!

I would have enjoyed this more if everyone was a suspect in his death. A murder mystery rather than a family drama. I did not like any of the characters anyhow so thinking any of them could have murdered their dad would have worked for me. I really did enjoy the ending of this one and seeing things from Bella's point of view.

As usual, the author did a great job with details. I felt like I was in the house, on the island and looking at the lake.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book. If you love family drama and offensive characters this is the book for you!