This Is Home - by Lisa Duffy (Paperback)

About the Book

Includes a reader's guide with discussion questions and a conversation with the author.

Book Synopsis

From the author of book club favorite The Salt House comes a deeply affecting novel about a teenage girl finding her voice and the military wife who moves in downstairs, united in their search for the true meaning of home.

Sixteen-year-old Libby Winters lives in Paradise, a seaside town north of Boston that rarely lives up to its name. After the death of her mother, she lives with her father, Bent, in the middle apartment of their triple decker home--Bent's two sisters, Lucy and Desiree, live on the top floor. A former soldier turned policeman, Bent often works nights, leaving Libby under her aunts' care. Shuffling back and forth between apartments--and the wildly different natures of her family--has Libby wishing for nothing more than a home of her very own.

Quinn Ellis is at a crossroads. When her husband John, who has served two tours in Iraq, goes missing back at home, suffering from PTSD he refuses to address, Quinn finds herself living in the first-floor apartment of the Winters house. Bent had served as her husband's former platoon leader, a man John refers to as his brother, and despite Bent's efforts to make her feel welcome, Quinn has yet to unpack a single box.

For Libby, the new tenant downstairs is an unwelcome guest, another body filling up her already crowded house. But soon enough, an unlikely friendship begins to blossom, when Libby and Quinn stretch and redefine their definition of family and home.

With gorgeous prose and a cast of characters that feel wholly real and lovably flawed, This Is Home is a nuanced and moving novel of finding where we belong.

Review Quotes

"A beautifully drawn portrait of a motherless girl and a rudderless woman both trying to find their place in the world-- but who find each other instead. Lisa Duffy nails the complexities of modern relationships, and proves that she's a storyteller that's here to stay."
--Colleen Oakley, author of Close Enough to Touch and Before I Go

"Authentic characters resonate throughout this engrossing novel. . . . Intensely real and deeply emotional, Duffy's rich novel is worth savoring from the very first page."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Duffy's latest is a novel of family, friendship, and the meaning of home... Also touching on such topics as post-traumatic stress disorder, military service, and addiction, This Is Home makes a great addition to any family life or women's fiction collection."
--Booklist

"Lisa Duffy's beautiful novel delves into that most elemental of themes--home--with insight and grace. This is a book to savor."
--Kimmery Martin, author of The Queen of Hearts

"Lisa Duffy's latest novel, a story of joy and struggle in a coastal New England town, is full of engaging characters you'll remember long after you turn the final page. This Is Home reveals the truth of human nature, which seeks to heal and forgive those we love, even when they break our hearts."
--Sandi Ward, author of Something Worth Saving

"This phenomenal novel reveals such unique and endearing characters struggling through upheaval and loss in order to forge the true shape of their family. They face each day with humor, grit, and vulnerability that draws the reader in. Libby, Quinn, Bent, and even the world's smelliest dog rush to life on these pages and have carved out a place for themselves forever in my imagination. Building on her emotional debut novel, this book solidifies Duffy as a master of writing hope into heartbreak."
--Devin Murphy, national bestselling author of The Boat Runner and Tiny Americans