Powerfully brings home the fears of living life on the edge...a narrative rich in intimacy and immediacy...Berriman is a former primary school teacher, and her acute awareness of the child's world, as well as the spot-on grinding details of poverty make this book wholly, painfully authentic...challenging but always compelling; for the entirety of the second half, I was desperate to rescue Jesika and her family.
Comparisons to Room by Emma Donoghue are inevitable; however, while Room is a novel about one sick individual robbing a family of hope and dignity, Home tells the far more terrifying story of inequality in our society..
-- Kerry Hudson * Guardian *
Packs a huge emotional punch...
heartbreaking ... Jesika is
entirely engaging, sweet, emphatic and cross as she tries to interpret the grisliness of the grown-up world. * Daily Mail *
I read this in one sitting and am still crying. Tina and Jesika are heroes. A brave, important, heart-breaking book -- Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths
Amanda Berriman's
Home kept me up late for all the right reasons. It's a tender portrait of a family in crisis that nevertheless grips like a thriller, a chronicle of extraordinary events that never slides into sensationalism. I loved Jesika - the girl through whose eyes the story is told - and her mother, who in remarkable times also faces the unremarkable challenges of motherhood we can all identify with. -- Shelley Harris, author of VIGILANTE and JUBILEE
'Home' is an extraordinary achievement. Jesika is utterly unique yet it also feels like there is a chorus of children's voices behind her, telling their story too. It's an important story to hear. A must-read from an exceptional new writer.
Totally compelling. I read this behind my fingers and couldn't put it down until I knew if Jesika was safe or not. An important reminder about what the world looks like from a child's perspective.
I'm not sure I breathed while reading this. Jesika jumps off the page and into your heart. She will stay with me forever.
-- Tor Udall, author of A THOUSAND PAPER BIRDS
