This Is Home: A Novel

(Paperback)

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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 homeBents 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 apartmentsand the wildly different natures of her familyhas 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 husbands former platoon leader, a man John refers to as his brother, and despite Bents 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.

Reviews

"Authentic characters resonate throughout this engrossing novel. . . .Intensely real and deeply emotional, Duffys rich novel is worth savoring from the very first page."
Publishers Weekly, starred review
A beautifully drawn portrait of a motherless girl and a rudderless woman both trying to find their place in the worldbut who find each other instead. Lisa Duffy nails the complexities of modern relationships, and proves that shes a storyteller thats here to stay.
Colleen Oakley, author of Close Enough to Touchand Before I Go
"Lisa Duffys latest novel, a story of joy and struggle in a coastal New England town, is full of engaging characters youll remember long after you turn the final page.This Is Homereveals 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
Duffy'slatest 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 Duffys beautiful novel delves into that most elemental of themeshomewith insight and grace. This is a book to savor."
Kimmery Martin, author of The Queen of Hearts
"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 worlds 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

Author Bio

Lisa Duffy is the author ofThe Salt House, named byReal Simpleas a Best Book of the Month upon its June release and one ofBustles17 Best Debut Novels by Women in 2017, andThis is Home,a favorite book club pick. Lisa received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts. Her writing can be found in numerous publications, includingWriters Digest. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and three children.My Kind of Peopleis her third novel.