The Road Home: From the Sunday Times bestselling author

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Rose Tremain has said that she was advised against making The Road Home“too glum.” How does she use humor to lighten Lev’s trials? Which scenes did you find particularly funny? Like so many others, Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to Britain, seeking work. He is a tiny part of a vast diaspora that is changing British society at this very moment.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain | Book Club Discussion The Road Home by Rose Tremain | Book Club Discussion

He was flesh and bones, so real did he feel to me. I found myself sympathising with him at the beginning, then hating him oftener that I thought possible, and partly understanding him by the end of the novel. For a writer more accustomed to the distant past of the historical novel, the story of a modern-day economic migrant is a bold move, but Rose Tremain does not disappoint. The Road Home is thematically rich, dealing with loss and separation, mourning and melancholia, and what might underlie the ostensibly altruistic act of moving to another country to earn money for one's family. As always, her writing has a delicious, crunchy precision: plants sold in a market are 'fledgling food'; winter is described as having a 'deep, purple cold'; new buds on larch trees are 'a pale dust, barely visible to the eye'.

The main lesson to be learnt from this book is that I know look at people who are serving me at hotels etc. in a completely different light. They all probably have stories of some similarity to Lev. This book was disappointing on so many levels. There were the niggly little things that bugged me throughout, which a good editor should have eliminated. For instance, Tremain went to GREAT lengths to avoid giving Lev a specific country of origin. Every time he met someone 'from his country' (which happened pretty often) you could see Tremain doing an elaborate dance of avoidance around THE COUNTRY WHICH MUST NOT BE NAMED. Awkward. A friendly Arab man—himself an immigrant—offers him a job delivering leaflets, but it pays so little that Lev cannot even afford to rent a bed in a shared room. Soon Lev is homeless, lugging his bag of belongings from doorway to doorway. The weather is cold, Lev is lightheaded with hunger, and he decides to call Lydia. As people get ready for bedtime, Lev’s longing for a cigarette grows, and he starts experiencing mild withdrawal symptoms. The next stop is not for several hours and he and the driver would be the only people awake, with neither sleep nor nicotine available to him. He envies Lydia’s immersion in a book and knows that he needs a distraction too. Although he has a book of fables with him, it is not enough to distract him now. Desperately, he takes out an English twenty-pound note and examines the picture of the Queen on one side and a man with a dark, drooping moustache on the other, probably a historical figure. He remembers his English class where he was told that the British venerate their history because they have never experienced “occupation” or colonization, being the biggest modern colonising force in history themselves. Only rarely do they examine their past wrongdoings and recognise the evil deeds that they have committed in colonies and wars across the globe. Significant Cigarettes | Analysis

Significant Cigarettes | Summary and Analysis – Litbug

In a fairy tale experience, Lev dreams of opening his own restaurant in his home town - which is no under threat from a dam being built. Eventually, the actions of his good deads (helping out at an old peoples home) get him in a position where he can earn enough money to return and live his dream. Lev perceives his English as a way of achieving success. He wants perfect English, so that he can gain a position of employment. He sees Lydia as an opportunity of achieving this. Singh, Anita (4 June 2008). "Author Rose Tremain wins the Orange Prize for Fiction". Archived from the original on 15 January 2020 . Retrieved 7 November 2008.

At another point we're introduced to two gay Chinese men, who are portrayed as incredibly feminine and childish. The childish part is what bothered me. They seduce Lev while he's drunk, insisting that they're providing a service, just helping him out, giving sexual favors to make Lev feel better. Their touch is described as "like a girls", and when Lev leaves them, he cuddles them "like children" and thanks them for their services. The whole thing just felt very predatory and creepy. Rose Tremain does not disappoint. As always her writing has a delicious, crunchy precision.' Observer A sort of anti-Candide...Lev manages to be both a symbol of migrant workers and a fully developed character in his own right...an engaging, enjoyable, and informative read." - Booklist.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain

There is so much in the media about immigration these days, sadly, much of it giving a very negative view, and quoting soulless numbers and statistics, but how often do we get to meet the people who make up those numbers? Yes,' said Lev. 'By dawn we were there. We were pretty tired. Well, we were very tired. And the gas tank was almost empty. That car's so greedy it's going to bankrupt Rudi.' We meet Lev as he travels by bus, across Europe, on a journey that he hopes will take him towards new opportunities in London, and allow him to leave behind the grief and uncertainty that was his life in his own country.He finds life in London confusing and frightening, and the tiny amount of money he’s brought with him certainly isn’t going to sustain him, but he’s determined, and slowly but surely, and with the help and kindness of those he meets along the way, he makes a kind of life for himself. Lev is leaving behind the desolation of his village. The sawmill he worked at has closed down, because all the trees in the surrounding area have been cut down. This mirrors the devastation in his own life after his wife Marina dies of leukaemia. But Lev’s time at the restaurant has given him the idea of becoming a chef and opening up a restaurant in the city near his hometown. He attempts to redeem himself and to save his family and friends from a life of dispossession and poverty.

The Road Home: From the Sunday Times bestselling author

This novel tells the story of Lev who leaves his home country and like so many others is heading west. His wife, Marina, has died of leukaemia, his five-year-old daughter, Maya, is living with her grandmother and 42-year-old Lev, a former lumberyard worker is travelling to London to find work. The main character in this book may be a fictional representation of one of these people, but he feels real and believable, and I became very invested in his story....the author made me care about him, and feel the emotions he was feeling....... If that were all, I would have said this was an average story told in an above average way and moved on. However, that isn't all. More than once I read things in this otherwise average story that still make my skin crawl just thinking about them. Our main character nearly strangles his romantic interest at a party, and later forces himself on her in a child's bedroom. It's left intentionally unclear whether or not the act was consensual. He laments to his friend that he's pretty sure he raped this woman, but this is met with little more than an "oh, darn", and the book fully expects us to still be sympathetic to his character. Lydia’s experience, although not explored in detail in this excerpt, appears to contrast with Lev’s. Having willingly migrated from the fear of having to see the same, distasteful view outside her school in Yarbl for the rest of her life, she does not appear to be particularly disturbed by the journey, although the narrative is exclusively from Lev’s point of view, and hence caution needs to be exercised before drawing conclusions about her experience. The appearance of her experience, however, is different from what Lev feels, her added advantage is that she is comfortable in English and is applying for the job of a translator. As language plays a major role in the immigrant experience, Lydia is less likely to feel alienated in England as compared to Lev who is not completely confident in English. Death of a Partner – The other theme that the chapter focuses on is the experience of losing one’s partner, through Lev’s memories of his dead wife, Marina. Theirs was a loving marriage, and consequently, Lev is traumatised by her death, feeling guilty about being alive despite her death and not being able to face his own reflection. Significant Cigarettes | CharactersLev’s first visitors on his return to his homeland are the Irishman Christy, and his Indian bride, Jasmina. What other nationalities are represented in The Road Home? Do you think the novel effectively personalizes our interdependent, multicultural world? Tremain is clearly a talented writer with very descriptive writing, good dialogue, good pacing (I found the story enjoyable and interesting albeit not compelling) and the ability for good and complex characterisation and story line. The descriptions of the restaurant were surprisingly engaging (unlike the modern art and plays described), Rudi a strong character (although his complete breakdown when the dam is proposed in contrast to his usual confidence is not really explored) and Ina’s ability to make Lev guilty and downcast well portrayed. Schillinger, Liesl (31 August 2008). "Book Review | 'The Road Home,' by Rose Tremain". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022 . Retrieved 5 September 2008.