Going Home: A Novel by Tom Lamont (1/14/25)

A funny, achingly sad, sneakily wise story of family and what happens when three men-all of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhood-take charge of a toddler following his mother's sudden death.

Boy-made-good Téo Erskine is back in the north London suburb of his youth, visiting his father-stubborn, selfish, complicated Vic. Things have changed for Téo: he's got a steady job, a brand-new car and a London flat all concrete and glass, with a sliver of a river view. Except, underneath the surface, not much has changed at all. He's still the boy seeking his father's approval; still the young man playing late-night poker with his best friend, unreliable, infuriating Ben Mossam; still the one desperately in love with the enigmatic Lia. Lia's life, on the other hand, has been transformed: now a single mother to two-year-old Joel, she doesn't have time for anyone-not even herself. When the unthinkable happens, Teo, Vic and Ben-a strange constellation of men-rally around the toddler. None of them are fully equipped to look after him, but their strange, tentative attempts at love might just be enough to offer him a new place to call home.