#racheljoyce

The Homemade God: A Novel by Rachel Joyce

Pub date - 6/24/25

I love The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (an excellent book and the wonderful Jim Broadbent as Harold in the film) and was thrilled to receive an early copy of The Homemade God.

A beautifully written, deeply moving and poignant novel, Ms Joyce brings varying characters to life within the pages with such success that these evolving characters and the messages of this story will remain with you well after you’ve finished reading.

This was my second time reading the author, and I now have to read everything else she’s written. This is a definite recommendation.

Thank you to The Dial Press and NetGalley for the DRC

Un livre, organisé par étapes du voyage, en fait un livre personnalisé. C’est-à-dire, que quiconque le lira trouvera le rythme qui convient à ses besoins particuliers, car nous avons bien sûr tous nos voyages parallèles. Pas étonnant que le livre The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry par Rachel Joyce soit un best-seller international. Je raconte en quelque sorte Harold et ses pas subits qui ont dépassé la première boîte aux lettres qui se dirigent vers le haut d’Angleterre pour voir son ancienne collègue, Queenie Hennessy, avant sa mort. C’est tellement humain, et pourtant il lutte contre tant de doutes, de critiques, d’usages et de malentendus que je suppose que l’auteure essaie de nous rappeler comment, ou plutôt comment nous souvenir, d’être des humains que nous sommes.

Certains personnages du voyage sont trop bizarres, peut-être pas destinés à être pris à la lettre, mais comme métaphores des difficultés que nous pourrions exagérer. Déconcerté par un compagnon de voyage qui est un cliché spécialiste de la survie et qui aime utiliser le jargon, Harold se dit qu’il “wished the man would honour the true meaning of words, instead of using them as ammunition.” Comment cela se passerait-il si nous faisions tous cela ? Pour ne pas dire que les mots doivent avoir seulement un seul sens. Sinon nous n’aurions pas de poésie, de comédie, de romance ni d’esprit. Pourtant, il arrive parfois que les mots liés ensembles, sans réel besoin, sauf pour un but vain, ressemblent à des balles : destructrices et mortelles. Donc, je passe devant ce gars comme Harold fait, plutôt que de me perdre dans une analyse excessive.

Author: Rachel Joyce

Published by: Penguin Random House UK

Pages: 355

Format: Paperback

My Rating: ★★★

1988.

Frank owns a music shop. |It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk – as long as it’s vinyl he sells it. Day after day, Frank finds his customers the music they need.

Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann. Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen and a past he will never leave behind.

My thoughts:

This book tells the story of Frank, a lonely music shop owner who only sells Vinyl records. Along with a great passion for music, Frank also has a real gift - he can feel what music a person needs to hear.

His music shop is barely surviving, but when people come in asking for a specific record or just asking for a song or a type of music, Frank will pick out what he knows they need. And he is always right. Music is his life, and a way for him to connect with people. Frank lives a pretty lonely existence, until Ilse arrives and he begins to teach her about music.

The music shop is undoubtedly the perfect backdrop for this light-hearted story, reminding us of how important music, of all kinds, is to all of us. With this book, Rachel Joyce demonstrates how music is such a wonderful art form that can unexpectedly connect people from various walks of life. It is clear the background of this novel has been well researched, and the detail in which Joyce writes about music is very strong. It is a really lovely message, which quickly develops into a mostly charming and sugar-coated little love story.

Frank and Ilse are likeable people, and seeing them bond and open up to one another through music makes for some moments of lovely reading. The other shop owners and workers of Unity Street are an interesting bunch of characters: a group of misfits who are quirky but fun together. The characters are quite engaging and full of life from beginning to end. The various friendships shown in the book felt believable and genuine, and whilst there wasan air of romance between Ilse and Frank, the plot concerning these two felt rather weak at times. It seemed clunky in how towards the end of the book, everything suddenly jumped forward twenty years. I think this could perhaps have worked better if only a few years had passed.

The Music Shop was a fairly quick and easy read, but in all honesty it did leave me feeling a little underwhelmed. I felt this one had so much potential. However, I initially struggled to really engage with most of the first half of the book, and as the story progressed I found things all a bit too silly and cheesy for my taste.

The Music Shop can be described as a feel-good and romantic read, but personally it left me pretty disappointed. I really wanted to love this one. It entertained me to a point, but sadly, I don’t think I’d rush to recommend it.

Overall reaction: