If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that we really enjoy a good book. For this post, we are taking a look at Homeward Bound by Richard Smith. A beautifully told feel-good story about a grandfather and his granddaughter, who both long for purpose and connection, and their shared passion for music. One of them hopes to revive the missed opportunities of the past, the other is looking forward to a future career.
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The book
George is a recently widowed seventy-nine-year-old. He nearly made it as a rock star in the 1960s, but now his son-in-law is trying to shunt him into in a care home and he is not ready to go. Tara is his teenage granddaughter and she’s taken refuge from her bickering parents by moving in with George. George has never revealed why his music career stalled and no-one knows just how much the disappointment of opportunities missed still gnaw at him. He craves one last chance, even at his age. When opportunity presents itself, through the appearance of a long-lost distant relative – whose chequered past should set alarm bells ringing – he can’t resist.
For Tara, living with her grandfather is a way to find her own path and develop her own musical ambitions. She isn’t prepared for the clash between different generations and living in a strange house full of her grandfather’s memories – and vinyl records. Things get off to a shaky start, and George takes an instant dislike to the sounds from her bedroom that seem more suited to Guantanamo Bay than anything he would call musical. But as time plays out, they find more similarities (neither know how to operate a dishwasher) than differences and parallels across the generations slowly bring them to recognise their shared strengths.
Thoughts on the book
A beautifully told feel-good story about a grandfather and his granddaughter, who both long for purpose and connection, and their shared passion for music. One of them hopes to revive the missed opportunities of the past, the other is looking forward to a future career. A wonderful read for anyone who enjoys intelligent modern fiction, relationships, and music. As a lover of vintage, this book really struck a chord with me *ba dum chhh* and it is wonderful to read a book that has a genuine involvement of feelings behind the music instead of someone guessing how someone would have reacted at the time.
Thoughts on the Author
Homeward Bound is RICHARD SMITH’s first book, at age 71. While the story is entirely fictional, George’s record collection really is Richard’s. He lives in London. Before embarking on his new writing career, he was a producer of TV commercials, sponsored documentaries and educational and promotional films. He produced some of the most iconic public service and commercial advertisements of the last 30 years, including Rowan Atkinson’s blood donor ad and an anti-smoking ad that frightened Britain senseless in the ‘80s. It took him around the world and into places not normally accessible to visitors – up to the top of the Elizabeth Tower to see Big Ben strike twelve, on a speed boat around the Needles and North Sea oil platforms, and to the Niger Delta in Africa . . . to name but a few. Worryingly two of them were featured in a British Library annual exhibition, ‘Propoganda’!
Overall
This is a fairly impressive debut novel from Richard Smith that is a must for those of you who have a love for the vintage lifestyle. I am particularly fond of the relationship between grandfather and granddaughter as they try and learn how they fit into the modern world when everyone else is trying to fit them into boxes they don’t belong in. All in all, it’s a good book that will hit you in the right places.