'The Homecoming' book review: Compelling tale of a conflicted mother, wife and lover
Preeti Shenoy’s latest book, The Homecoming, which is a sequel to A Place Called Home, is an engaging read. The perfect life of Alka, the protagonist, who has two loving daughters and a rich husband, struggles to navigate through the challenges she faces—her husband’s near-fatal accident, her dormant love for her brother-in-law, and her own insecurities. Alka’s husband’s accident reveals secrets that force her to confront and justify thoughts of her own moral obtuseness. This novel, with a different identity of its own, separate from the prequel, is about how Alka navigates through it all.
The Homecoming begins with a focus on Alka’s married life. The prequel mentioned the story of her feelings for Krish, now her brother-in-law. Before marriage, Krish and his wife, Mansii, helped her cope with her mother’s death and other challenges she was facing. However, since there was no certainty, the marriage with Krish’s brother, Subbu, took place. This not-so-bad marriage, even though it always had it’s own set of challenges, including persistent classist remarks and doubts about her husband’s faithfulness, takes a significant turn with Krish coming back into her life after the accident, changing many things in Alka’s life.
Shenoy often faces criticism that her female characters are wishy-washy. This criticism, however, is self-defeating, as it doesn’t hold anything against her craft. Creating weak characters (if an author does) can’t be a valid criticism unless the author makes them unreasonable or fit in a poorly crafted plot. Moreover, Alka is not a weak character—being the daughter of a housekeeper and now the wife of a large coffee estate owner with a choice to become independent (which she willingly or unwillingly exercised). Although she is not a working woman, her ability to make choices in life and dare to dream, even of love outside marriage, cannot be labelled as weak. In fact, she seems to be a very believable character, with her flaws.
If a reader picks a book by a popular writer, the major expectation is unbridled entertainment. It can’t be boring, dull, slow, or, most importantly, difficult to read. Preeti Shenoy has mastered a craft that cuts through these challenges and makes her writing both entertaining and engaging. This is her USP. She is perhaps one of those pop-writers who would not face much crucifying comments from “readers of literary novels,” as her novels, despite being simple enough for common readers, are not simplistic in multiple ways. In The Homecoming, which she believes is her “best work yet” she ensured keeping a bit of layered dynamic between Alka’s life and her husband without making it a difficult plot to crack.
It is one of those books that can be popular among English-speaking upper or upper-middle class. The characters, their lives, and the things they do—with their securities, insecurities, and challenges—are perhaps not so exciting to small-town and lower-middle-class readers. Comparing Rama Mehta’s Inside the Haveli, which too was about rich people, can offer more insight into it. Despite it being about the rich people of Rajasthan, this novel could bring in social issues like orthodoxy and a layered plot. While The Homecoming does not incorporate social issues or orthodoxy, even if it touches on them, they remain dormant. This book is largely about affluent characters; Alka too seems to behave like a rich person. But as long as keeping the entertainment and engagement quotient alive is concerned, Shenoy did a fabulous job.
Also, if a writer tries to bring up man-animal conflict, readers can expect more nuanced conversations. In the first chapter of this book, there is a discussion about an elephant becoming a menace to the plantation. It is just about her daughter drawing an elephant. Though that is very subjective, as this is how characters think, it may have a more nuanced portrayal. All things aside, this novel is a very enjoyable read. Go for it.