Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three menall of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhoodtake charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss

To Erskine, now in his thirties, has moved on from childish things: He has a good job, a slick apartment in London, and when he heads back to the suburbs on the occasional weekend to visit his old friends, he makes sure everyone knows he can afford to pick up the tab. So what if he asks a few too many questions about Lia, the girl of their group, wondering if she will come out, if shes seeing anyone, if she might give him another shot? To is hazily aware that something possibly happened between Lia and Ben Mossam, Tos closest friend and his greatest annoyance, but he cant bring himself to ask. Lia, meanwhile, has no time to indulge their rivalry. Shes now the single mother of a toddler son, a kid named Joel that To occasionally (and halfheartedly) offers to babysit.

To is home for one such weekend when the unthinkable happensa tragedy in the heart of their groupand he suddenly finds himself the unlikely guardian for little Joel. Together with his father, Vic, Ben Mossam, and Sybil, Lias beguiling rabbi, they bide time until they can find a proper home for Joel, teaching him to play video games, plying him with chicken nuggets and waffles, and learning to sing him lullabies at night. But when a juvenile mistake leads to a terrible betrayal, To must decide what kind of man he wants to be. Wise, relatable, and blissfully laugh-out-loud funny, Going Home is a captivating first novel that explores the mysterious ways children can force us to grow up fast while simultaneously keeping us young forever.