Zipped through this one...

Yay, am back in literary land again! This came highly recommended by D's mum and we both just zipped through it! For those of you who have read Tremain's other stuff, you'll know she's more a historical fiction kinda person. I've only read "Music and Silence" and "Restoration" before, and enjoyed them immensely, but this is a total departure, and a welcome departure it is, too.

Set in present day Britain, The Road Home traces the journey of Lev, an immigrant from an unnamed (fictitious?) Eastern Euporean country in search of work. With nothing left to lose except the few pounds he raised to make the journey to the UK, Lev's story is one which hundreds of people make across the EU, and the world, everyday.

Tremain explores the different motivations people have for leaving all that is familiar to them for the allures of the city or more developed countries. Of course, the bright lights of the city are more mirage than reality, and Lev soon comes face-to-face with the gritty, often bewildering situations that London living entails.

In Lev, you have an Everyman whom you want to have end up a success story. The future he eventually carves for himself is also very gradually hinted at, and the choices he makes and the people he meets are realistically and compellingly portrayed, though you are aware that here is an ordinary man who is leading, or going to lead, a rather extraordinary life.

Highly recommended if you are looking for an accessible story to lose yourself in.