Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Home or Away

Home or Away
Home or Away
Author: Kathleen West
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Hardcover
VolunteerVal avatar reviewed on + 602 more book reviews


Hockey + Me Too + Non-traditional Gender Roles = Home or Away by Kathleen West

This contemporary novel centers around hockey: Minnesota hockey, high-stakes children's hockey, Olympic hockey. But readers don't have to understand (or care about) hockey to appreciate the story.

I was pulled in by the exploration of a marriage with non-traditional gender roles, a friendship between fiercely competitive women, the Midwestern setting, a smarmy Me Too offender, and the ways people define their lives by a single achievement (or lack thereof).

I appreciated the writing style and the slow-but-steady climb to the plot's peak. For a time I was concerned where the story was going, but I liked the novel's ending.

After reading Leigh, Charlie, Gus, and Suzy's story, I enjoyed an interview with Ms. West by Cindy Burnett and Rue Spence which aired as the March 29, 2022 episode of the Thoughts From a Page podcast.

Thank you to Berkley Books and NetGalley for the review copy of this novel; all thoughts are my own.