I am home. is a page-turner, and inspirational in describing both the author’s life and accessible pleasures, open to us all if we are mindful enough to accept life’s gifts sprinkled among its challenges. Maili’s lyrical and poetic depictions of nature–constantly present in the pages–place her memoir among pastoral as well as memoir masterpieces. Her previous award-winning novel Lucy, go see. is also a must-read.
–Patricia Killeen, World Radio Paris
The whole book encompasses a wideness of love, inviting reflections about a lot that most people don’t notice or pay attention to. I was enthralled with it and I love the way it moves in non-linear time and affirms that home is not where we are from and at the same time it is. The way Maili inspires readers’ reflections without offering them conclusions is remarkable. Another interesting aspect of the book is that it speaks to a wide audience of lay people and intellectuals. In the text, Maili tells of what she has come to see as “The American Years”. She shares herself with the reader, exploring memory and forgiveness, the roles of women and men, parents and children, staying home or leaving, and how we live with and within ourselves. Her reflections are both universal and unique and while her perspective is that of someone who has traveled the world something remains that is “as American as apple pie”.
–Kirana Stover, Artist and Director of the Integral Yoga Center Barcelona Ribes
I am home. is a real journey for the reader, who really gets to experience what the narrator feels and goes through. It is full of sensations, sensations of nature, sensations of water, of light, sensations of the body. The narrator is very generous in sharing what she feels, her vulnerability, her strengths.
I felt close to the other characters, the son, the father, the mother. I liked her a lot, she is so special, with such a nice spirit, sense of humor. I was very moved, touched all through the reading and of course at the end. It made me think about my mother and I wanted to be as good as the narrator is, to her.
The relations with men are also very interesting. Also, the fact that the son is a man too, and is going to be another kind of man because he had such a great mother.
I really liked what you say about the wound, this passage where you are sharing your research/work is very interesting.
I would very much like to read your thesis ! If there is a possibility to read it ?
(For readers, yes, you can! Access it here. )
So, wouaw, reading your book helped me grow as well. It is really a good book, that gives strength–strength to be vulnerable, strength to be what you want to be in life, strength to be free.
Thank you !
-Astrid de Laage, author of De la main d’une femme, Grasset 2023
Marianne Maili 