Home

There’s nothing more heart-stopping than a child in danger. Mandy Berriman skilfully takes you by the hand into some bleak territory, all too common for many of today’s children. A need-to-read novel.

Kit de Waal

‘Home’ is an extraordinary achievement. Jesika is utterly unique yet it also feels like there is a chorus of children’s voices behind her, telling their story too. It’s an important story to hear. A must-read from an exceptional new writer. Totally compelling. I read this behind my fingers and couldn’t put it down until I knew if Jesika was safe or not. An important reminder about what the world looks like from a child’s perspective. I’m not sure I breathed while reading this. Jesika jumps off the page and into your heart. She will stay with me forever.

Tor Udall, author of A THOUSAND PAPER BIRDS

Amanda Berriman's Home kept me up late for all the right reasons. It's a tender portrait of a family in crisis that nevertheless grips like a thriller, a chronicle of extraordinary events that never slides into sensationalism. I loved Jesika - the girl through whose eyes the story is told - and her mother, who in remarkable times also faces the unremarkable challenges of motherhood we can all identify with.

Shelley Harris, author of VIGILANTE and JUBILEE

I read this in one sitting and am still crying. Tina and Jesika are heroes. A brave, important, heart-breaking book

Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

Jesika is so real and unforgettable … An extraordinary book.

Emma Curtis

Packs a huge emotional punch…heartbreaking ... Jesika is entirely engaging, sweet, emphatic and cross as she tries to interpret the grisliness of the grown-up world.

Daily Mail

Powerfully brings home the fears of living life on the edge...a narrative rich in intimacy and immediacy...Berriman is a former primary school teacher, and her acute awareness of the child’s world, as well as the spot-on grinding details of poverty make this book wholly, painfully authentic...challenging but always compelling; for the entirety of the second half, I was desperate to rescue Jesika and her family. Comparisons to Room by Emma Donoghue are inevitable; however, while Room is a novel about one sick individual robbing a family of hope and dignity, Home tells the far more terrifying story of inequality in our society..

Kerry Hudson, Guardian

HOME is an incredibly brave novel that never shies away from the harsh realities of poverty.

The Herald

Written in the style of Emma Donoghue's Room this is a sensitive and thought-provoking novel. It's told through the innocent eyes of four-year-old Jesika, who lives below the poverty line in a small flat, with her mother Tina. But when Jesika befriends Paige, she is told a troubling secret that could destroy this already struggling family forever.

The i Paper

It's a challenge not to become completely engrossed

Cornish Times

[A] thought-provoking novel about a section of society that's so easily overlooked

Yorkshire Post

A sensitive novel ... told through the innocent lens of four-year-old Jesika. It's a challenge to not become completely engrossed and concerned for her family's wellbeing.

Belfast Telegraph Morning

Amanda Berriman's heart-wrenching tale of a family on the edge

Kerry Hudson, Observer