Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce was recently published on July 8, 2025 by The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House. I was offered this ARC by the publisher because of my interest in and book reviews of several other books published by Random House, such as Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, one of my most favorite books in recent years. This is my first book to read by Rachel Joyce, although she has six or seven published novels, one of which, her debut (!), was commercially successful and critically acclaimed, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, published in 2013.

Just as Hello Beautiful documents the childhood and adulthood of four siblings (all girls, however), so does The Homemade God. While the Hello Beautiful siblings had a somewhat normal family life, the four siblings in The Homemade God have anything but a normal family life. The mother, Martha, dies shortly after the birth of her fourth child. The father, Vic, is an artist, as bohemian as they come. The children, with occasional help from a series of au pairs and nannies, practically raise themselves. Vic is always painting in his studio, swept up in his art that is maligned by the experts but extremely commercial which makes him very wealthy.

While the father is painting and selling paintings, the children are left to their own devices. They are introduced to drinking and smoking at shockingly young ages (at least in the current climate). The two older children, Netta and Susan, practically raise the two younger children, “Goose” (Gustav) and Iris. Netta, the oldest, is your typical first born, type A personified, bossy, overachiever. She can do more in an hour than the rest of us accomplish the whole day. She isn’t particularly nice about it, though.

Susan had a dream which she could not bring to fruition and did what second children often do, she settled. She settled in career, and she settled in love.

Gustav, known by all as Goose, wanted to be an artist like his father, and as the only son, yearned to follow in his father’s outsized footsteps. Something tragic happens, however, to derail his dream.

As the birth order decreases, so does the drive and ambition, until finally, poor Iris is left with no drive or ambition or any real personality of her own. She is the baby of the family, and no matter how old she is or what she does, she will remain so.

There are two other characters that take center stage in the plot, but I think it is best for you to experience them as they are thrown at you, because in fact it does feel like Rachel Joyce does hurl the first one right at your face.

This book is a family saga, detailing how these siblings relate to their father, to each other, and to the people significant to each of them in their own lives. There are secrets, disappointments, unrealized dreams, and failed romances. I found the character development particularly rich in this novel, even though I wanted to reach inside my kindle and shake (or slap them) into reality one or two of them (alright, to be honest, all four of them) at times while reading it.

There is mystery, who did what, how did that happen, an unexplained death, a missing will, and a missing painting, all part of the story. The story starts in London, but quickly moves to a villa on Lake Orta in Italy. Joyce does a great job at making me want to dust off my passport, throw a big hat (IYKYK, but you have to read the book first) and sunglasses into a bag, and head to the airport, searching for a vacation villa on Lake Orta. It is an idyllic setting, but it is also where it all goes terribly wrong.

I really enjoyed this book. While I didn’t particularly like a few of the characters, I think that is a job well done by the author, creating characters that are real enough to dislike. I wish I could talk to someone who has read this book, to ask them if one of the characters (not one of the siblings) reminds them of a very famous person—also an artist—who made a lot of waves being involved with a superstar in the music world. (That’s as close to a spoiler as you will get from me.)

In one review I read promoting this new novel, the reviewer said, “If you are a fan of Maggie O’Farrell, you must read this.” I wholeheartedly agree with that, although there is something fresh and modern about The Homemade God, some feeling I got while reading it that I don’t get from O’Farrell’s books, and I absolutely love all of her books! O’Farrell can paint (with her words) a quirky character better than anyone else I know.

The Homemade God is just out. Check it out. Put it on hold at your library. Download the ebook, listen to the audiobook. Buy a print copy. It is the ultimate summer read. Escape to a lovely villa on a lovely lake in lovely Italy. Live with the Kemp siblings for a while. I think you will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/The Dial Press for providing me with the ARC. Congrats to Rachel Joyce! You have a new fan in me!