Description

‘Warm-hearted and winsomely imaginative’ Sunday Times

The fish have been vanishing from the waters off Big Running, Newfoundland, and now the people are too . . .

Amidst abandoned houses and closed schools, ten-year-old Finn and his sister Cora while away their nights counting the few remaining fishing boats on the coast. Meanwhile Finn’s music teacher, Mrs Callaghan, shares stories about his family, the island’s ancient melodies, and its myths of mermaids and magic snakes. Then it’s Cora’s turn to vanish. Realising that he could lose his family as well as his home, Finn sets out to rescue his sister and bring life back to the barren waters.

‘A Wes Anderson-esque tale to fall for’ Stylist

‘This is a novel in love with music, magic and the idealism of childhood’ The Times

Publisher Review

A Wes Anderson-esque tale to fall for * Stylist * The town is filled with magic, and so is Hooper's writing * New York Times * Warm-hearted and winsomely imaginative * Sunday Times * Our Homesick Songs tells a relevant, strong story about the impact of environmental change on rural communitiesand the way the young generation can feel responsible for and angry at what their forebears have done [...] This is a novel in love with music, magic and the idealism of childhood * The Times * Emma Hooper has used her craft and knowledge to weave together a plot mindful of narrative's oral and lyrical beginnings, integrating folk tale and song into her work . . . an almost musical rhythm and pulse not often found in fiction writing * Literary Review * The prose flows like the waves it recounts: back and forth seamlessly . . . it is elegant and musical * The List * Hooper is fascinated by the emotional territory of migration and how individual lives are shaped by forces as powerful and inexorable as the sea * Daily Mail * Emma Hooper has constructed such an authentic sense of place from such a distant shore * Irish Times * With stark prose, Hooper captures the desperation and difficulty of life on the edge of civilization. Heartbreaking and empathetic, Hooper's fine novel is a haunting evocation of changing times and the power of place * Publishers Weekly * Lovely and lyrical. A story about storytellers told with a beguiling simplicity. Hooper's work brims with mermaids and music and memory * Toronto Star *