Homelands: The History of a Friendship

‘Remarkable’ The Times

‘Achingly beautiful’ Guardian

This book is about two unlikely friends. One born in 1970s Britain to Indian immigrant parents, the other arrived from Nazi Germany in 1939, fleeing persecution.This is a story of migration, racism, family, belonging, grief and resilience. It is about the state we’re in now and the ways in which we carry our pasts into our futures.

Reviews of Homelands: The History of a Friendship

Remarkable * * The Times * * Achingly beautiful * * Guardian * * An utterly engrossing story that spans the twentieth century, surveying otherness, family and belonging, but above all friendship. I could not stop reading this gorgeous book — DENISE MINA An eloquent testament to the tribulations of national belonging * * New Statesman * * A deeply reflective and moving account of a remarkable friendship that bridges a century. Homelands is at once meditative and urgent, humane and journalistic. I learned so much in these pages, and yet couldn't stop smiling at the simple strokes: the love, the kindness, the unlikely places friendship blooms — DINA NAYERI It is Henry's life story which is the gripping heart of the matter . . . immersive * * Scotsman * * A spellbinding story of triumph and tragedy, war and sanctuary, emigration and belonging. Fans of Sebald and De Waal are going to love this — GAVIN FRANCIS Homelands is dizzyingly ambitious . . . this profound, far-reaching novel journeys across continents and decades. Ramaswamy interweaves her family's history and Wuga's against a backdrop of their ongoing sorrows. There are moments when you wonder if she can sustain this trapeze act, but she swoops from setting to setting and decade to decade without ever losing her grip. Ramaswamy's grief floods the book, producing sentences that would rip your heart out * * Big Issue * * Extraordinary . . . personal and emotional . . . essential . . . Chitra Ramaswamy's and Henry Wuga's recollections would be compelling on their own, but by bringing them together we are encouraged to look at our own family history, and compare them with those of others. Homelands rightly proffers there is more that unites than divides * * Skinny * * Vivid storytelling * * Observer * *