Rachel Joyce returns with The Homemade God, a masterfully crafted exploration of family dysfunction that strips away the comfortable lies we tell ourselves about the people we love most. Set against the shimmering backdrop of Lake Orta in Italy, this latest offering from the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry presents a far more complex and unsettling narrative than her previous works, marking a significant evolution in Joyce’s literary voice.
When world-renowned artist Vic Kemp dies unexpectedly at his Italian villa just six weeks after marrying twenty-seven-year-old Bella-Mae, his four adult children are thrust into a summer of reckoning that will fundamentally alter their understanding of themselves and their father. What begins as a search for Vic’s missing will and final masterpiece becomes an excavation of decades of willful blindness and emotional manipulation.
The Architecture of Delusion
Joyce constructs her narrative with the precision of an architect building a house of cards—beautiful, intricate, and destined to collapse. The novel unfolds in three carefully orchestrated parts, each revealing new layers of the Kemp family’s elaborate mythology. The opening section introduces us to the siblings in their natural habitat: Netta, the fierce litigator who serves as surrogate parent; Susan, the devoted housewife whose entire identity revolves around caring for others; Goose, the failed artist trapped in his father’s shadow; and Iris, the perpetual baby who drops everything at Vic’s call.
The author’s prose in these early chapters carries an almost hypnotic quality, mirroring the way the siblings have been entranced by their father’s charisma. Joyce’s language becomes more fragmented and urgent as the summer progresses, perfectly capturing the psychological disintegration that follows their discoveries.
Character Development and Psychological Complexity
Each Kemp sibling represents a different response to parental narcissism, and Joyce explores their individual pathologies with surgical precision. Netta’s control issues and alcoholism stem from being forced into a parental role at seven; Susan’s compulsive caretaking masks a desperate need for recognition; Goose’s artistic paralysis reflects years of being told he lacks talent; and Iris’s childlike dependence reveals the damage of being perpetually infantilized.
The characterization of Bella-Mae presents one of Joyce’s most sophisticated achievements. Initially portrayed through the siblings’ suspicious lens as a potential gold-digger or femme fatale, she gradually emerges as perhaps the most emotionally honest character in the novel. Her youth and directness serve as a mirror, reflecting the siblings’ own arrested development and self-deception.
The Italian Setting as Character
Joyce’s depiction of Lake Orta transcends mere backdrop to become a character in its own right. The oppressive heat wave that grips Europe serves as an external manifestation of the internal pressure building within the family. The lake itself—beautiful, deceptive, and potentially dangerous—mirrors Vic’s own nature and the family’s relationship with truth.
The villa becomes a pressure cooker where long-suppressed resentments bubble to the surface. Joyce’s descriptive passages capture both the seductive beauty of the Italian lakeside and its underlying menace:
“Midday it shot forth tiny flints of light, but it could turn every color under the sun, and in the early mornings it was the best. There might be low-slung mists so that everything disappeared, including the reeds, and only the little island was left, floating in the middle on a bed of cloud.”
The Central Revelation and Its Impact
The discovery of Vic’s final “masterpiece”—a crude, amateurish still life of apples—serves as the novel’s devastating climax. Joyce builds toward this moment with masterful tension, only to deliver a revelation that is both anticlimatic and profoundly shocking. The painting’s mediocrity forces the siblings to confront the possibility that their father was never the artistic genius they believed him to be.
This scene exemplifies Joyce’s ability to find profound meaning in seemingly small moments. The siblings’ various reactions to the painting—Netta’s pacing denial, Susan’s hollow shock, Iris’s childlike confusion, and Goose’s dawning understanding—reveal the depths of their individual psychological investments in their father’s myth.
Literary Strengths and Minor Weaknesses
What Works Brilliantly
- Psychological Authenticity: Joyce demonstrates an impressive understanding of family trauma and the ways children adapt to narcissistic parents. The siblings’ different coping mechanisms feel authentic and heartbreakingly real.
- Structural Innovation: The three-part structure—moving from mythology through revelation to reconstruction—provides a satisfying arc that mirrors the psychological journey of grief and acceptance.
- Symbolic Resonance: The title’s reference to “The Homemade God” sculpture that eventually emerges from the family’s destruction provides a powerful metaphor for how we construct meaning from broken pieces.
- Dialogue and Voice: Joyce captures the specific rhythms of sibling relationships with remarkable accuracy, from their shared jokes to their brutal capacity for emotional warfare.
Areas of Concern
- Pacing Issues: The middle section occasionally becomes bogged down in the mechanics of the mystery plot, slowing the psychological momentum that Joyce handles so well elsewhere.
- Bella-Mae’s Transformation: While her character development is generally strong, her evolution from grieving widow to successful sculptor feels somewhat rushed and convenient.
- Resolution Questions: Some readers may find the siblings’ various paths forward—particularly their dramatic career changes—slightly too neat for such complex psychological damage.
Thematic Depth and Cultural Commentary
Beyond its family drama, The Homemade God offers sharp commentary on the art world’s complicity in perpetuating myths of genius. Vic’s dealer Harry, who has built his career promoting mediocre work, represents the broader cultural machinery that values reputation over substance. Joyce suggests that the art world, like families, can become invested in maintaining comfortable illusions.
The novel also explores themes of:
- The cost of unconditional loyalty within families
- The difference between talent and reputation in artistic circles
- The challenge of constructing authentic identity after a lifetime of performance
- The possibility of redemption through honest acknowledgment of truth
Comparison to Joyce’s Previous Works
Readers familiar with Joyce’s earlier novels will recognize her signature compassion for flawed characters, but The Homemade God represents a marked departure in tone and complexity. Where The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry offered gentle redemption through walking and Miss Benson’s Beetle provided adventure and friendship, this latest work confronts much darker psychological territory.
“The Homemade God” shares DNA with Joyce’s exploration of unexpected journeys, but here the journey is internal and far more treacherous. The author’s growth as a writer is evident in her willingness to leave certain wounds unhealed and some questions unanswered.
Contemporary Relevance
In an era increasingly aware of family trauma and its long-term effects, Joyce’s exploration of narcissistic parenting feels particularly timely. The novel’s examination of how children become complicit in their own emotional abuse resonates with contemporary discussions around toxic family dynamics and the importance of establishing healthy boundaries.
“The Homemade God” also speaks to current conversations about artistic legacy and the separation of art from artist, suggesting that sometimes our heroes are neither as talented nor as worthy of worship as we believe.
Final Assessment
The Homemade God succeeds as both an intimate family drama and a broader meditation on truth, art, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Joyce has crafted a novel that respects the complexity of human relationships while refusing to offer easy consolations. The ending, with its glimpse of the massive sculpture that Bella-Mae creates from fragments of domestic life, suggests that beauty can emerge from destruction—but only after we’re willing to see clearly what was actually there.
This is Joyce’s most challenging and arguably most successful work to date, one that will linger in readers’ minds long after the final page. While it may not provide the gentle comfort of her earlier novels, it offers something perhaps more valuable: a clear-eyed examination of how families both create and destroy each other, and the possibility of building something new from the wreckage.
Similar Reads for Literary Fiction Enthusiasts
For readers drawn to The Homemade God‘s complex family dynamics and psychological insight, consider these complementary works:
- “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen – A masterful exploration of family dysfunction and middle-class American life
- “Commonwealth” by Ann Patchett – Examines how a single event ripples through two families across decades
- “The Light We Lost” by Jill Santopolo – Though different in scope, shares Joyce’s interest in how the past shapes the present
- “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara – For readers who appreciated the darker psychological elements
- “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt – Another novel that combines art world intrigue with deep character study
Review Considerations: While critically sophisticated and emotionally powerful, some readers may find the novel’s psychological complexity and darker themes challenging compared to Joyce’s earlier, more optimistic works.
