X-Book

Our Homesick Songs

Click Buy to Log in and see personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

enguin presents the audiobook edition of Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper.

There was nothing to do but tell stories. Tell this story.
And then? Asked Cora.
And then everything, said Finn.

Newfoundland, Canada, 1992. When all the fish vanish from the waters, and the cod industry abruptly collapses, it's not long before the people begin to disappear from the town of Big Running as well. As residents are forced to leave the island in search of work, ten-year-old Finn Connor suddenly finds himself living in a ghost town. There's no school, no friends and whole rows of houses stand abandoned. And then Finn's parents announce that they too must separate if their family is to survive.

But Finn still has his sister, Cora, with whom he counts the dwindling boats on the coast at night, and Mrs Callaghan, who teaches him the strange and ancient melodies of their native Ireland. That is until his sister disappears, and Finn must find a way of calling home the family and the life he has lost.

'A Wes Anderson-esque tale to fall for' Stylist

'Warm-hearted and winsomely imaginative' Sunday Times

'A novel in love with music, magic and the idealism of childhood' The Times

Critics 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
Author Emma Hooper
Narrator Nicole Power
Duration 7 hours and 17 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9780241386828
Format Audiobook
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Genre Family life fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE

More from the same

Author

About xigxag

xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.

There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.

Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.

Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.