For Anna, being abandoned as a child by both parents has shaped her entire life. She cannot settle in one place for long, and so, she house sits for a living. Constantly moving around the world spending no longer than weeks in any location.
This book is moving and emotional from the point of view of a person who grew up in the care system. Insightful and illuminating, at times, desperately sad. But families are all different and sometimes it's the family we choose for ourselves that mean the most.

This is by no means anything like The Larkford series which I enjoyed.
It follows the story of Anna as she tries to find her way in life. Told in 3 time lines we start with the present as she house sits for people who want to go away. We also go back to her childhood where she finds herself going from one Foster home to another. Not easy for a young child and I did sympathise with her as she was placed with one particular horrible person.
The other timeline is Anna at Oxford where she meets Kate. She also meets her first love Max who turns out to be a rat but not in the way you may think.
I found some of this a bit slow especially the dialogue between Anna and Kate. Some of it unnecessary.
I loved that the housesitting included pets and there were some great locations.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this ARC

I really enjoyed the the other series Penny has written, I hoped that this book would not and it really hasn't disappointed at all.

I have read and enjoyed Penny Parkes books in the past so when I saw the cover of her new release Home I was won over with the simplistic design and popped this one on my TBR list straight away. Having now just finished reading Home I can honestly say this is Penny Parkes at her best and her writing in this book has more depth and emotion which made this storyline feel so raw, honest and insightful leaving a mark on my heart.
We meet Anna who is a house sitter which on the face of it seems like a rather exciting job being paid to live in the luxurious houses she could only dream of moving from idyllic location after location, but as we get to know Anna we dig deeper and see that this is all Anna has ever known having been moved from home to home and family to family.
Anna is lost, Anna doesn’t know who she is or where she fits in the world, she has no foundations and yet she has the biggest heart and is intelligent but her childhood has shaped her future but the question is How many times can you start over?
The loneliness and that feeling of not being able to trust anyone after anyone Anna lets in breaks her that little bit more is heartbreaking and can be felt through the pages. She has one great big positive in her life though, her one and only constant her bestfriend Kate who she meets at university.
The storyline highlighted the effects on children being in care has on them showing that not every home who opens the door to look after children opens the heart too and the lasting damage this causes.
The last quarter of the book was what really had me chocked though this is where I really did have a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat as we have had such a detailed telling of Anna’s life and so we really feel like we know Anna on a personal level and this is a young woman who deserves so much love and happiness in life but she doesn’t know how to achieve this, does she even think she is worthy of this? How does she turn her life around and start a new chapter with no guidance, no help and no idea what her happy place is?
It just opens your eyes to the fact you can’t choose your family but you can choose your tribe, get your tribe right no matter how big or small and that is where love, support, contentment and happiness will be.
A beautiful and evocative novel that has really touched a nerve and opened my eyes, it is never too late to start a new chapter. Praise to Penny Parkes, Home is a book not to be missed.

What a simply wonderful read about self discovery, friendship, family and forgiveness. Anna is a drift in her life, searching for the place that is home to her, looking for her family. I loved all the flashbacks that slowly built up the picture of Anna’s childhood and highlights her struggle to find someone to love her, for her to be herself and ‘enough’ with. She had some wonderful examples in her foster families and some that certainly caused more damage than good. Seeing it all retrospectively adds an extra dimension and allows us to see Anna’s thought process and growth. It also allows us to see, just slightly before she herself realised it that she’s had what she was searching for already. Kate is her family, the Porters love her like a daughter and that scene when Alex shows her the graduation pictures he’d taken of her for some reason touched me so much I blubber like a baby.
The only person Anna seemingly wasn’t enough for was herself, she couldn’t see what an amazing person she was, how she touched people’s lives and made them better, even if it was only for a week while housesitting. Her own pre conceived ideas of herself were holding her back. Seeing her realise that and see her own self worth reflected in the people who chose to stay with her and actively tried to spend more time with her was beautiful. Home was t a place, it was herself being surrounded by her friends.

A gripping and heartfelt story about overcoming the past and finding where you belong.

Anna Wilson travels the world as a professional housesitter – stepping into other people’s lives - caring for their homes, pets and sometimes even neighbours. Living vicariously.

But all Anna has ever really wanted is a home of her own – a proper one, filled with family and love and happy memories. If only she knew where to start.

Growing up in foster care, she always envied her friends their secure and carefree lives, their certainty and confidence. And, while those same friends may have become her family of choice, Anna is still stuck in that nomadic cycle, looking for answers, trying to find the courage to put down roots and find a place to call home.

Compelling, rich and evocative, Home is Anna’s journey to discovering that it isn’t where you settle down that matters, but the people you have around you when you do.

I haven't read any Penny Parkes books before , although I have bought some and have them to read. Having seen her previous work I expected this to be a easy uplifting read - I was so wrong! I absolutely loved this book, it deals with some serious tough topics and describes them so well. The reader is taken on a journey with Anna, her current day and childhood, some of the passages are tough reads but o very well written, an excellent piece of literature.

I have already been recommending this to friends, an absolutely brilliant read.

Moving and heartbreaking at times. Home is about Anna, and her life in foster care. The novel dips back and towards in time to recall significant events in Anna's past. It is easy to follow the place and time of the events. I absolutely adored this book! I could not put it down, probably the fastest I have read a book in a long time.

If there's one thing this last year has taught us, it's that the people we choose to spend our time with, and choose to love, don't always have to be our blood family to make us feel loved and grounded and that's something Anna hasn't yet worked out.

The story starts with Anna turning up to yet another house-sitting job and looking forward to an easy couple of weeks doing what she is good at - stepping into someone else's life and trying it on for size, all while not having to face up to her past. While Anna is at this post, she's attending her best friend's wedding and hoping not to bump into her ex. 

The story is set in several different locations as we follow Anna - past and present - trying to find her place in life and trying to reconcile her past. She wants to live a 'normal' life, like everyone else - but it turns out that no two people live the same lives and that behind every front door, there's a different story to be told (or to be hidden). Along the way, Anna makes some unexpected connections and comes to some very important realisations (sometimes too late).

I really loved this book. As always, when I was reading it I was like "oh yeah, that's going to happen" but, because of the brilliance of Penny's writing, I was wrong about 97% of the time (and the 3% I was right was just before it actually happened and it couldn't have been more obvious!). I adore Penny's books and I love how she adds in animals as extra characters in the plot (in this case, the animals emulate the character of the people who really do live in the houses Anna is looking after). Penny doesn't shy away from difficult subjects either and she really does tackle quite a few issues in this book - and it's incredibly well researched too. It was exactly what I needed to read right now. My only complaint is it made me miss travel - Bath, Oxford, St Pancras.......

Remember: Home is where the heart is.

The central character of this story is Anna, she has never really had a place to call home & now spends her young adult life house sitting for others, until finally she discovers with the help of her one true friend Kate & Callie a young girl that she takes under her wing that it is time to settle down, when Kate offers her a solution to her nomadic lifestyle.
Thoroughly enjoyed this

Anna Wilson travels the world as a professional house sitter caring for others peoples homes, pets and sometimes even neighbors but all Anna has ever really wants is a home of her own!

This was a gorgeous and heart-felt book!
I loved Anna’s journey and felt I watched her grow throughout the book. Anna had a tough childhood moving around foster homes so it makes sense why all she wants is a little place of her own, with all the home comforts and love that everyone needs. The book has a dual narrative moving between past and present giving you insights into Anna’s childhood to the present day where she is jumping from place to place looking after other people's homes.

I really enjoyed this book, just a lovely read that felt like a warm hug. I felt hugely grateful of everything that I have at the end and I wanted to give Anne a big hug too! ❤️

Home was an interesting book and I enjoyed the concept of the unconventional lifestyle that Anna led. Her background and what pushed her to become a house-sitter was really interesting but I did feel like some of the dialogue between Anna and Kate became a bit long-winded and I lost interest in some parts.

Anna was brought up in care after her mum didnt pick her up from school one day after her dad had left them, she grows up never finding her place in life. After graduating from Oxford University she house sits for other people rather than putting down roots. Her only constant is her best friend Kate who she met at University.
A lovely story of Anna finally finding out who she is and what she wants to do with her life

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this in exchange for my honest review.

Anna is a housesitter, never staying in one place, stepping into the lives of others repeatedly and travelling all over. Sounds great right? But where is home for Anna?

A story of overcoming the past, incredible friendships (old and new) and finding where you belong... or perhaps who you belong with.

I really enjoyed this one!

I really enjoyed this book by Penny Parkes and it wasn't what I expected but in a good way. I loved following the story of Anna and seeing her grow throughout the book. Parkes touches on topics of struggled and difficult childhoods - parent abandonment, sexual abuse / assault but deals with them so well in this novel.

Anna struggles to trust people because of her childhood and lack of security from when she was young which is totally understandable. I loved following her while she was finding herself and grow.

I really enjoyed this book and felt it was a feel good book that I was happy for Anna when it ended.

Where to begin? I was intrigued by this book because I used to house/pet sit whilst I was studying years ago. Having been in foster homes from an early age, Anna craves a proper home for herself. What started as a gap year of house sitting, soon becomes a full-time career. We follow Anna's journey where we meet the friend she holds dear, the people she meets along her travels and take a trip back in time where she revisits her past. This is such a moving, gripping heartfelt story. It's an absolute must read.

I first saw the cover for this book at the Books and the City 2021 Showcase in December 2020 and settled down last month to read my digital proof copy on NetGalley.

This was an emotional read. As a mother, it was heartbreaking to read about why Anna grew up in foster care, and had to keep moving on. This also explained why Anna had been happy to keep moving and only spending a short time at each house sitting location. However, could it now be time to stop moving?

Anna’s relationship with her best friend from University has been her most important relationship since her childhood, and we slowly find out why Anna is concerned that Kate’s marriage to Duncan could change this.

I enjoyed reading this book. Although the story is heartbreaking in places, I’m pleased to say that it is uplifting too. Anna and Kate love reading, and this love of reading is important to the story.

A stunning, emotional book. I look forward to reading more from Penny Parkes in the future

Yet another wonderful offering from the redoubtable Penny Parkes! This book will appeal to both new readers and her life long followers.

Sometimes you read a book that genuinely touches your heart. Home by Penny Parkes did that to me.

Anna is lost. She is clever and she has good friends, but she can’t settle and has no stable roots. This is Anna’s story and I was with her every step of the way. The author has developed the character to make her complex and yet relatable. To join her on her journey, while slowly understanding her history, felt like a privilege.

I will be buying this book for friends and for my 18 year old daughter and her friends. I also really hope my book club read it, as there is so much I want to discuss.

Thank you so much to the author, her publishers and to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this lovely and beautifully written book. I can’t wait until it is published so everyone can meet Anna.

Anna's job is being a professional housesitter, she travels all around the world and not only looks after people's houses but their pets and neighbours too. It was an interesting plot line as I haven't read too many books about a house sitter but it seems an interesting job. As the story unfolds we see why Anna does this job and it is really heart felt. She meets some unique characters along the way too. I just want to keep reading about the different homes she visits. I felt as though this book touched my heart. I now want to read more of Penny's books as I feel as though I have missed out on her awesome writing.

What a great cast of characters, I loved Anna's journey.

So beautifully written with a rollercoaster of a ride of emotions.

A really enjoyable read that I would highly recommend.