The Homemade God, a review by Shelley

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The Homemade God
Rachel Joyce

Publication Date: July 8th, 2025
Random House Publishing Group | The Dial Press
336 Pages
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop.org

Genre: General Fiction | Women’s Fiction

I loved Rachel Joyce’s Harold Fry Series (books one and two), so I jumped at the chance to read her newest release. This one takes us to Italy after four siblings lose their artist father; they travel there to help sort out his estate with his wife, who happens to be 50 years younger than him. Netta is the oldest and is a litigator, Susan is a stay-at-home wife, Goose is an artist like his dad (well, not like his dad as he is a failure) and is his dad’s assistant, and Iris is a little daddy’s girl and the youngest. Bella-Mae is the father’s wife. She’s 27, and he is 76. A mere 6 weeks after their wedding, he is dead, his will is missing, and so is the painting he was working on. the four siblings try and figure out what the heck is going on and who is this new wife really?

The Homemade God is a very slow-burn, character-driven story, and the premise was certainly a good one with the mysterious way too young window who can’t find the will or the masterpiece her dead husband has painted. Rachel Joyce wrote the atmosphere very well, I could feel the tension, resentment and secrets. She also writes about Italy very descriptively, and it’s a place that’s always been on my bucket list. (The history, art, architecture, cuisine and fashion!)

I hated Vic so much. He is anything but a father. He is a great painter and has plenty of charm, but his kids have nothing but painful memories. He is Narcissistic, neglectful and selfish. I had a hard time believing in all the grief his kids were suffering from, or feeling sorry that he died. All four of the kids were wonderfully written, but the rest of them felt flat. And the plot is more of a did-she-do-it than a whodunit, and the pace was too slow. It was more psychological than mysterious and turned into a mess of confrontations that felt repetitive. Overall, this was just a mixed bag for me. It is a well-written story with some excellent insights into a family, but the slow pace and my hatred of some of the characters prevent me from rating it higher.

P.S. I love a good family drama and the toxic and complicated relationships that comprise a dysfunctional family. This one is about a Dad who was not a good man, and maybe it just hit too close to home for me, as my own not-a-good-man dad died not too long ago, and as much as I hated the step-mother Bella-Mae character, I hate my own (way too young) step-monster even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.