Books for homesickness

Whether your home is in the next city or the next country, there are thousands of books for the homesickness. Starting university is arguably one of the most exciting times in a person’s life. There are new people to meet, new opportunities to make, and you have the freedom you’ve always wanted. However, a seemingly unbearable amount of homesickness can sometimes follow this new-found independence. That feeling of yearning is not easily erased, and many students experience it with the beginning of each new term. Personally, moving to the UK from Greece was an exciting but frightening step and I found myself missing my family every day.

You don’t need to lose yourself within a foreign culture in order to be successful…

It’s a normal feeling to leave home thinking you know exactly what you want, only to arrive at university and find that you didn’t have enough time to appreciate what you left behind. Chimamanda’s Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah addresses the emotional confusion of characters Ifemelu and Obinze, as they leave their home of Lagos and begin lives in America and England, respectively. Ifemelu is driven by her desire to study, while Obinze is desperate to become a successful businessman. However, as the novel follows both characters, it becomes clear to the reader that they yearn to return to Nigeria. This book assures those that have left their homeland to pursue work or education abroad, that their feelings of isolation are universal. The cultural differences between America, England and Nigeria are also spoken about very openly in the novel. They provide the reader with an alternative perspective, revealing that you don’t need to lose yourself within a foreign culture in order to be successful.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín also deals with similar issues relating to homesickness. The story follows Eilis Lacey, a young girl from Ireland in the 1950s, who travels all the way to New York to find work. Although she believes she is doing the right thing for her family, upon arriving Eilis only wishes to be back in Ireland. Letters from her mother and sister make her feel too homesick; a feeling that many students may be able to relate to. However, as time goes by Eilis crafts a new life and love in Brooklyn. When she must go back to Ireland due to a family tragedy, she finds she must choose between her two homes. This novel is essential for any student that feels overwhelmed in their new environment. It provides reassurance that things will get better, and that their new life experiences will help mould them into someone much stronger than they first imagined.

There will be thousands of plots to be lost in and characters to relate to…

Despite these two examples, it is entirely up to the individual reader which novels will aid their homesickness. Readers will be able to relate to characters like Ifemelu, Obinze and Eilis; however, they may prefer to read something by an author from their home country or city so that they don’t feel so far away. After leaving Greece, I felt inclined to pick up a copy of Nikos Kazantzakis’ Zorba the Greek from the campus bookshop, just so that I could read about the familiar places or see the Greek names. There will also be other students that prefer not to think about home at all, which will be helped by the distraction of a gripping or entertaining novel. In this case, Tina Fey’s Bossypants is an entertaining and thoughtful autobiographical comedy that will have its readers smiling through any bouts of homesickness, as the critically acclaimed author recounts embarrassing and empowering incidents in her life. For those interested in a thriller, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is a classic murder mystery that will leave the reader grateful to be safely tucked away at university, rather than on a strange island home where a killer must be uncovered!

Essentially, the reader knows best. Books are there for us to escape into and there are plenty of options for anyone battling homesickness. No matter what you are going through, there will be thousands of plots to be lost in and characters to relate to.