Almost Home, by Pam Jenoff – Book Review
Jordan Weiss is falling apart. After receiving a letter from a friend living in London who is slowly deteriorating from ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Jordan transfers her post as an Intelligence Officer with the U.S. State Department to a branch overseas in London. Jordan has deep reservations about going back to London since her college boyfriend, Jared Short, drowned there just as they were graduating from Oxford 10 years earlier.
Before she can even get settled properly, Chris Bannister, an old friend of her’s and Jared’s, looks her up for help investigating Jared’s death from all those years before. Convinced there’s more to Jared’s death- he thinks their old friend was murdered.
Pam Jenoff’s Almost Home started off a little slowly for me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to accept Jordan as a viable member of the intelligence community. In the beginning of the novel, as she is adjusting to life back in London she makes several mistakes that just seemed preposterous for her to make at this point in her career. Even though she has returned to a place that holds many painful memories, I expected that as an intelligence officer she would cover better since their instincts have to be firmly trained on gathering information and survival (her boss pulls several strings to make sure that she can carry a concealed weapon at all times overseas). It really bugged me that she was so flaky and unprofessional after having been described as one of the best in her field.
Jenoff alternates between Jordan’s present and past, so at some points I was able to put aside my reservations about Jordan as a character, and when I could there was a lot about the novel that I enjoyed. Jenoff skillfully creates the environment where Jordan is visiting old haunts and acclimatizing herself to being back in London. It was nice to read the observances of the differences in the U.S./U.K. cultural institutions- like bars and supermarkets, and to see the Cambridge campus and the customs of the different colleges within the university. I learned a lot about the rivalries among the different colleges at Cambridge and quite a bit about the sport of rowing- at times just a tad bit more than I wanted to know (if you are into rowing, you will love all the detail!).
The mystery of Jared’s death was another part of the book that I found intriguing. Jordan and Chris soon discover that the reserved and secretive Jared had been doing groundbreaking research into World War II. As Jordan juggles keeping an eye on her sick friend, working her case for the Intelligence Office, negotiating romantic entanglements and her investigation with Chris into Jordan’s death, she starts looking up people in her past and asking questions about both investigations. It soon becomes apparent that she doesn’t know whom to trust and if and how the cases might connect to each other.Files are stolen and her life is imperiled more than once as she runs into all sorts of dead ends.
The World War II thread of the story and the evolution of Jordan and Jared’s relationship at Cambridge, and just their college experiences in themselves were high points of the novel for me. The surprises throughout the story kept me invested in turning the pages to see what was going to happen next and I found the mystery to be intriguing and satisfying. Though I had my issues with Jordan I thoroughly enjoyed reading about London, Cambridge and an angle of World War II that I had never considered, and by the last hundred pages or so I was totally hooked!
I could have accepted the ending, but I am excited to know that there will be a sequel called Hidden Things, and that it is out in July. Sweet! I hate waiting when I want to know the next part of the story. Maybe that is why it is so easy for me to not watch TV. Always waiting for the next part.
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17 Responses to “Almost Home, by Pam Jenoff – Book Review”
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This book sounds interesting. Would you say it fits in more with the hard-boiled school or the more literary type of mystery? More Elmore Leonard or Agatha Christie?
Steve´s last blog ..100th Post! Kindle vs. Nook: Head to head PART I
It’s so hard to say. It was a mix of elements and I feel like different parts of the book had a different tone. When I was reading the intelligence office stuff it felt like one of those fast paced thrillers that my step-father used to read about the Mossad and terrorists, bu the college scenes had a very literary feel to me, and then there were her romantic entanglements as well. Definitely a bit of everything but maybe not si much old schol.
Sounds intriguing. I may read this one.
Steve´s last blog ..100th Post! Kindle vs. Nook: Head to head PART I
It does sound good and a sequel to follow. I don’t like waiting for second parts either.
vivienne´s last blog ..White is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
This sounds really good.
Bluestocking´s last blog ..Star Wars Crosscurrent
This one sounds good. I may wait a few months so the sequel will be closer before I read it though!
nomadreader´s last blog ..book review: This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
Another great review! Reading your blog is dangerous to my wish list!
I recently read another review of this book, and both reviews make this book sound like a must. I don’t think I appreciated the WWII thread though, and that totally caught my eye. I have a bit of an obsession with that era. You have done this one justice!
Sandy´s last blog ..Ghost in the Machine – Patrick Carman
Rowing must be in the air! I just finished a mystery that takes place in Baltimore that involves lots of rowing. Now that I’m so knowledgeable, this book sounds like the next step!
Beth F´s last blog ..Weekend Cooking: Babette’s Feast (The Film)
It seems like WWII has so much background that hasn’t been explored yet. For some reason it usually hooks me into a novel.
It sounds like the author has firsthand knowledge of the colleges in London. That is what can make a character come alive – the little things that can’t be read in a book or seen on a web site.
Amber Stults´s last blog ..Henning Mankell Interview
Glad to hear the WWII storyline was the most compelling, as that’s the main reason why I want to read this book. I hope it’s okay to link to your review on War Through the Generations.
Anna´s last blog ..And the winners are…
That’s perfectly fine.
I just barely skimmed, because this book is next up on my list, but it sounds intriguing!
Jen – Devourer of Books´s last blog ..The Wives of Henry Oades – Book Review
I agree with the intelligence errors – those drove me kind of crazy. I had to suspend my disbelief at certain points in the novel. But I did enjoy it and am looking forward to the sequel!
S. Krishna´s last blog ..Marriage and Other Acts of Charity – Kate Braestrup
I got hooked on this one much quicker than you did, it sounds like, and I really loved it! And talk about a book needing a sequel… I'm dying for the next installment! Can't believe we have to wait until summer. Ick.
My recent post Book review: ‘Almost Home’ by Pam Jenoff
I enjoyed this book but found that the character of Jordan wasn't always consistent. For somebody who is meant to be one of the best in the field she runs out a lot on meetings or situations she does not want to deal with and seems emotionally unstable. She also at times doesn't seem to be very quick on the uptake, which is surprising given her occupation. Would have preferred her to have been more competent and not so flakey. However I really did enjoy the book.