Going Home

A man finds himself caring for his deceased friend’s toddler in Lamont’s affecting debut. Téo Erskine, 30, holds a steady job in London, where he lives alone, and spends one weekend a month visiting his widowed father, Vic, and fellow Jewish friends Ben Mossam, a wealthy playboy, and Lia Woods, a single mother, in the northern suburb where he grew up. One Friday night at the local pub, Téo, who has a crush on Lia, agrees to babysit her two-year-old son, Joel, the next day. He brings the boy to Vic’s house, and after Lia fails to answer his texts, Téo learns that she has died by suicide. The Erskines are then visited by a team of social workers, who ask Téo and Vic to keep Joel there for a few months until they can track down his father. Téo goes on leave from work and the men adjust with the help of Ben, who buys Joel a trampoline; and Sibyl Challis, a new rabbi, who takes Joel for walks. Before the social workers return, Téo is shocked by a startling revelation. Though the story takes a while to gel, Lamont offers a textured view of Téo’s family and Jewish community, and he keeps the reader invested as the characters adjust to Lia’s death and attempt to figure out Joel’s future. Readers will be hooked. Agent: David Forrer, InkWell Management. (Jan.)