How to Find Your Way Home

**What if the person you thought you d lost forever walked back into your life?

A warm, uplifting novel about the unshakable bond between siblings, and what happens when a sister discovers her long-missing brother in the most unexpected place, from the author of Little Big Love.**

Emily has been looking for the same face in every crowd for more than a decade: her brother s. She ll do anything to find him, she just never expects that one day he will walk through the door of the London housing office where she works, homeless and in need of help.

Emily s overjoyed to see Stephen her older brother, her hero, the one who taught her to look for the flash of a bird s wings and instilled in her a love and respect for nature s wonders and invites him to live with her. But the baggage of the day that tore them apart, more than fifteen years before, is heavy. As they attempt to rebuild their relationship, they embark on the birding adventure they d always promised to take when they were just children running wild in the wetlands of Canvey Island. And so, amid the soft, familiar calls of the marsh birds, they must finally confront what happened that June day and in all the days since if they are to finally find their way home.

"[A] heartwarming novel."—Woman's World

"Beautiful, heartbreaking and life-affirming."—Rosie Walsh

"A truly touching story about love, hope, belonging and memory, with authentic and lovable characters who you're rooting for from the first moments."—Araminta Hall
 
"A gorgeous book. Regan’s characters really do walk off the page and into your heart. I loved it"—Eve Chase

“Regan tugs at the heartstrings again in her latest (after Little Big Love, 2018), about a sibling bond and how, sometimes, you can go home again...How to Find Your Way Home is a well-crafted, compelling family drama that explores the meaning of home with care and grace. A must-have for contemporary shelves."—Booklist

“Regan is a meticulous, graceful writer whose insight on the human condition makes for a completely absorbing story. As in her other novels (Little Big Love), she presents a full, well-balanced picture—tragic, yet buoyed by hope—of the far-reaching influences of family dysfunction.”—Shelf Awareness

Autorentext

Katy Regan

Klappentext

What if the person you thought you'd lost forever walked back into your life?

A warm, life-affirming novel about what happens when a sister discovers that the brother she hasn't seen in more than a decade is homeless, and in reconnecting with him learns the true meaning of belonging, from the author of Little Big Love.

When they were children, Emily and her brother Stephen were inseparable. Running wild through the marshes of Canvey Island, it was Stephen who taught her to look for the incandescent flash of a bird's wings, who instilled within her a love and respect for nature's wonders. But one June day, their lives came crashing down around them and fate forced them apart.

Fifteen years later, Emily should be happy. She has a sun-filled garden flat, a lovely boyfriend, and a job that is supposed to let her make a difference. But instead she's lost, always on the lookout for her brother's face, and worn down, spending her days working at the local housing offices having to turn away more applicants than she then she can help.

And then one day, her brother walks through the door, homeless and in need of help.

Stephen has been living in and out of shelters for the last decade and the baggage between them is heavy. But Emily is overjoyed to see her brother again and invites him to come live with her. In an attempt to rebuild their relationship, they embark on a birding adventure together. Amid the soft calls of the marsh birds, they must confront the secrets of all that stands between them-even as they begin to realize that home may just be found within.

Story Locale: London, UK

Zusammenfassung
**What if the person you thought you’d lost forever walked back into your life?

A warm, uplifting novel about the unshakable bond between siblings, and what happens when a sister discovers her long-missing brother in the most unexpected place, from the author of Little Big Love.**

Emily has been looking for the same face in every crowd for more than a decade: her brother’s. She’ll do anything to find him, she just never expects that one day he will walk through the door of the London housing office where she works, homeless and in need of help.
 
Emily’s overjoyed to see Stephen—her older brother, her hero, the one who taught her to look for the flash of a bird’s wings and instilled in her a love and respect for nature’s wonders—and invites him to live with her. But the baggage of the day that tore them apart, more than fifteen years before, is heavy. As they attempt to rebuild their relationship, they embark on the birding adventure they’d always promised to take when they were just children running wild in the wetlands of Canvey Island. And so, amid the soft, familiar calls of the marsh birds, they must finally confront what happened that June day—and in all the days since—if they are to finally find their way home.

Leseprobe
There's me, standing at the open bathroom window again, the ladder up against it, so close I can touch it, a figure halfway up it. There's a storm brewing. I can feel the wind picking up, the air growing cooler; I can sense it rolling in from the estuary, across the marsh edge-lands before me, which lie under a blanket of leaden sky, the dark clouds contrasting with the grass, making it seem a brighter green, like a football pitch under floodlights. And now the swifts . . . I can hear their screams from far away, but getting nearer. They are just black dots at first, but then their scythe-shaped wings come into focus, and soon they're so close I can make out their individual feathers. They come thick and fast, a black cloud, flying past the ladder and into the bathroom, as if fleeing from the storm. The wind is making the ladder shudder, the glass of the open window shake. "Stop!" scream the swifts. "You're going to kill him." Then the ladder falls backward, in slow motion. An almighty thud as something hits the ground. The figure at the bottom now, blood seeping from a wound I can't see. I watch it, spilling outward, spreading over the marshes, turning the hay russet like the fur of a wounded animal, creeping like a trickling brook, out toward the sea.

"STORK"

Canvey Island, Essex

1987

Whoosh! Stephen woke to the sound of his bedroom curtains being pulled open.

"Well, Stevie, you've got a new sister," Dad said. "Emily Adele Nelson-born three hours ago. She's absolutely perfect."

Stephen pulled himself up on his pillows, his legs jiggling already, his chest feeling as if something was trying to get out, he was so excited.

Outside, the sky was gold and pink over Canvey Marshes, and there was a beam of sun across his duvet cover. The birds were singing, too, but extra loud, as if it were a special hello to the baby: Welcome to your first day in the world!

Four days later, Stephen stood at the front room window with Grandma Paradiso, waiting for Mum and his new baby sister to arrive back from hospital.

"When will they be here, Grandma?"

"Anytime now, Stephen, just be patient. That jiggling your legs won't make her come any faster."

While they waited, Grandma explained how a stork had brought his new sister, how babiesÕ souls about to be born lay in the marshes where storks made their nests, and waited patiently until a stork came, picked them up, and delivered them to their new family. Stephen won…