I came to this book in an odd frame of mind. See my friend Amanda had started to read it, was incensed by it, and promptly put it down and called it horrible. So when it crossed the counter at my former bookshop in Richmond I felt oddly compelled to read it, expecting to also hate it and then have something interesting to rant about on here. But Homeward Bound by Emily Matchar was a very compelling read, and, sorry Amanda, I found myself agreeing with a lot of her points.
I'll be honest, I think approaching this book as a childless woman, who works outside the home probably led to a different reaction to a lot of the points than approaching it as a mother or someone who is self-employed. So just keep that in mind for yourself. Basically this is a breakdown of the back-to-our-roots mentality that so many in my generation are embracing. Emily covers everything from the crafting resurgence (Hello Etsy!) to the homesteading phenomenon. If you want to better understand attachment parenting, homeschooling, self-sustainability or anything else even hovering on the fringe of this cultural subset I strongly suggest giving this a read. I also think a lot of our parents, mine are Boomers, would better understand the twenty-somethings desire to earn less and be more satisfied if they picked up this book and paged through. I'm going to recommend this book, even if you only read it to find out why it's been so controversial, I think you'll be better for it.
