NOBODY'S HOME

A gritty yarn chronicling the exploits of a Boston runaway trying to survive.

Massachusetts author Gilbert’s debut opens with the desperation of forlorn young Barlow Phillips, a teenage girl staying at Hannah’s House, a women’s homeless shelter in Boston. Life at Hannah’s forms a respite from a lingering New England winter, but Barlow is allowed to stay at the shelter only in weekly increments and she’s frequently back out on the streets. While the author paints a bleak yet humane portrait of homeless life, her central character is vivid and resilient. Many of the novel’s scenes are steeped in pain, as when Barlow wakes up in a dumpster after being raped and beaten. A compassionate social worker befriends her and diligently works with police to bring Barlow’s rapists to justice. Flashbacks reveal the main character’s abusive, incestuous childhood spent with her grandparents and an inattentive mother whom the girl compares to “a bookmark for someone who was never there.” Exploratory stints at 15 in New York City and Los Angeles reunite the teenager with her sickly Aunt Rose. She eventually retreats to Boston penniless, but she’s lucky enough to befriend the city dump’s guard dog. While the novel’s timeline becomes increasingly confusing with past and present intermingling a bit too often, Gilbert’s effective characterization and realism sustain the reader’s attention. Courage and persistent determination form the heart of this well-written, bittersweet tale of resolve.

A sure-handed, accomplished story of abuse and redemption.