In the beginning of How I Live Now, Daisy calls the bustling streets of New York City home. It's a crutch to her, being from the Big Apple and proudly sporting a been-there, done-that, totally-over-it attitude. Her jaded perspective quickly wears off, though, as she discovers the innocence and closeness of her English cousins, finding them and their house in the countryside to be her new home. It isn't just the countryside that suits her, but the attitudes her cousins possess toward life as well.
Even when she's ripped away from England and her cousins and ushered back to safety in New York, she spends years pining away, just waiting for the borders to open so she can return to what has become her real home.
Questions About The Home
- Do you have a place that feels like home in the way that the house in the English countryside feels like home to Daisy? Is it where you live? Is it somewhere else?
- Do you think the lack of parental figures contributes to the homey-ness of the house in the countryside? Why or why not?
- What is the relationship between the home and safety in Daisy's mind? Are they at all connected? Does this shift over the course of the book?
Chew on This
If it weren't for the war and Daisy's experiences with Piper, she might be able to readjust to calling New York home again.
Daisy's sense of home is less about a place and more about people. In New York, she has no one who loves her unconditionally—but being with her cousins could make anywhere feel like home.