Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickham book review

What's Carrying Albert Home about?

A story about an alligator called Albert might not sound like the kind of thing you'd usually pick up, but this charmingly quirky book from the bestselling US author is an absolute must-read. Set in 1930s America, the tale follows a couple who set off from the coalfields of West Virginia to return their scaly pet home to sunny Florida... but there's much more to Homer and Elsie's epic journey than that.

goodtoknow says...

Beautiful Elsie sometimes seems to love Albert more than her miner husband Homer. The truth is she’s fed up with the grime and grit of her small town life and misses the glossy life she led when she lived with her rich uncle in Orlando after graduating high school. More specifically, she misses the man she loved there, the charming Buddy Ebsen, who left her in the sunshine state to become a Hollywood movie star. The only time she’d heard from him since was when he’d sent Albert to her as a wedding gift after she’d returned to West Virginia and agreed to marry Homer, the determined boy who’d asked her to the school dance years before. Back then, the baby alligator had fitted in a cardboard box, but now Elsie and Homer find the only way to transport the fully-grown reptile is in an old bathtub mounted on wheels and attached to the back of the car. It is this odd threesome who set off on a crazy 1000-mile roadtrip together – and things get even more odd along the way. There’s a foray onto the baseball field, a taste of stardom, a devastating hurricane, a meeting with both John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, a couple of mysterious bank robbers…and one very persistent rooster. But most importantly of all, there is love. If you liked the magic, romance and adventure of the movies Big Fish and Forrest Gump, you’ll love this. Bring on the big screen adaptation!

Rating: 10/10 Publisher: Harper Collins Publish Date: 19th November 2015