On Home: A Novel

Becca Spence Dobias (MA, Applied Women’s Studies, 2011) has published her first novel, exploring the overlaps and delicate linkages between several character’s lives.

The book centers on the character of Cassidy, a Southern California cam girl who must return to her hometown in West Virginia following a tragic event. Upon her return, Cassidy wrestles with holding onto the life she had built and picking up the fractured pieces of her family that stayed put.

Cassidy’s story unfolds as a mirror of other women who preceded her: We also meet Jane, who escaped West Virginia to join the FBI in Washington, DC during World War II; and Paloma, who journeyed to westernized Prague on a Fulbright Scholarship. The characters engage in soul-searching as each faces motherhood as well as reflecting on their rural U.S. beginnings.

Southern Literary Review critic Donna Meredith hails the book as a story “about the joy found in the present moment. From embracing the anchor of unconditional love. And ultimately, from becoming part of the shared history that makes a place truly our home.” (Inkshares) On Home can be ordered on the Inkshares website.