Home or Away
Book Feature - Home or Away by Kathleen West
HBL Note: Kathleen West interviewed members of the USA Women’s National Hockey Team to inform her latest novel, HOME OR AWAY, while also drawing on her own experience as a hockey mom and a collegiate athlete. Through the lens of organized youth and elite hockey, West explores themes of toxic friendships and overcompetitive parenting. The story follows two former olympic athletes as they pass down their love of the sport to the next generation. Scroll down to read more.
Book Feature - Home or Away by Kathleen West
Book Feature - Home or Away by Kathleen West
From the publisher:
Once Leigh and Susy were close friends and teammates bound for Olympic hockey gold, but when Leigh’s sure-fire plan to make the final roster backfired, she left everything behind to start over, including the one person who knew her secret.
Two decades later, Leigh’s a successful investment banker, happily married, and the mom of a hockey prodigy, so when a career opportunity lands the family back in Minnesota, Leigh takes the shot for her kid. Back in the ultra-competitive world she left behind, the move puts her in Susy’s orbit, a daily reminder of how Leigh watched from the sidelines as her former teammate went on to Olympic glory.
Despite the coldness between them, Susy can’t help but hope that Leigh might lace up her skates and join her in the coaches’ box—after all Leigh knows better than anyone how hard it is to be a woman in this world. Susy knows soon her daughter, Georgie, will be seen as a “girl athlete,” relegated to the B team, with less support and opportunity to advance.
But Leigh believes keeping Susy at arms’ length is the only way to hide her history with her former coach Jeff Carlson. When he hints of new favors in exchange for her son’s ice time, Leigh is caught in the ultimate bind: come clean about what happened when she was an Olympic hopeful and risk her marriage or play Jeff’s game. In a moment of desperation, Leigh realizes the one person she thought was her biggest competitor—her former teammate—might turn out to be her biggest ally.
Book Feature - Home or Away by Kathleen West
