I Want to Go Home but I’m Already There by Róisín Lanigan – Book review

I Want to Go Home but I’m Already There by Róisín Lanigan was one of those books that has a hypnotic quality and never quite goes where you think it’s was going to, so really keeps you hooked. When I saw it described as a type of ghost story, type of contemporary fiction, I was in.

Opening sentence: The trains were always cancelled on Sundays, which was, Áine thought, objectively the worst day to carry out planned engineering works.

The wonderful cover art caught my eye initially and now having read I Want to Go Home but I’m Already There – I feel it sums up the overall tone so well. At first glance I just thought it was depicting a melting candle, but then saw they were actually figures hugging (while melting) and that made me love it even more.

The horrors of London flats

Áine and her boyfriend, Elliot have just moved into their first flat together, in London, and from the beginning, things are a little off.

Throughout all of this, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her carry out the tasks.

She previously lived with her friend Laura, who has now bought a houseboat with her boyfriend, in a bid to get on the property ladder (as you do). As the weeks progress, Áine becomes convinced that there is some sort of ghost in the flat, it very much starts to affect her mental health. As Elliot is not on the same page as her with this, it affects their relationship too. Her whole life flips and she has to try and navigate this new reality.

People in love were meant to keep moving towards some sort of tangible goal or they’d fall apart.

What I Want to Go Home but I’m Already There does so well while you’re reading it is blur the lines between reality and Aine’s take on things. It’s a commentary on gaslighting and the pressures put on people in today’s society, as well as, well, maybe some places just are haunted?

I also really enjoyed the writing style – dry, witty with astute observations about modern life, while delivering on the ambiguity too. This book is multi-layered and intriguing, I was hooked and still find myself thinking about it days after reading.

• Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC;
• Get your copy of I Want to Go Home but I’m Already There here;
• Published by Penguin 20th March 2025;
• 288 pages;
• Book review rating: