In Our Story of Home, Valerie Andrews explores how this intimate space has inspired some of the world’s greatest storytellers—from Jane Austen and Herman Melville to Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, John O’Donohue, and Mary Oliver. She also delves into the deep psychology of home, showing how our earliest experiences shape lifelong patterns of intimacy and belonging.
Drawing on Jung’s retreat at Bollingen as a mirror of his inner world, Andrews invites us to consider how the soul of home is formed by household gods, age-old crafts, animals, food, and music. These elements are not mere adornments but living presences that support our inner lives.
As architects begin designing homes underground and underwater, and as AI technologies encroach upon our most personal spaces, how will our sense of home evolve? Andrews calls for a return to the virtues of analog life, champions Slow Housekeeping and encourages us to view our household objects as sentient, soulful companions. A true home, she says, must continue to engage the senses and spark creativity—and also serve as a sanctuary in uncertain times.
Each chapter of this book includes writing prompts to help readers uncover and share their own story of home.
Praise for Our Story Of Home: Tales of Longing and Belonging
“A guide to the well-lived life, covering everything from our relationships and culture to our place in the natural world.” Isabel Allende
“A feast of imagination and memory. Our Story of Home will ground you, soulfully and psychologically, and remind you that making a home is what makes us human.” Phil Cousineau
“A rich meditation on where and how we live. This book draws on myth, politics, and personal history to explore our lifelong quest for home and community.” Jean Shinoda Bolen
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part I. INSPIRATION
Chapter One: John O’Donohue’s Soulful Home
Chapter Two: Wendell Berry—Knowing Where You Live
Chapter Three: Mary Oliver Builds a Miniature House
Chapter Four: Toni Morrison—There’s No Place Like Home
Chapter Five: Home from the Seas—Herman Melville’s Farm
Chapter Six: Jane’s Austen’s View of Marriage and the Home
Chapter Seven: Marcel Proust’s Cork-lined Room
PART II. THE DEEP PSYCHOLOGY OF HOME
Chapter Eight: Home as a Mirror of the Self
Chapter Nine: The Anatomy of Homesickness
Chapter Ten: The Society of Things
Chapter Eleven: Minimalism vs. Living Color
Chapter Twelve: Household Gods and Rites of Order
Chapter Thirteen: The House as Muse
Chapter Fourteen: A Russian Fairy Tale
Part III. HOME AS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Chapter Fifteen: The Childhood Home as Destiny
Chapter Sixteen: The Loss of Eden
Chapter Seventeen: Sluts, Hussies, and Bad Housekeeping
Chapter Eighteen: Men at Home
Chapter Nineteen: A Year of Eating
Chapter Twenty: Coveting the Writer’s Cat
Chapter Twenty-one: Piano Lessons, Life Lessons
Part IV. OUR ONCE AND FUTURE HOME
Chapter Twenty-two: Floods, Hurricanes, and Wildfires—How Will We Rebuild?
Chapter Twenty-three: Alexa—Our Domestic Spy
Chapter Twenty-four: The Virtues of Analog Life
Chapter Twenty-five: The Secret Lives of Ordinary Things
Chapter Twenty-six: Evolutionary Aspects of Homemaking
Chapter Twenty-seven: Craft—A Way of Living
Chapter Twenty-eight: Houses are Ephemeral
A Guide to Journaling and Group Discussion
Endnotes
References
Acknowledgements
