In conversation with Mississauga author Louisa Onomé on her debut novel, Like Home

In conversation with Mississauga author Louisa Onomé on her debut novel, Like Home.

How long did it take you to write Like Home from the first word to the final period?
- It took about 2 years from the first draft to fully revised! I wrote the initial draft fairly quickly, but this was also the first time I was truly able to revise a project in a way that restructured and added to it. It was a lot of fun!

If you had to put an accuracy percentage from your real-life experiences in Mississauga to what's portrayed in your book, what would that be and why?
- Probably close to 30%. A lot of what happens in the book, from the specific incidents my characters face to the general makeup of the community, is fictionalized, but the feelings are the same. In the area I grew up in, I had a lot of close friends who felt like family, and we all navigated our world with such ambition, but such caution too, as we were all children of immigrants. It was such a pure and exciting time. My main character Chinelo has to deal with and confront a lot of things. The most exciting thing that happened to me as a kid was finding a leaf fossil in our school's baseball diamond.

Why did you name the neighbourhood Ginger East?
- I partially stole the 'Ginger' part from the street I grew up on, and then I tacked 'East' to the end because I loved the sound of it together.

When did you have your initial inspiration to write Like Home?
- It must've been about mid-2017, right before I started writing it. The story itself wasn't really stewing in my head for a long time, but I had always wanted to write something that spoke to the kind of upbringing I had: one where friends-as-family was the norm, and one that really represented the community I grew up in. It all snowballed pretty quickly once I got the spark to write it.

Photo by Linda Arki

What was the biggest obstacle in finishing your book?
- The biggest obstacle was definitely understanding the importance of revision as I went along. I had to really change my perspective and look at my story differently in order for it to really have it become something greater. For someone who had never had to really do that before, it was truly challenging!

How would you describe Like Home to a stranger using 10 words?
- Girl loves neighbourhood, would fight for it, and does so.

What's next for you?
- I have another young adult contemporary coming out in 2022, also with HarperCollins Canada. I'm really excited about it because it leans heavily on my experiences growing up as a Nigerian-Canadian and really explores the nuance of what it means to be wholly in two places at once. I can't wait to share it with everyone!

To pick up a copy of the book and support a local writer, click here.