In Start Without Me, Joshua Max Feldman proves that sometimes going back to your childhood home isn’t as joyous as it could be. (Photo by Doug Kerr, Flickr)

Home for the holidays. The very thought of it conjures up idealized Hollywood scenarious where everything is perfect, blanketed in clean white snow, with the family gathered around the table sharing fond, sweet memories of yesteryear. But in Joshua Max Feldman’s new novel, Start Without Me, he depicts another type of homecoming altogether. In fact, this story is as far from a Frank Capra movie as you can get.