bbrewer14's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Homecoming is an epic novel where the author takes you on a journey within a family that spans generations. With the horror of a despicable unsolved crime that occurred in the 1950s to the impact that carries on the family in 2018, the author explores the meaning of home, family, the power of secrets and the importance of the role of a mother in the life of her children.
Nora is in Australia and needs her granddaughter Jess to come home. Jess is in London, struggling to maintain a home and a job. She returns reluctantly to Australia to be with the grandmother who raised her. Polly (Nora’s daughter and Jess’s mother) is caught in the middle of the world Nora created for her as an anxious and ambivalent parent who doesn’t know how to be a mother despite her yearnings. Surrounded by a multitude of characters from the 1950s and 2018, the author takes the reader on a journey through the loss of a mother and her 3 children, the search for a missing infant, the unsolved mystery and years of speculation and rumors to the impact it has 50 yrs later on the family. Nora leaves clues behind that intrigue her journalist granddaughter and lead to an investigation that ends with a twist you won’t expect.
A wonderful book that thrives on artistic depictions of scenery, comparisons to well known literature to help set scenes, and the base desires of humans to seek what they yearn despite the cost to others. Loved the ending and the journey getting there was long but beyond worthwhile. Highly recommend and will be reading more from this author.
Nora is in Australia and needs her granddaughter Jess to come home. Jess is in London, struggling to maintain a home and a job. She returns reluctantly to Australia to be with the grandmother who raised her. Polly (Nora’s daughter and Jess’s mother) is caught in the middle of the world Nora created for her as an anxious and ambivalent parent who doesn’t know how to be a mother despite her yearnings. Surrounded by a multitude of characters from the 1950s and 2018, the author takes the reader on a journey through the loss of a mother and her 3 children, the search for a missing infant, the unsolved mystery and years of speculation and rumors to the impact it has 50 yrs later on the family. Nora leaves clues behind that intrigue her journalist granddaughter and lead to an investigation that ends with a twist you won’t expect.
A wonderful book that thrives on artistic depictions of scenery, comparisons to well known literature to help set scenes, and the base desires of humans to seek what they yearn despite the cost to others. Loved the ending and the journey getting there was long but beyond worthwhile. Highly recommend and will be reading more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Child death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Murder, Death, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide
dismantlethepatriarchy23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
4.7 ⭐️
What a crazy plot twist! This is a story where the plot twist completely reverses the presumption of the entire story. There is amazing character development, great detail and very descriptive story telling. You feel as if you could have been there to experience this tragedy among them. It reflects on the nuances of being a mother, and what it means for children/a child to need their mother. It has so many individual details that seem to tie together in a perfect bow at the end, but yet you feel as if this could have happened in real life.
It causes you to question yourself and your own morals; how much does forgiveness matter to you when you can’t change the past? How can a loving person be so deceitful? And where does it cross the line? How can the “truth” be so wrong, and is it worth repairing years later when it won’t change anything?
This is a book focused on family tragedy and secrets, identity, motherhood, forgiveness, sad memories, grief and loss, guilt, and unforgivable actions.
What a crazy plot twist! This is a story where the plot twist completely reverses the presumption of the entire story. There is amazing character development, great detail and very descriptive story telling. You feel as if you could have been there to experience this tragedy among them. It reflects on the nuances of being a mother, and what it means for children/a child to need their mother. It has so many individual details that seem to tie together in a perfect bow at the end, but yet you feel as if this could have happened in real life.
It causes you to question yourself and your own morals; how much does forgiveness matter to you when you can’t change the past? How can a loving person be so deceitful? And where does it cross the line? How can the “truth” be so wrong, and is it worth repairing years later when it won’t change anything?
This is a book focused on family tragedy and secrets, identity, motherhood, forgiveness, sad memories, grief and loss, guilt, and unforgivable actions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Infidelity
onemumreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Murder
Minor: Grief and Infertility
graceolivia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I begrudgingly finished it mostly to find out if my initial theory was right, one of the twists is very obvious the other seemed underdeveloped. As a whole it felt like the pacing was off, it was very slow until the last 3 or 4 chapters which attempted to answer all of the questions in quick succession. I think it would have benefited from more time spent with the characters coming to terms with the developments and less specific details and time in the first three quarters of the book.
Spoiler
It really frustrated me that Nora was never considered to be incredibly manipulative, Jess seems to forgive her instantly for taking her away from her mother. Polly felt like she should have been the main character, I was far more interested in her thoughts and experiences. It seemed odd that her and Jess never had a proper conversation about why she actually left her with Nora. The pillow lie (x2) never gets acknowledged and apparently multiple people knew Isobel was innocent and said nothing. Marcus seemingly either forgives Meg for killing his best friend and his brothers girlfriend or doesn’t figure out it was her, either way it’s not believable. The idea that the whole thing happened as a snap decision to ‘punish’ Isobel also doesn’t make sense as it doesn’t align with Megs personality, it would be far more believable that Nora did it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
kiwichill's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Grief, Infidelity, Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Suicide
Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Grief, and Miscarriage
reading_ladies_blog's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
kimveach's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn't connect as well with the main character as I usually do in her novels. Otherwise, it would be five stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Classism, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Murder, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
tamara_joy's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Animal death, Infertility, and Miscarriage
rosyburrow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide and Miscarriage
lilifane's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There is a reason why Kate Morton is an auto-buy author for me.
I just love her stories, the dual timeline, the multi-generational family mysteries, the amazing settings and atmosphere. This one is no exception.
When you've read Kate Morton before, you will anticipate certain plot twists and revelations. And even if you haven't, I think the main mystery in this book is pretty obvious and easy to guess rather quickly. This was the reason I thought it would only be a 4-star book for me. But then towards the end, more details were revealed than I could dream of, and I was left broken-hearted (also a recurring experience with Kate Morton novels).
This book is long, though, and it has taken me quite long to finish it. It's very slow and character focused, which I love. But in addition to that, it also has a book within a book. Since I love this narrative device, I was pleasantly surprised that it was included here. Plus, it's a true crime novel about the events of the main story. And the way this true-crime book was written just blew me away. I had the same feeling I had when I read In Cold Blood, which had left a lasting impression on me when I read it a few years ago.
The themes in this book were a little too close to home sometimes. A lot of complicated mother-daughter-dynamics. Great exploration of motherhood from several points of view, and also great representation of women who don't want to become mothers. And as a bonus, a love letter to stories and storytelling and how much it can influence people's lives and memories.
I just love her stories, the dual timeline, the multi-generational family mysteries, the amazing settings and atmosphere. This one is no exception.
When you've read Kate Morton before, you will anticipate certain plot twists and revelations. And even if you haven't, I think the main mystery in this book is pretty obvious and easy to guess rather quickly. This was the reason I thought it would only be a 4-star book for me. But then towards the end, more details were revealed than I could dream of, and I was left broken-hearted (also a recurring experience with Kate Morton novels).
This book is long, though, and it has taken me quite long to finish it. It's very slow and character focused, which I love. But in addition to that, it also has a book within a book. Since I love this narrative device, I was pleasantly surprised that it was included here. Plus, it's a true crime novel about the events of the main story. And the way this true-crime book was written just blew me away. I had the same feeling I had when I read In Cold Blood, which had left a lasting impression on me when I read it a few years ago.
The themes in this book were a little too close to home sometimes. A lot of complicated mother-daughter-dynamics. Great exploration of motherhood from several points of view, and also great representation of women who don't want to become mothers. And as a bonus, a love letter to stories and storytelling and how much it can influence people's lives and memories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Suicide, Child death, Gaslighting, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Minor: War, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Medical content