Homecoming in Aussie Readers

Apr 30, 2023 Helen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-from-library

This is my first Kate Morton book and it won鈥檛 be the last, wow it captured me fully from the start and it was so hard to put down, yes it is a big book but the story needed that, the story of three woman, family secrets that have been kept for sixty years, a crime or a tragedy a family lost and a long time before all the questions are answered, a must read but don鈥檛 plan on doing anything else while reading.

The Adelaide Hills Christmas Eve 1959 and local Percy Summers discovers something that w This is my first Kate Morton book and it won鈥檛 be the last, wow it captured me fully from the start and it was so hard to put down, yes it is a big book but the story needed that, the story of three woman, family secrets that have been kept for sixty years, a crime or a tragedy a family lost and a long time before all the questions are answered, a must read but don鈥檛 plan on doing anything else while reading.

The Adelaide Hills Christmas Eve 1959 and local Percy Summers discovers something that will haunt him forever, the police are called and everyone living in the small town of Tambilla try to understand what has happened, it is so baffling, inexplicable that something like this could happen in this quiet town.

London 2018 and Jess has been living and working as a journalist for twenty years, but is now unemployed and single when she gets a call to say that her beloved grandmother Nora has had a fall in her house in Vaucluse and that it might be a good idea if she returns home, Nora was on her way to the attic, a place that Jess had been told never to go to when she was a little girl growing up in this house, why was Nora on her way to the attic?

Jess鈥檚 mother Polly lives in Brisbane and they are not close since Jess was bought up by Nora, Jess is here alone in Sydney and starts to investigate why her grandmother wanted to get up to the attic what she finds after internet searches is a true crime book written by Daniel Miller on an unsolved family tragedy that left a mother and three children dead and a baby missing and that these people were related to Nora, Jess and Polly and Jess is not going to give up until she gets the answers.

A compelling story that will open family secrets and not just in the Turner family, it looks into what people will do to protect the people you love, it is such a fabulous story so well told so articulate, the characters are fabulous, the emotions are running through the pages, it made me feel all of the emotions as I read this book, I got so invested in this one it was hard to let go when I needed to put it down, and it is one that I will not forget.

I do highly recommend this one, it is one not to be missed if you love a good mystery, with strong characters and one that is told so well.
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Apr 16, 2023 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-author, arc-are, edelweiss-reviews

鈥淗ome, she鈥檇 realised, wasn鈥檛 a place or a time or a person, though it could be any and all of those things: home was a feeling, a sense of being complete. The opposite of 鈥榟ome鈥� wasn鈥檛鈥榓way鈥�, it was 鈥榣onely鈥�. When someone said, 鈥業 want to go home鈥�, what they really meant was that they didn鈥檛 want to feel lonely anymore.鈥�

Homecoming is a captivating novel, the seventh from bestselling author Fiona Morton.

When London-based journalist Jess Turner-Bridges learns the beloved, indomitable grandmother 鈥淗ome, she鈥檇 realised, wasn鈥檛 a place or a time or a person, though it could be any and all of those things: home was a feeling, a sense of being complete. The opposite of 鈥榟ome鈥� wasn鈥檛鈥榓way鈥�, it was 鈥榣onely鈥�. When someone said, 鈥業 want to go home鈥�, what they really meant was that they didn鈥檛 want to feel lonely anymore.鈥�

Homecoming is a captivating novel, the seventh from bestselling author Fiona Morton.

When London-based journalist Jess Turner-Bridges learns the beloved, indomitable grandmother who raised her, Nora, has been hospitalised after a fall from the attic stairs, she returns home to Sydney after a twenty year absence. Jess is distressed to find Nora in a frail and confused state, and desperate to learn what precipitated the accident.

Jess is stunned when her search leads her to uncover a family tragedy that had been kept from her. Hidden beneath her grandmother鈥檚 pillow is a true crime book, titled 鈥楢s If They Were Asleep鈥�, that documents an investigation into the shocking deaths of Nora鈥檚 sister-in-law and four young children on Christmas Eve some sixty years earlier in the small South Australian town of Tambilla.

While the narrative shifts back and forth in time, it does so in a unique way. In the present much of the story is related through Jess, and occasionally her estranged mother, Polly, while the events of past unfold from several perspectives, and through excerpts from the book, as Jess reads it.

Impressively, Morton sustains the intriguing mystery of what really happened to the Turner family at 鈥楬aylcon鈥� until the very end, slowly teasing out the secrets, deceptions and betrayals that reverberate among three generations. I was genuinely surprised by several of the plot reveals, and though Homecoming is a fairly hefty length it鈥檚 well paced.

The meaning of home is one of the central themes Morton explores in her story, along with motherhood, family, and identity. Nora, Polly and Jess are complex characters, whose lives, and relationships with each other, are each shaped by the events in Tambilla in both direct and indirect ways. The author also touches on the issue of mental health, and the joys of literature.

With vivid description and evocative prose, Morton brings her settings to life. I felt as if I could find my way around Darling House, on the cliff-edged of one of Sydney鈥檚 most exclusive suburbs, Vaucluse, where Nora raised both Polly, and Jess; and through the grounds and rooms of the grand stone hall of 鈥楬alcyon鈥� in rural Tambilla where the Turner family lived.

An enthralling and atmospheric tale, beautifully told, Homecoming is a stellar read, I recommend. ...more

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Jul 08, 2023 Lisa Heidke added it

Thoughts? For me, at 628 pages, Homecoming was 328 pages too long. Lots of flowery descriptions etc. The last 20% picked up, but then the ending was rushed. I predicted the twist/mystery early on and didn鈥檛 warm to either Nora or Jess. Enjoyed the dual timelines, didn鈥檛 mind the book-within-a-book device (implausible, but okay). Read if you鈥檝e got oodles of spare time.

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Sep 03, 2024 Tango rated it really liked it

An enjoyable read. I particularly liked the historical sections set in the Adelaide Hills. It was a little drawn out and a bit heavy handed (didactic?) on the writing and books theme. But overall the characters were well drawn and the plot kept you interested.

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