I was left wondering what more I should have gotten from Homecoming. It succeeded in being an interesting story of the tragic deaths of a family, and I liked the "book within a book" device. I didn't guess Polly's true identity before it was revealed, so that was a big surprise for me, but overall the characters seemed disappointing to me. Nora wasn't really the loving grandmother figure of Jess' memory, Jess seemed a little lifeless, and Polly was cold and distant. I think there was some deeper meaning to Jess' return to her home in Australia (based on the title of the book), but she didn't exactly find the family connections she was looking for. Jess' return seemed juxtaposed with Isabel's sense of not belonging and isolation in Australia with her husband away for long periods, but she died along with her children just as she had decided to return to England. What were we supposed to understand from that? Family is uncertain and fleeting? Perhaps there was a glimmer of hope at the end that Jess would get to know her true grandfather's family and finally find her "home."

Meg and her Fish Paste which killed the Turner family was a surprise. She was so nice, kind, caring, et al. unless you messed with her man. Who knew Isabel would share it with her kids and, of course, the baby couldn't eat it so she survived. I was fascinated by what could have happened to baby Thea. Never believed she was taken by Dingoes but where was she. When we became aware that Nora wasn't the nice person she passed as, I started to think that she could be involved in Thea's fate, that Polly could be Thea. We were disgusted by Nora's carrying around her dead baby to Council meeting's, everyplace she went, then burying her in the garden and becoming the mother of a new "Polly." Nora was so controlling. When poor Becky recognized the baby Nora was pushing around in the pram was really Thea, she was chastised by everyone but was actually right. ( )

This was a great story, which involved many little unexpected twist throughout. Beautifully written and very descriptive, with a wonderful array of reflective and interesting characters.
Jess returns home to Sydney from London to care for her Grandmother, Nora, who has had a fall while searching in her attic for something from decades earlier. Jess knows she has recently received a letter from a solicitor in south Australia which it seems to relate to her Grandmothers family in the late 1950's.
The story swaps back and forth between characters in 1959 and 2018 with part of the story told from the writings of journalist in 1980 who covered a family tragedy in his book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it without reserve. ( )

“There was a truth observed by all good preachers, leaders, and salesmen: tell a good story, tell it in simple language, tell it often.”

Australian author Kate Morton’s long awaited seventh novel Homecoming is a dual timeline thriller that moves between modern day Sydney and 1959 Adelaide Hills.

Jess Turner-Bridges is a journalist living in London, who has just lost her job. She finds herself suddenly called home to Sydney to the bedside of her beloved aging grandmother Nora who has taken a fall trying to climb up into her attic. Jess senses something is amiss and begins trying to piece together what her grandmother was trying to do, and what is distressing her. Along the way she uncovers a book about the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve 1959. The tragedy unexpectedly connects with Jess’s family and Jess is determined to find out more.

The book shifts between the Turner family and their neighbours in rural Tambilla in the 1950s and 60s, and Jess trying to solve the riddle sixty years later. This is a clever, engaging read that draws you into both the complex relationship dynamics between mother, daughter and grand-daughter, and the puzzle pieces of the mysterious deaths at a peaceful family picnic. It builds slowly and surely, drawing you in for the whole story. I really enjoyed this engaging read. ( )

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, and unfortunately this wasn't the book for me. I found the first 70% to be slowly paced and really drawn out, then the last 30% picked up and got going really well. It ended in a rush, but I wasn't a fan of the ending. All the story lines did wrap up well, but overall I didn't enjoy it. ( )

On Christmas Eve 1959, a local man in Tambilla, South Australia, stopped to let his horse have a swim on the beautiful and grand property of his neighbors (called Halcyon) and found the mother and three of her children, who were having a picnic, dead and the baby missing from her cradle. Nearly sixty years later, a relative, Jess, stumbles on the story after her grandmother is hospitalized. Jess is a journalist in search of a story, so she reads about the police investigation into the mysterious deaths – inconclusively ruled a murder-suicide, and begins investigating herself. This is an epic novel that spans three generations and involves a lot of well-meaning but corrosive secrets and deliberate deceptions. Despite having deduced the central deception in this novel early on, I was still drawn in as the many layers of secrets surrounding it unwound throughout in Kate Morton’s beautiful writing. Wonderfully drawn characters, and a tangible sense of place, much like the book within the novel provided tothe protagonist, Jess. A page turner for me. ( )