Review
Homecoming
A Novel
by Kate Morton
Release date: April 4th, 2023
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I received a complimentary ARC copy of Homecoming, A Novel by Kate Morton from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada in order to read and give an honest review.
… True to form, Morton does not disappoint with her intricately woven plotlines and beautiful prose, the author tells a perfectly blended generational saga with a captivating mystery …
Being a fan of Kate Morton I was thrilled to be given an opportunity to read and review her latest book Homecoming. True to form Morton does not disappoint with her intricately woven plotlines and beautiful prose, the author tells a perfectly blended generational saga with a captivating mystery told in dual timelines and from multiple points of views
We start Christmas Eve of 1959 on the Turner family estate called Halcyon in Tambilla, Australia, a grocery delivery man stumbles across the bodies of a mother and her children looking like they were resting after a picnic all except for a newborn daughter who was nowhere to be found. Nora, the mother’s sister-in-law, and children’s aunt, misses the picnic as she is days away from giving birth. The murder goes unsolved for decades and the youngest child remains missing until the remains are found two decades later.
In 2018 when journalist Jess receives a call that her grandmother Nora has suffered a fall, she rushes to her side in Australia. Walking into the hospital room Jess is shocked to find her once intelligent and strong grandmother, lying in a hospital bed, in a feeble and confused state saying things that just do not make sense. Nora was Jess’s world, and she feels she would not be who she is without the love and guidance she received from her grandmother, especially when her mother Polly was unable. Desperate to be there for Nora and to make sense of her strange mutterings she begins to dig deep hoping to get to the root of what is tormenting her beloved grandmother.
Jess uncovers a connection to a true-crime author who had written an in-depth account of the tragedy that occurred Christmas Eve those decades ago. While at her grandmother’s estate, Darling House, Jess begins uncovering clues that point her to the events that occurred at Halcyon in 1959 and family secrets that will undo all she thought was true about her family. After reuniting with her mother Polly, Jess learns that she is not alone on her quest.
Several mysteries are presented, some I guessed early on, but some caught me by surprise at the very end. I absolutely loved this book, it is not for those who are looking for a fast-paced page-turner, it definitely requires patience as it is a slow but satisfying story that is worth taking time to read and I would highly recommend! There are trigger warnings however…be advised there is discussion of suicide, infanticide, filicide, miscarriage.
Belinda Witzenhausen 