Kate Morton follows a formula with her books. There is always a mystery that spans multiple timelines. As long as you don’t try to binge-read her books they’re very enjoyable. So, I always take long breaks between her books.
I was a little meh about The House at Riverton, but liked The Secret Keeper. Homecoming, though, has quite a different feeling—it gives off a very epic vibe, and I felt I got completely immersed in the world she created.
About Homecoming
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: A local delivery man makes a terrible discovery at the end of a scorching hot day beside a creek on the grounds of the grand and mysterious mansion. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in South Australia’s history.
Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been rushed to the hospital.
Nora has always been a vibrant and strong presence: decisive, encouraging, and young despite her years. When Jess visits her in the hospital, she is alarmed to find her grandmother frail and confused. It’s even more alarming to hear from Nora’s housekeeper that Nora had been distracted in the weeks before her accident and had fallen on the steps to the attic—the one place Jess was forbidden from playing in when she was small.
At loose ends in Nora’s house, Jess does some digging of her own. In Nora’s bedroom, she discovers a true crime book chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime—a crime that has never been resolved satisfactorily. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find.
~ Synopsis from GoodReads
My Review
The mystery in this book is really good, but I love how Kate Morton slowly uncovers the relationships between mother, daughter, and granddaughter. I don’t want to say too much as this was as much of a suspense as the murder, but when I started reading the book, I read it, waiting for the mystery bits, and for Jess to start investigating the murder. But very soon, I got interested in the character sketches of the people themselves. Jess, her mother Polly, and grandmother Nora have complicated relationships, and at first, it’s not very clear why.
As the book unfolds, and Jess learns more about her past, she understands why things are so complicated and stressful between the three of them.
Homecoming is a slight departure from Morton’s formula. Here, she experiments with a book within a book, which is probably why the book felt immersive. I loved the excerpts from the book. I also didn’t mind the book’s length (it’s a whopping 600~ pages long, which feels too long for the story), but it’s very well-written, and I loved how Morton takes the time to set the stage. The descriptions of Adelaide in the 1950s were very well done.
If something is disappointing, it’s probably how Jess, as a character, is so poorly written without much of a personality. Towards the end of the book, this starts to make sense, but it is hard to get invested in her.
I also wish that the book had explored the impact of finding out the truth. Jess learns a lot about some of the lies that negatively impacted some of her most important relationships, and yet, she seems to take it in her stride, moving on very easily. And that just did not make sense to me. I am probably judging her based on my personality though – I have never been a forgive-and-forget sort of person, and I find it hard to understand that mentality in others. This is probably why I thought Jess is so insipid, she’s so unbelievably passive!
Still, I enjoyed this book very much. Despite its length, it kept me invested. I would have probably loved it a bit more if Jess had worked better for me as a character, and if the ending had been that tad bit stronger. But, still highly recommend!
