Homecoming
Homecoming
By: Kate Morton
[This book was the nominated for the ‘Best Mystery/Thriller’ category of the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Challenge ]
[Fulfilled ‘Book with a character named Sofia or Nora’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
“There were times when she felt terror at her own desolation, the gnawing sensation of having lost something she could not name and therefore could not hope to find.”
“Home is where the heart is, and the heart could be a dark and damaged place.”
Tragic.
That’s how I would describe this book.
Homecoming is a dual-timeline family drama that takes place in Australia. It’s a book about loss, motherhood, mother-daughter relationships, and what it means to come home.
I’ve only read one other Kate Morton book— The Clockmaker’s Daughter— back in 2018, and I don’t remember a single thing about that one, but my review of it says I probably wouldn’t read Morton again because it was basically too long, too slow, too descriptive, and not worth the work.
I don’t feel all that much different about Homecoming, though it wasn’t as hard to keep the characters or timelines straight.
The writing style and descriptions didn’t really bother me this time around. I’m actually really interested in visiting Adelaide Hills now as she drew me into the setting! I didn’t realize Australia had green hills and trees that change color. I only think about the bush and the poisonous snakes:
“This continent was one where beauty and terror were inexplicably linked. People died here from thirst if they took a wrong turn. A single spark of fire could grow to consume an entire town.”
I think what I didn’t really like about this book is that even though there was somewhat of a happy ending, it still just fell all so…. tragic. I can’t really think of a better word for it. I’ll explain some more in my spoiler comments below. It’s hard to articulate it without giving part of the story away.
Like a lot of other reviewers, I thought the last 100 pages were the best of the book so I’m glad it picked up in the end.
The dual timelines are 1959 and 2018.
In 1959 a man named Percy stumbles upon a mother and her four children, seemingly asleep at a picnic, but are actually dead. And then they discover the baby was missing. The small community reels with the knowledge that their deaths may not have been an accident and someone might have taken the baby.
In 2018 we have Jess, a journalist who is forced to return to Australia after her grandmother, Nora, who raised her, takes a severe fall and is in the hospital with very serious injuries. The return brings up a lot of emotions about her mother who abandoned her when she was ten. When Jess visits Nora in the hospital Nora mumbles some nonsense about someone “taking her away from me!” The circumstances around her fall are also suspicious and Jess takes it upon herself to find out what had made Nora so upset.
Intermixed with these timelines are newspaper articles and large sections from a book called ‘As If They Were Asleep.’ The book is a true-crime novel Jess finds in Nora’s house that was written about the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. These chapters detail the investigation and the lives of the people during that time.
The book within the book feels odd to read because it tells thoughts, motives, and is written in a way that feels unbelievable that an outside person could write. Jess questions this as well but the answer she gets about it felt unsatisfying to me.
Really, I guess it’s better it was written that way because it made it more interesting to read for sure. With how long the book was I think we needed it to be that way, but I think I would have preferred learning that information organically as it played out rather than from a book. But that would have made the book even longer.
I did figure out the reveal pretty early on, but as more information was revealed I still wasn’t entirely sure how they got to that point so I was still invested in reading.
It’s definitely a book you have to settle in for. It’s not a quick read and it’s meant to be atmospheric and drawn out.
I like the concept of exploring what it means to ‘come home.’
She says:
“When someone said, ‘I want to go home,’ what they really meant was that they didn’t want to feel lonely anymore.”
I think that’s true. Home is less about a physical place but more of a community. A person or group of people that gives your life purpose or meaning. They know you and understand you.
When I go back to my home town I like the nostalgia of the school or the church or the main street, but what feels good about being there is the people. And I get that feeling coming back to my people where I am now. Home can be in more than one place.
I think this book took the direction of this exploration in a different direction than I was expecting given the secrets Jess discovers. It felt more like it should have been- ‘how do you cope when what you thought was home is ripped away from you?’
I also think ‘home’ takes on new meaning as a Christian. Belonging is a human need. But really, earth and its inhabitants are broken and ‘belonging’ fluctuates. Sometimes it’s full but sometimes it’s disappointing. But as a Christian I always belong in God’s family. My meaning and purpose is found in him.
God created us for relationships. That’s why loneliness is so devastating. To our core we are meant to be in community with people. But even if we are alone, we are still in relationship and belonging with Christ. A home that is never far away. A home that is unchanging and fills you up rather than takes from you.
The ‘homecoming’ we experience here is but a glimpse of what we will feel when we go to heaven to be in the presence of the Lord.
So as tragic as this book is, it reminds me that I never have to fear the tragedy of loneliness because my belonging is secure.
Spoiler Comments
Okay these are major spoiler comments so scroll past if you don’t want to know stuff.
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Well first I will say that I’m glad the deaths of the family wasn’t just an accident or a misunderstanding. That sounds bad. I don’t love murder. But I also don’t like when I read a long book about a mystery with suspects and whatnot only to find out it was some fluke accident or a miscommunication. That makes me feel jilted.
For some reason I don’t want to read about people’s innocent mistakes, I would rather read about someone’s purposeful evil and then the finding of the killer and the bringing of justice. Because books are fiction. In real life I would rather not have rampant wicked everywhere but I’m reading over 500 pages. An accidental poisoning just isn’t going to cut it.
So I’m glad that there was a legitimate mystery here.
The thing I hated the most about this book was that it felt like Nora got a pass for what she did. She was manipulative and narcissistic and her choices hurt a lot of people, but in the end she dies without ever having to own up to them. I also think Polly and Jess somehow decide to just forgive her and move past it. Which is probably best for their actual lives, but as a reader I wanted to see more of their anger and hurt about it.
Even if Nora acted out of grief and in love, that doesn’t excuse what she did; it doesn’t make it okay.
Jess reflects that “Nora’s firm ideas were never firmer than when describing what it meant to be a good parent: the sacrifices required, the elevation of one’s child’s needs above one’s own.”
Which is ironic because it’s clear that Nora made her choices to benefit herself. I can’t believe she gaslights Polly into believing she’s a fragile person and a bad mom and teaches Jess that same narrative. If Nora really wanted to be a mother so bad and would do anything for her kids than why did she push Polly away like that and take Jess’s mom from her?
And knowing what Meg did to Nora’s family is awful— why would Nora keep such a secret? She probably would have gotten custody of the baby anyway because she was family. Telling the truth in the moment would have been hard, but the destruction and heartache it caused down the road is just not worth it.
Speaking of Meg— her behavior with the baby didn’t really jive with her knowing it was the product of her husband’s affair.
With all the people who knew parts of the tragedy it seems nonsensical and unbelievable that they could have all kept it a secret for so long. The damage it caused to so many people and the community is again—- tragic.
Even though Jess and Polly find each other again by the end, so much time has been lost. So much distrust had been sown by Nora that it feels hard to be that happy for them. You still just feel sad that Nora did that to them.
“Life doesn’t always work out the way we plan, but it does work out in the end.”
I guess it’s true it didn’t work out the way we would have liked, but I’m not sure it ‘worked out’ in the end after all.
The ‘homecoming’ of this novel seems a bit romanticized. They maybe got to a place of belonging and I’m glad they found each other, but overall I think love requires honesty and if we’re going to go down the path of romanticized homecoming, I’d rather it be with honesty or sincere regret and forgiveness about the effects of their dishonesty. Nora dying brought Polly and Jess together but without full disclosure or a solid ground to stand on.
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SPOILERS OVER!!
Recommendation
I’ve only read two of Kate Morton’s books so I have limited information to go off of, but if you didn’t like her other books, I don’t think this one will change your mind.
If you already enjoy Morton’s writing style, dual time periods, lots of descriptions, and a not-so-extremely-happy-ending, you’ll probably like this book! Some people like to read about the unfairness and the tragedies of life. If that’s you, you will probably appreciate the feelings journey this book will take you on.
It didn’t actually feel like a slog to read this one. But I just didn’t get the feeling of justice or happiness that I prefer to have at the end of these kinds of books.
So I think this book is a hit or miss, depending on your reading preferences.
[Content Advisory: can’t recall much swearing or sexual content; there are a couple affairs]
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