Until She Comes Home

The author does a wonderful job of slowly building up this multi-layered character study. It's a quiet book, not very fast paced, that gradually pulls you into the lives of the people of this community in the 1950's and their fears, desires, lies and secrets. It's packed with the various stories of the hidden lives of each of these neighbors that twist and wind together into a compelling tale. To say too much about the plot would be to give away some of the shocks that this book contains. Suffice it to say that this is a fascinating read as you watch this once respectable neighborhood gradually crumble into chaos around its residents.

It's very suspenseful. I don't care much for "women in distress" type of books where there's a woman in show more trouble and there's a handsome police officer or detective or neighbor or whatever who you know will eventually save her from the bad guys. This book is so much more than that. The mysteries involved are completely unpredictable in their outcome and will keep you guessing. The book also touches on the racial conflicts in Detroit during that time and how integration affected this community.

This book has so many layers to it and is so masterfully written with genuine, true-to-life believable characters . Recommended. show less

If the Stepford Wives and The Monsters are Due On Maple Street had a baby, this might be it.

Detroit, 1960s. The ladies of Alder Avenue go about their errands and charity tasks, but everyone is worried - factories are closing, colored men are cutting through the alleys to get to the metal plant at the end of the street. A black woman was found murdered there, and there are rumors that prostitutes stand in the windows of the abandoned building nearby, displaying themselves to the men! Then Elizabeth, a simple-minded young woman who lives with her widowed father, disappears. The men turn out to search, the women prepare food and wait. It's a great portrait of the powerlessness of these women, their need to be pure and not wear a blouse show more that's too low cut, to bake the right things for the bake sale. A woman is raped and her mother cautions her not to tell her husband because he'll never feel the same about her.

But the story isn't about finding Elizabeth. Every couple on the street has secrets and problems, or will have them by the time this is over. It's quite a collection of unhinged people. Tensions escalate, not only between black and white, but between neighbors, husbands and wives, shop keepers and shoppers. Some of these are resolved by the end.

Yes, I couldn't put it down. Yes, the characters were well done, though cliched. There's a missing cat whose fate is never known. I was so sure she was going to do the easy thing and kitty would be found dead, but at least she spared us that.

HERE BE SPOILERS.

Problems: Elizabeth was killed by her father? That's.... fairly hard to believe. I was very annoyed that Malina apparently killed herself, which seemed completely out of character, and for reasons I didn't understand. A smug Karen like that would never admit she was wrong. Oh and Grace runs down the man who raped her, in front of everyone, and seems to get away with it. Maybe accurate in that era, but still a loose end that annoyed me. show less

This was my first run in with this up-and-coming, award-winning author. My first impression? My mind immediately went to the writing style of Jeffrey Eugenides' 'The Virgin Suicides'. It's sort of an understated, moody writing that I'm unaccustomed to for the most part.

Even though the book was set in racially-divisive, 1958 Detroit (something I would normally have zero interest in), I found myself deeply engaged in the story, as it wove a commingling web of deceit, period-driven social issues, and ever-shifting thoughts of trying to figure who did what to whom.

And - surprise! I never saw the ending coming. And that, to me, is the mark of a great book. I rate the book - as a work unencumbered by personal preference - as closer to a four. show more However, for myself, and my tastes, I tapered that back to a three.

Give it a go - I think you'll like it. show less

I was expecting a very good crime fiction novel set in 1958 Detroit but "Until She Comes Home" (USCH) failed me on all three counts. I noted Roy's first book "Bent Road" received an Edgar for Best First Novel, so when I read a favorable review suggesting it was crime fiction, I didn't research it further. My mistake - USCH is dramatic but not crime fiction.. The plot focuses on three women, non-working, middle class neighbors, each with a secret or two to hide. Protecting the secrets leads to a series of lies, and the whole thing soon comes crashing down. There are events, deaths in fact, that in another book would make for an interesting police investigation, but in USCH they only serve as triggers for some revelations and show more confrontations. The women live in a "changing" big city neighborhood, code for unwanted integration. The women are each married, each very deferential to their husbands, and to varying degrees, somewhat fearful of their men. The women spend their time baking and cleaning. Now I lived in such a neighborhood in the mid to late 50's but on the South Side of Chicago and I can't believe it was much different than Detroit. But in USCH, Roy does not quite capture neither the feel nor the issues of that time that pervaded those neighborhoods and the entire city. And I feel strongly that she greatly exaggerates the 'wimpiness' of the women of that era. More and more women were enrolling in college and planning careers. My own mom returned to the work force after an absence of 15 years; she never had time to discuss with neighbor ladies the best way to remove a stain from the linoleum. I wish I had stopped about a third of the way through when I began to have misgivings about my selection.... show less

This novel takes place during a week during the summer of 1958 in a Detroit blue-collar neighborhood. When a developmentally challenged young woman disappears, the neighbors band together to find her. During the course of this week, long-buried and recent secrets emerge that forever change marriages and friendships. Racial tensions accelerate as the search for those responsible continues. Lori Roy has done an excellent job of heightening suspense and developing our understanding of the culture of that era, particularly the role of women.

I actually liked this book, the characters not so much. The thinking of the time was right on. I loved the look back at what was my grandparents time but the way they would just not speak of things was disturbing but their view to the day of their deaths. Somewhat a mystery, I kind of figured out the who but not the why...At times I wanted to throw the book across the room because things were so obvious and other times I wanted to just smack the thinking of some characters right of the pages. I have to say that one character I truly hated and I wished she had offed herself earlier in the book...Keeping up appearances and not being real with each other, even spouses even under the most serious circumstances...A true look at the times. I show more got lost in this book, I don't really know why but I did enjoy the read. show less

Alder Street in Detroit is your typical middle class street of the 1950's. The factory in town is the main employer and the women wait for their men to come home after a hard day at work, looking their best and ready to put food on the table. Things are changing, however, some colored have moved into the rooming house at the edge of the town and a colored woman has been murdered and fear begins to mount in the neighborhood. When a white woman goes missing, a woman who is mentally challenged, the town gears up and starts searching. As the search continues the cracks begin appearing in the everyday lives on the street. In the nineteen fifties their was the attitude that what went on in ones house stayed there. So it is on this street but show more as the cracks widen the secrets begin to be exposed.

I loved this author's Bent Road and I loved this one as well. The tension and fear permeates the pages and at one point I actually had goosebumps down my arm. It is really hard to tell from the beginning exactly where this novel is going to go. There is a mystery involved and there are many secrets to be found. All the characters are so well drawn that one can imagine living on this block. One of my favorite new author for sure. show less