“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. ( )

I can't think of a book by Kate Morton that I haven't liked.but I see I have missed a few of her recent ones so I can't say with certainty that every book she writes is wonderful. Thanks to a friend I was able to read this book and confirm my opinion of her writing.

Like many of Morton's books, this one features two time lines. One is historical (although it seems strange to me to classify a time that is within my lifetime as that) as it is set in 1959 in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. The other is more recent as it takes place in 2018 and starts out in London, England and then moves to Sydney, New South Wales. In 1959 the deaths of most members of a family takes place on Christmas Eve. The Turners, mother, teenage daughter, two younger boys, were found lying dead at a picnic site on their property. An infant daughter was missing from her cradle. The father was away in England on business. The infant was never found and it was surmised that dingoes had dragged her off. When the cause of death was determined to be an unknown poison, the coroner found that the mother had poisoned all the children and then herself. The main character in the 2018 story, Jessica (Jess) Turner-Bridges, is a relative of the Turner family but she had never learned anything about them or their tragic end. A journalist in London, she is called home to Sydney when her grandmother, Nora, falls in her house and is hospitalized. When she first arrives, Nora is conscious but not making a lot of sense. Jess is staying in her grandmother's house and she starts looking for what could have led to her fall from the attic steps. She starts to find references on-line to the tragedy in 1959 and then she finds out her grandmother was at the Turner house in South Australia when the tragedy occurred. Nora was the father's sister and she was very close to her sister-in-law. Her own marriage was rocky so she decided to go stay with her sister-in-law when she was due to give birth to Jess's mother, Polly. News of the deaths caused Nora to give birth prematurely and she was determined to keep her daughter safe. She didn't tell Polly about the tragedy until she was older and she made her daughter promise she would never tell Jess. That wasn't a hard promise to keep as Polly and Jess were estranged when Polly moved to take a new job in Brisbane and Jess stayed behind in Sydney. Nora raised Jess and she was a very protective guardian. But as Jess starts to uncover more about the tragedy she realizes she has to know more but she can't ask Nora who lapses into a coma and then dies. Jess uses her journalistic skills to unravel the story right to its shocking ending.

This book raises a lot of questions about parenting. Since I don't have children myself I probably shouldn't weigh in on those questions but I can't help but feel that Nora was wrong to hide information from first Polly and then Jess. In addition to the family tragedy, neither were told who their fathers were and they certainly didn't have any contact with them. I think it would be a rare child who wouldn't want to find out more about their parentage and ancestors. Better that they should be told by someone who loves them than to hear gossip or innuendo. ( )

Intriguing mystery that is beautifully written, but about 150 pages too long. I found the dual timelines, multiple main characters, and different narrators to be somewhat confusing at times. The setting in Australia was interesting and described in meticulous fashion. ( )