Homecoming is a mix of historical fiction and murder mystery. I have also seen it described as a family drama and that fits too. The story is mainly told in two timelines - 1959 and 2018. In 2018 Jess is a journalist living in London. She flies home to Sydney to be with her grandmother during her last days in hospital. During this time and after, Jess gradually discovers the family history and what exactly happened back in 1959.

I loved the 2018 storyline. I found it interesting and compelling. I didn't enjoy the 1959 timeline quite so much. I found parts of it a little repetative and slow. But it is also necessary to understand the full story and gradually a very clear understanding of 1959 events are revealed. The retelling via the narration of Daniel Miller's book is a different approach which I admired but which also contributed the the sense of slowness in this timeline.

Regardless, this is a great book and one I enjoyed immensely. The ending is beautifully told and I liked the reflections on home and loneliness.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a fan of Kate Morton I found Homecoming an easy read. Although I’ve never been separated from family I enjoyed Jess’s journey from London to Sydney, discovering her complicated family relations. As with previous books I felt there were plenty of clues spread throughout the story but I loved the way the plot came together at the end.

This is the sort of book that stays with you for a long time. Beautifully written characters, & layer upon layer of careful plotting, made it a delight to read. It’s not a short book, and it’s one that you’ll want to take your time with. The author is in no hurry to reveal what really happened on the terrible day, and even when you think you know what & why, she unveils another tiny twist. I loved it. 10/10

A family tragedy played out over the generations. Lots of possible twists and turns. A little bit drawn out at times, but nonetheless very enjoyable.

Rather long drawn out mystery,set in two time periods. A whole family dies apart from the baby and two generations on the mystery is still unsolved.

To get the opportunity to read a new Kate Morton book is a bit like winning the lottery. I have loved everything she has written. There are actually very few writers I find as reliable and as relatable. .The expectation can leave me a little nervous though. What if I don't like it? What if it disappoints? What if I have grown out of her books? (It happens, right?) But no - big sign of relief here - this is an absolute corker. I am actually slightly bereft it is over.
Set in Australia, but with it's roots in the UK, the book reflects some of Morton's own life experience of living between two countries she loves. There are strong and complex female characters and a plot that develops and reveals over the course of the 650 pages. It takes you to a time and place, with beautiful descriptions and knowledge of the South Australian landscape, culture and atmosphere in the second half of the 20th Century and in 2018. It will make you want to pack your bags.
I wholeheartedly recommend this excellent novel and really hope my book club picks it, as I want to discuss it in detail. An easy 5 starts from me.

A tragic story of how one person's selfishness has ruined so many lives.. 
It is a little bit long winded, however still a page turner. I love how we get to hear the story from different character perspectives. I love old mansions and houses that are always present in Morton's novels and are pretty much one of the main characters.
I figured out a lot of it before I got to the end, however it didn't bother me and I still enjoyed the flow of the story and how everything was unwrapping.
One thing that did bother me is a mention of a DNA test to establish whether two characters are related that supposedly took place in 1978/79. It was impossible at the time. Possibly there were other discrepancies too, but this one has just jumped at me and I couldn't help myself.
Overall it's another good three generational mystery that makes you travel through time and space. Family secrets, cute villages, hidden treasures and murder mysteries. It has a bit of everything. Perfect summer/holiday read.

Homecoming

Homecoming has a dual timeline which switches back and forth 60 years, between 1958 and 2018. There is an historic murder investigation, a missing baby, fractured mother daughter relationships and three women who reflect on their lives and place where they feel most at home. The characters are distinctly drawn and sympathetic for the most part. The author is clever at giving the reader an insight into what has shaped them and their relationships (or lack of) with each other.
This is a long book at over 500 pages, it’s a slow telling of a period in time when a tragic event occurs which rocks a community, changing the lives of everyone connected to the Turner family. The backstory loops around and around revealing more through a variety of devices. The chapters from the true crime book were an effective way to provide background. However, it took until around halfway through the book to become gripped, it’s rather turgid in places, but by then it really kept me gripped and guessing. Even when I was confident I could easily explain exactly what had happened, I was wrong!
The descriptions of the countryside, big skies, houses and rural life were well described. I used to be familiar with most of the locations mentioned as I lived in the hills of Adelaide, travelling down to the flats via the Greenhill road daily for work, before the expressway was built, so this greatly added to my enjoyment of the book as it brought back many memories.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this intriguing book.

Another brilliant Kate Morton book in fact to my mind one of her best.
Jess a journalist who originated from Australia but has lived in the UK for the last 20 years is at a turning point in her life when she gets a call from home to say that her beloved grandmother Nora has suffered a fall and is in hospital extremely sick.
Little does Jess know that the events that follow will change everything thing that she knew about her informative years growing up and her relationship with her mother as she starts to investigate a family tragedy that has been kept hidden for years.
In classic Kate style the book is a duel time story which will leave you glued to the very last page.
Can’t recommend it enough

Australia 1959 a delivery man taking a short cut across private land discovers a pastoral scene described in breathtaking beauty of a mother picnicking with her young family on Xmas Eve only to realise with shocking certainty they are all dead. Meanwhile London 2018 a journalist recently separated from her long time partner receives news that her much loved grandmother has taken a fall and in hospital necessitating an immediate journey to her childhood home in Australia. And so begins after several long years of waiting the latest book by Kate Morton. Retold by numerous perspectives, and over two timelines, we learn in intimate detail the highs and lows of a strong supportive community ricocheting from unexplained deaths and the long term effects on multiple families. Simultaneously Jessica our main protagonist is accidentally made aware of her connection to this historical tragedy and begins a search to uncover the secrets of her childhood. What unravels in slow exquisite detail is numerous lives dramatically changed by a single event with long lasting catastrophic results. The reader sees and smells the haunting beauty of the Australian wilderness: becoming achingly familiar with the dreams, disappointments and secrets of a community focused on the excitement of impending Xmas only become interviewees in a murder enquiry . A climax that uncovers decades of subterfuge and lies and finally allows families to move on is delivered in simplistic and shocking simplicity leaving the reader in stunned awe at the conclusion of yet again a 5 star read . This unable to put down, long awaited book by Kate Morton has ticked every box and will require a second read to explore and enjoy every nuance. A thrilling mystery covering a 60 year period of a family in crisis. Huge thanks to Kate Morton, publisher and Netgalley for the honour and privilege of allowing me to review this exceptional book.

A book within a book, a family tragedy and a mystery of what happened to the baby. Kate Morton delivers yet again

Kate Morton writes some of the most lyrical and wonderful books. I think this might be her best yet.

No plot spoilers but just to say that the twists and turns are well worth it and the atmosphere and characters are some of the most detailed and complex I have read. I loved the feeling of being in this book and of being with the characters as they went about their daily lives. The delivery man finds a scene of tragedy and then the novel flips back and forth until the mystery, the full mystery if revealed and solved at the end.

Dual time line as is Kate's signature style and I loved it. Recommended!

This is a compelling and addictive read following three generations of women as they unravel a murder that occurred nearly 60 years prior. It’s an interesting look at family and identity and family saga mixed with an intriguing murder mystery plot. It’s quite a long book but it’s definitely worth it. I felt we got a lot of background and information about all the characters and the setting that really brought this story to life. It is absolutely beautifully written and I will definitely be picking up more books by Kate Morton.

Kate Morton is a wonderful storyteller. Homecoming is a great mix of family saga and murder mystery.

It is a long read and at times towards the end of the first half it seemed like we weren’t making much progress, but as soon as it got past the halfway point the pace seemed to pick up and the answers started to make themselves known.

The characters are wonderful, 3 generations of Turner-Bridger’s women battling with their identities and their pasts.

The story is about family, belonging, identity, the lengths we would go to for our children, home, and so much more.

Jess is a writer fallen on difficult times, she is called back to Australia due to her grandmother being very ill. Jess goes back, partly to escape her present, but finds herself embroiled in a search to understand her past.

A complex tale of love and family. A long read, but worth it.

Homecoming is an involving family drama from the ever-reliable Kate Morton.
In 2018 young Australian woman Jess receives a call that her beloved Grandmother Nora has had a bad fall and is in hospital back home in Sydney. Brought up by Nora after mother Polly seemingly abandoned her at the age of 10 Jess flies back and on trying to discover the circumstances of the elderly lady's fall finds a True Crime book about the mysterious deaths of members of her extended family in the remote Adelaide Hills in 1959.
Gripped by the mystery,events that Nora had never mentioned to her,Jess investigates and unearths long held secrets that turn everything she thought she knew upside down.
The story is told in 2 timelines,with tragic events in the small town of Tumbilla unfolding in 1959 and Jess's investigation nearly 60 years later in the Sydney house she shared with Nora from the age of 10

This is an immersive book that is initially a bit confusing as various characters from different eras and locations are introduced but things soon fall into place. It's quite slow-paced which might not appeal to some but those who appreciate good writing over brevity will love it as ,like James Lee Burke,Kate Morton paints word pictures of her locations.
There sometimes seems almost too much detail but as the tale goes on very often those seemingly small details prove to be key to the story. That story does get involved and while I'd guessed a major twist early on the mystery twists and turns towards the end with Red Herring galore that i'd love to be able I saw through....but I'd be lying.
This is a book for those who like to savour good writing and enjoy finding small clues that might just be the key to the plot....or they might not.......and many of the characters are far from what they first appear to be.

An excellent,well-crafted and involving book.

True to form, this new novel by the hugely talented Ms Morton was an outstanding read. Loved every minute.

First of all thanks to NetGalley for sending me this excellent novel. It is a gem of a book, a Pandora’s Box of a story and a multi layered thought provoking novel. It begins with a very ordered 1950s Southern Australian world that quickly becomes disordered. It is comforting that when the books secrets are finally unravelled and mysteries are resolved in that finally ‘order is restored in a disordered world’. The novel opens with a lunch party planned for Christmas at thirty eight year old Isobel Turner’s lovely property, hers and husband Thomas’s grand house. All is well in Isobel’s world but is it? . On Christmas Eve she insists her three children and baby are part of a family picnic. Meanwhile we are introduced to other key characters, in particular Percy, his wife Meg and two sons. It is Percy who first discovered the tableau that is to become the book’s core mystery. ‘The Sleeping children , he remembered thinking, looked like the etchings in his mother’s precious family Bible….’ In 2019 Jess knowing nothing about the Christmas Eve that took the children and their mother as well as a missing baby, visits her ailing grandmother in Australia. It’s then that she and the reader gradually discover her family’s secrets and deep unresolved mysteries. This is a heartbreaking, beautifully written and superbly constructed novel, both past and present. It is one I shall re read and I believe it is Kate Morton’s best novel since she wrote ‘The House at Riverton’. It keeps you guessing and is a novel bursting with beautiful prose, characters that grow and change as the story reveals itself and superb mastery of atmosphere.

Homecoming is another fantastic novel from Kate Morton. Despite being 656 pages long, I devoured it and despite knowing all was not as it seemed, I couldn’t quite work out all the twists. The ending will definitely satisfy the most critical of readers.
This is a duel time novel set in Australia from 1956, and present day UK and Australia. Jess is a journalist based in London, but flies home to Australia after receiving news about her grandmother Nora. During her time there she unearths a tragic story about her family that was kept secret from her. The novel moves back to Christmas Eve 1956 where the tragedy occurs and we are introduced a much younger Nora and her brother’s family.
I would highly recommend any Kate Morton book, but this was definitely one of the best. The characters are fascinating and while the descriptions are elaborate and detailed they are all relevant to the overall plot and ultimate ending. I loved the setting in South Australia and felt completely invested in the story. Amazing!

Whilst I enjoyed this new novel by Kate Morton, I felt it was too long. At times it was repetitive and the story could have been told in 100 or more less pages. I guessed the murderer about three quarters through the book and so 8 found myself rushing through the last quarter just to get to the end.

Kate Morton is an auto-read for both me and my mum. Since discovering The House At Riverton many years ago, we've both enjoyed her unique style of storytelling - twisting historical fiction and mystery expertly time and time again.

So when I saw Homecoming available through NetGalley - I of course opted straight away to grab an ARC.

It's Christmas 1959 and Percy Summers takes a detour through the Australian country to a waterhole to allow his horse to bathe and cool down. Noticing a family of their local town asleep by the waterside, he moves to make a neighbourly greeting to discover that they're not asleep at all and something awful has befallen then.

In London 2018, Jess finds out her Grandmother, Nora, has taken a fall back in Australia. Arriving back "home" after the long journey, she finds out that Nora has been acting strange for a while and Jess cannot work out why.

Whilst Homecoming didn't incite the same emotions as some of her other books, the story stuck true to form with twists and turns unravelling at every point. It was a truly brilliantly written mystery and will be favourite for fans I'm sure.