I have loved all of the Kate Morton books I have read and this one did not disappoint. I did find the story was a bit long but the ending made up for it. Jess is the main character who travels home to see her grandmother Nora after a fall. She learns her grandmother was hiding family secrets. Jess investigates and probes further into the deaths that occurred 60 years earlier and uncovers a web of lies and betrayal. She also learns more about her grandmother who as a young woman left England for Australia after WWII, and about the people who lived in the house where the murder took place. I loved the earlier story within the main story. This is an epic family saga full of family secrets and shows how far people go to protect those they love.

🤩 At 560 pages, this little brick was intimidating to start … after the first few pages any trepidation I had, vanished and was totally immersed.
This multigenerational family saga is covered over two timelines - Australia, 1956 and 2018 - Intricately weaving a complex yet captivating story within a story.

“Reading shapes a person. The landscape of books is more real, in some ways, than the one outside the window. It isn't experienced at a remove; it is internal, vital.”

A beautifully written story exploring families, friendships and relationships while seamlessly blending a mystery taking decades to unfold and a few twists I didn’t see coming.

Loved it! 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Many thanks to @netgalley @bolindaaudio for ALC 🎧 And @allenandunwin for advanced reading copy 💌

I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator was really good. I liked the pace and writing style. I haven't read any Kate Moreton's books before but I have a couple on my shelves, as this book is so good I'll be diving into the others that I have.

This is such a heartbreaking and Heartwarming story. Full of mystery and twists and turns. There are lots of questions throughout the book but everything is satisfyingly bought to a conclusion towards the end of the book.

All the way to the end I was hooked on this brilliant story, I really like the pace and the then and now aspects in order to find out what had really happened.

The descriptions of Australia make you feel like I could visit and know my way around. It sounds like such a beautiful place.

I love how close Jess and her grandmother are, it reminded me of my relationship with my Grandmother, she was a marvellous woman who I adored.

3.5 Stars: I enjoy Kate Morton's writing. She writes beautifully descriptive stories and manages to add a mystery as well. Homecoming is a story told in dual timelines, 1959, when a family is found dead while on a picnic and the baby of the family missing. The second is 60 years later, when Jess is called home to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised her, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital. While alone in Nora's house, Jess finds a true crime book about the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It tells the story of the family and Jess finds out that she is related to this family. Being a journalist herself, she begins to investigate the tragedy to finally find conclusion to the story.

The description describes the book as "An epic novel that spans generations" and that is what it is. I enjoyed the book, but had to put it down a few times as it is extremely descriptive and slow moving at times. I enjoyed learning about this family and what may have caused the death of the Turner Family. There were secrets, many of them, and as Jess began to unravel some of the story, I became more interested in this one. There were several surprises along the way and the final revelations solved a second mystery. If you enjoy a sweeping story, with lyrical writing, lots of description and a mystery, you will probably love this story. I found it overlong and a bit too slow for me at times. The audiobook, narrated by Claire Foy, was well done and kept me listening. Her voice was perfect for the pace, tone and characters. If you enjoy an audiobook, I recommend you listen to this one, rather than reading it.

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Homecoming is a gripping mystery that spans two periods and two continents, linking a savage crime in Australia to a journalist's search for the truth in London. Kate Morton delivers a masterpiece of historical fiction and suspense, with her trademark complexity and beauty.

“Home, she’d realized, wasn’t a place or a time or a person, though it could be any and all of those things: home was a feeling, a sense of being complete. The opposite of ‘home’ wasn’t ‘away,’ it was ‘lonely.’ When someone said, ‘I want to go home,’ what they really meant was that they didn’t want to feel lonely anymore.”

The novel begins with a shocking discovery in a grand house in Australia on Christmas Eve, 1959. Four adults and a baby are found slain, and the only survivor is a young girl who has no recollection of what happened. The case remains unresolved for decades, until a journalist named Jess returns to Sydney to visit her dying grandmother, Nora. Jess discovers that Nora has a connection to the house and the tragedy, and that she has been concealing a true crime book about the case. Jess decides to investigate the cold case and write a story about it, hoping to revive her career and uncover her family secrets.

“What is the truth anyway?" Jess had once been asked by a curious friend.
"It's what happened."
"According to whom?”

As Jess probes into the past, she uncovers a web of lies, betrayal, and love that spans generations and continents. She learns more about her grandmother's life as a young woman who left England for Australia after World War II, and about the people who lived in the house where the murder took place. She also discovers that the truth is more complex and shocking than she ever imagined, and that it has consequences for her own identity and future.

“There was a truth observed by all good preachers, leaders, and salesmen: tell a good story, tell it in simple language, tell it often. That’s how beliefs and memories were formed. It was how people defined themselves, in a reliance upon the stories about themselves that they were told by others.”

Homecoming is a mesmerizing and atmospheric novel that will keep you engrossed until the end. Morton skillfully interweaves the two periods, disclosing hints and turns along the way. The characters are well-crafted and intricate, each with their own goals and secrets.

“For all that ‘home’ was considered a word of warmth and comfort, policemen knew better. Home is where the heart is, and the heart could be a dark and damaged place.”

The setting of Australia is vividly portrayed, contrasting the verdant and wild scenery with the refined and imposing house. The novel also explores the themes of homecoming, both literally and figuratively, as the characters struggle with their sense of belonging and identity in two different worlds.

The novel is rich in historical detail and cultural context.

“Homecoming” also examines the themes of memory, trauma, and forgiveness, as the characters try to cope with the aftermath of the tragedy and their own personal losses. The novel shows how the past can haunt the present, but also how healing and reconciliation are possible.

“Polly had certainly made some wrong turns - strange how easy the signposts were to see in the rearview mirror - but she had learned long ago that it was pointless to give in in to the black temptation of regret.”

“Homecoming” is beautifully written, with lyrical prose and poetic imagery. The novel also uses symbolism and metaphors to enhance the meaning and mood of the story.

“My grandfather built Darling House five years after he'd arrived from Scotland. He knew by then that the climate was going to require something different from what he'd been used to as a boy."
"She's a grand old lady," Matt said of the house. "Dressed up in an iron-lace shawl, looking out over her harbour."
Nora smiled. "That's exactly what she is. It's the reason she and I get on so well together. We're two of a kind."

The novel is a page-turner, with a suspenseful plot and a startling ending. The author keeps you guessing until the last page, as it reveals the truth behind the murder and the connections between the characters. “Homecoming” also has a satisfying conclusion, as it ties up all the loose ends and gives closure to the characters.

This is a splendid and gratifying read that fans of historical fiction and mystery will adore.
I listened to the audiobook, courtesy of #NetGalley and #BolindaAudio. Narrated by the talented Claire Foy, I was transfixed and invested from the very first line. I can’t recommend this book/audiobook enough.

Kate Morton is an author who will last for generations with her books handed down and recommended from Mother to daughter, aunt to niece.
This as another great work set in two time frames. Kate has really mastered the art of setting a scene, grasping your interest and then leaving you guessing, not just once but continually! This novel is set in Australia with flash backs to the UK. An interesting combination which is topical at present.
I listened to the audio read by the wonderful Claire Foy. Such a treat.

Another very enjoyable listen, the narrator was excellent and the plot, although gripping was maybe a bit long at times. Nevertheless very interesting story which I thoroughly apprecitated.
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this ARC.

I just reviewed Homecoming by Kate Morton. #Homecoming #NetGalley

Oh #katemorton how I love your work! You never fail to keep us gripped with your books of historical mysteries.

Another success here for Kate Morton with a story of an unsolved crime from the 1950’s that needs to be uncovered by a journo that’s found herself out of work and needing something huge to revive her career.

This audiobook is excellent and I also have the hardback as any of Kate Morton’s work is always on my pre-order list! My favourite author is now on audiobook and this does her beautiful storytelling justice. Ideal for people who work in an office as you can listen to this whilst working.

This one starts off with an utterly horrific discovery (set in the past), that suddenly ends without further explanation. Talk about a hook! You’re given a front row seat to a sprawling family story, where the impact of that horrific event is laid bare, on more than just the family affected. There was so much family history and immersive detail in this one - I really did feel like it was living in the moment as you slowly discover what actually happened. And Norton feeds you tidbits of the truth at various points, keeping you hooked and desperate to know the full story.

This is my first Norton read - and it won’t be my last. It gave me vibes of a Liane Moriarty story with the breadth of storytelling. And Clare Foy’s narration is just spot on (particularly with all the accents she does).

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Bolinda Audio, and the author for the opportunity to listen to this review copy.

Narrated by Claire Foy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Kate Morton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow! What a beautiful slow burn told over three generations.

I'm sad to say this is my first time trying Kate Morton even though she's an Australian author I've heard alot about and one of my book buddies (Hey Callie 👋) is OBSESSED with her, but after this little stunner it definitely won't be my last book.

Definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something pleasant and moving.

Homecoming by Kate Morton was by my first book by the author.

I loved this epic story spanning sixty years split between Australia and England. Lots of family secrets based around a family tragedy.

Brilliantly narrated by Claire Foy who really bought the book to life.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Bolinda Audio for making this e-audiobook available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I got the audio version (thanks to Netgalley) with the narration by the sublime Claire Foy. It was an excellent reading.

The story itself begins in quite a simple way. A tragedy has occurred - the deaths of a mother (Isabel Turner) and three of her children with the fourth (the baby) missing, presumed snatched by dingoes. We are then transported forward to meet Jess, a journalist, who is told that her beloved grandmother, Nora, is in hospital having fallen in her home.

The relationships are reasonably convoluted - Nora is Jess's grandmother (but has looked after Jess as a child), Jess's mother is Polly and Nora's sister is the dead woman, Isabel. The women most certainly take centre stage in this book.

There are, however several secrets to uncover and Jess is determined to find out why her grandmother has fallen from the attic steps, what happened to her great aunt Isabel, the children and the missing baby all whilst trying to keep a safe distance from her estranged mother Polly.

I tried second, third and fourth guessing the puzzle but kept getting it wrong. It took me until almost the end of the book to work out what had happened but this book will certainly keep you guessing.

It's well written with a great plot, some interesting characters and Claire Foy's narration is perfect - juxtaposing Australian, English and the occasional American accent seamlessly.

I'm delighted to have been able to listen to this and can only thank Netgalley and Bolinda for the ARC. Excellent. Highly recommended.

An audiobook to settle down with a cup of tea and immerse oneself in. Set in two timelines - 1950’s Adelaide, South Australia where a crime takes place involving the Turner family - tragic and haunting their family for years to come. Present day - Jess in England learns her grandmother Nora is in hospital and flys straight out to Sydney to see her. Whilst there Jess discovers the details of the Turner tragedy and she sets out to uncover the truth. As most of this novel is set in Australia - Kate excels at meticulous detail and descriptions in her writing and you feel as if you’re in Tambilla and actually in Darling House with Jess. This book is essentially a mystery - what exactly happened to the Turner family at the start of the book and that is what we are all eager to find out! This is a long audiobook at over 17 hours BUT Claire Foy narrates and she seems to make the time fly by as she lures you in. This is a book not to be rushed but to savour - to delve into, to soak up and to relish in all the secrets and mysteries this book has to offer. Another exquisite novel from Kate Morton. Thank you Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for my copy.

First off, a big 5 stars for Claire Foy. What a wonderful narration! 🏆 I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed this book as much if I’d read it. It starts at Christmas in 1959 with the mysterious death of almost an entire family. We then find ourselves in 2018 with our main character Jess returning home to Australia from England to visit with her ailing grandmother. As she investigates/sorts out issues in their family history, things that looked one way at the start gradually reveal themselves in an entirely new light. This book is a process. I was all in by the end but I did find it a bit of a chore at times to collect all the pieces along the way. I’m not sure there was another way to organize the plot though, given that the reveals had the most impact happening as they did close to the end!
*Thanks to Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook copy for review.

A wonderful novel with a backstory in rural Australia. A dual-timescale with Jess today finding a horrific family secret. A journalist by trade she decides to delve into this tragic history from 1959. Wonderful descriptions of Jess in grey London and sunny Sydney. She feels lost between both countries. I received the audiobook as a review copy and was enjoying so much I purchased the kindle edition so I could keep going with the saga. A great read with an ending I did not see. I enjoyed the narrator in the audiobook.

This very long book contains a beautifully written story. Unfortunately, the trouble with said story, is that it is over-long, quite flat and couldn't hold my attention. Disappointingly, the mystery turned out to be not very mysterious at all! Getting through this book felt like a huge slog, so if you prefer a more fast-paced narrative, you will probably find yourself feeling impatient with the excessive flowery descriptions - but thanks anyway to NetGallery and Bolinda Audio for allowing me to get a copy.

Kate Morton is a favourite author of mine for her family mystery dual-timeline doorstop books, and this one came firmly middle of the pack for me: not my favourite (The Clockmaker’s Daughter still firmly holds that position) but still a satisfying read.

In the present, Jess is summoned back to Australia after her grandmother—the women who raised her—was hospitalised after a fall. A struggling journalist, she is on the lookout for personal reflections that would make a saleable piece, and her investigative instincts are piqued but the suggestion of a tragedy in her grandmother’s past. In 1959, the town of Tambilla is rocked by a the deaths of an entire family on Christmas eve, which are quickly assumed to be murder. Told through the eyes of Jess, Tambilla’s shopkeeper Percy and a few other characters, this is a story of the many forms of motherhood and the costs of family secrets.

I usually enjoy the meatiness of Morton’s books, but this one felt like to drew things out a little too much, and in place became a bit of a slog. The other thing that didn’t quite work for me was the fact that the narratives from the character’s perspectives were chapters from an in-story nonfiction book. This was an interesting addition to the structure (and the first time I’ve encountered it in one of Morton’s works) but what threw me off was it was written in basically the same voice as the rest of the book - the only discernible difference being the occasional slip into an omniscient POV, but all the bits in close third felt like rest of the book. There was an attempt to excuse this by having the fictional journalist described as pioneering an approach to nonfiction that utilised tools of fiction writing; maybe any differences would be clearer when read in print, but it was just so similar to everything else that I didn’t find it convincing as supposedly ‘nonfiction being read by the protagonist’ - I needed more distinctness in the voice/writing style.

Jess is an Australian who has been living and working in London for twenty years. She’s a journalist but has recently been struggling to hold down a regular job. Jess has also broken up with her boyfriend and consequently can’t really afford the cost of living alone in this city, in the house they once shared. But then she receives a call to advise her that her grandmother has had a fall, back in Sydney. Could a excursion down under give her a chance to clear her head, and perhaps she could even write an article about her trip that she might earn some money from?

Once in Australia, Jess starts to unpick a mystery concerning the genesis of her grandmother’s accident and stumbles across a lot of hitherto unknown history surrounding her family, and perhaps even a link to her virtual estrangement from her own mother. It’s a complex tale of connections and relationships in a small community, and at its centre is a tragic event that happened on Christmas Eve in 1959.

I listened to an audio version of this book read by actress Claire Foy. She does a great job of alternating between a fairly posh English accent (possibly her own) and a very passable set (to my ears at least) of Aussie accents. It’s a tale that build slowly and includes fantastic descriptions of Australian settings. But readers/listeners will have to be patient as it all takes quite some time to come to the boil. But when it does it provides as satisfying an unravelling of the facts as I’ve come across in quite some time.

In truth, this is not really the kind of story that normally takes my fancy: requiring more concentration than I ordinarily have to spare, as inputs arrive from a variety of sources regarding a large cast of characters. However, here it’s all so well executed that any nagging doubts I might have had were shuffled to the back of my mind as I became drawn ever deeper into this intriguing tale. It’s my first experience of a novel by this writer, but on this evidence it’s unlikely to be my last.

A historical fiction mystery book based in Australia with a story weaving across 3 generations in different timelines.
My usual reads in this genre are based in Europe, however, the plot setup of this book was a welcome change. The book gets into the detail of the lives of each character at length (which is majorly the reason for its extensive 560 pages). Initially, the book confuses you a bit with a lot of information on different characters, but once their interrelated stories are discovered, the mystery is elucidated.

It was emotional to see each generation carrying their own baggage and how the experiences of one person overshadowed the lives of those around them. The strong buildup of all the 3 main characters from their own angle made it difficult for me to choose sides with anyone of them. But it was astonishing to see how each parent-child dynamic may not be the same. I would have been an absolute fan if it was a little less long, but apart from that, every nook and cranny was beautifully delivered.

Genre: #historicalfiction #mystery
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

Thank you @netgalley @bolindaaudio @harpercollins and @katemortonauthor for the great ARC copy, enjoyed it!


#Homecoming #NetGalley

4.5* Homecoming is a deceptive monster of a book - a fantastic mystery enshrined in an incredible family drama. It was my first Kate Morton and now I have the pleasure of a back catalogue to read.

Christmas Eve 1959 in the town of Tambilla, South Australia a shocking discovery is made by a local shopkeeper as he makes his way home from a delivery. It is a case which will capture local imaginations but remaining family members will be keen to bury it deeply.

60 years on and Jess is a freelance journalist in London when she gets the call that her elderly grandmother has been rushed to hospital. A flight across the world and Jess finds Nora to be confused and distressed about something which makes no sense to Jess.

Told across two timelines, Jess seeks the truth, not least from a true crime book which covered the case back in the day, but the conclusion was less than satisfactory.

Homecoming is an entirely immersive experience. The plotting is intricate but not fussy. The characters are well drawn and memorable and there is a careful balance with prose that takes you to the time and place while keeping the pace sufficiently high to be a page turner.

I listened to the audiobook. Narrated by Claire Foy it is as excellent as you might imagine. Claire manages that fine line between reading the book and inhabiting the characters but not ‘performing’ the text.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for this fantastic advance copy. I’m now off to download every other Kate Norton.