Honk shoo, honk shoo, mimimimi.

Rounding my rating down to what Goodreads labels as "it was ok" because I'm so very frustrated with this story's wasted potential. I heard such wonderful things about this book but was disappointed. I've liked the other couple books of Kate's I've read, too!

This book was far too long. I say this after having just read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which is a very long and slow book, but I was never bored reading it. Homecoming was both slow and boring. There's so much mindless detail about Jess like, moving around the house and reading the book within a book. And you get every little minute thought or action she does. The book got pretty repetitive.

This was such a chore to get through after a very intriguing prologue. Jess did not work as a main character for me in the slightest; you're supposed to feel sympathy for her as she's working out the multiple mysteries but she was SO rude to Polly and a wet rag of a character overall. Polly's brief POVs were the most interesting to me outside of Percy and his family's story. One of the "mystery" plots of the book was guessable from the off.

Nora can kick rocks.

I absolutely love this book! Completely blown away by the level of detail, character-development, and perfect setting. It is LONG, so definitely isn't going to be for all readers -- but if you stick with it, it's so worth it.

4 stars. A very solid and satisfying read. I did guess some of the big twists and mysteries very early on, but not all of them and not always the "why" and/or the "how" of them. In any event, I was engaged the whole way through. The book maybe could be a bit shorter, but it never dragged, that I remember. And I loved that many of the characters, in both timelines, turned out to be much more complicated - and sometimes much darker - than they appeared to be.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

One of my favorite writers. I loved this book. We have a Staff Picks brochure here at our library. That we update once a year. This was the first new title to go on my recommendations. I loved how the two parts came together, with the mystery of the murder investigation and the love story too.

What to say about this book? This is the first Kate Morton book I've read. My thoughts are the book was too long and dragged on and on and just when I got to the good part (about the last 100 pages) it picked up and I didn't want it to end. I think the focus on all the details in the first 300 pages could have been trimmed down so that it would have allowed for more at the end. I wished there would have been more focus on Polly and Jess's relationship instead of waiting until the very end.

Probably my favorite Kate Morton book yet! Riveting story, memorable characters, and a surprise ending that made me want to read it again.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I’ve never read a Kate Morton novel until now. Now, I want to read all of them. The novel takes place in two separate times, one where we learn of the unsolved murders of the Turner Family years ago and one where we learn of Nora, Polly and Jess. Nora, the patriarch of the family, mother to Polly and grandmother to Jess. And as these two timelines come together, we learn that family secrets, no matter how hard we try to keep buried, always come to light. I absolutely enjoyed every minute of this well written, intriguing story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kate Morton for this digital ARC.

As a long-time Kate Morton fan, I had high hopes for Homecoming. Imagine my disappointment when I just couldn't get in to it like all the others! This book just didn't do it for me.

This was a great book and I enjoyed reading it! I look forward to seeing what this author comes out with next.

I have read Kate Morton's books religiously since finding her many years ago in Blackstone's in Edinburgh. Her stories are always so rich and detailed. Homecoming was no exception. Jess, a fortyish Australian, is summoned home from England when her grandmother takes a fall. Jess was mainly raised by her grandmother, Nora. Nora is a Force to be Reckoned With and influenced Jess's life as well as that of her own mother. Jess finds there are many secrets that Nora has kept from her including a family deaths in Southern Australia. What follows is Jess learning her own history while coming to grips with what she wants from her life.

I honestly do not have anything to say about this book. I found it boring and nothing about it interested me.

Kate Morton does it again!! I won an advanced reader copy of her newest book and just finished the beautiful novel. It masterfully weaves past and present together and absolutely dazzles with its writing. Full of loss, love, sorrow, joy, some mystery, and, ultimately, redemption, this book is a must for your 2023 reading list! thank you to @marinerbooks !!!

HOMECOMING BY KATE MORTON

Homecoming is an epic story that is by far one of the best by Kate Morton - a highly anticipated read that far exceeded any expectations. This is a true epic story that covered two timelines in 1959 then in the present at 2018. The way the stories converged was brilliant alongside a story within this story really captured this intense crime fiction, family secrets, and so much more!

A truly brilliant work by a master storyteller.

Morton has a way with prose unlike any other author I've read. Her latest book is a shining example of her skill in weaving a story of family, loss, and intrigue. Highly recommended.

Not my favorite Kate Morton. She painted the scene and the characters beautifully, but the real mystery of the book was the whereabouts of the missing baby, not on the murder - and that was easily figured out. 60% of my reading experience was frustration over the too-easy breadcrumbs that were being dropped. Even so, I'm glad I finished it. The missing pieces slotted in so perfectly in the last chapters, leaving me with an unexpected feeling of peace.

Morton is always a dependable five star read!
Set in Australia on Christmas Eve day, a family picnic turns to tragedy when a young mother and three of her children die mysteriously. The fourth child, a six week old baby is missing. A small country town is thrown into mourning and fear. This is a generational tale, similar to Morton’s Forgotten Garden in that it focuses on the relationship between a Grandmother and her grown granddaughter who feels neglected by her mother.
Highly recommend all of Morton’s novels.

I was so excited for this new book by Kate Morton. I have loved all of her books and this one definitely did not disappoint. It was a little slow in the beginning, but it definitely needed to be exactly how it was to set up everything in the story for the way it all ended. I am definitely a Kate Morton fan.

Kate Morton writes wonderful historic fiction. They are family oriented and usually have a mystery attached. Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of the grand and mysterious mansion, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.
Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital. Jess decides to explore this story when she goes back to Australia. It's an interesting story with a few twists. An enjoyable read that is easy to follow.

No one writes an engrossing domestic drama like Kate Morton. Full of grand descriptions of the setting and scenery, Homecoming tells the story of a murder in South Australia that changes the course of a small town. Flashing forward, we find our protagonist, a journalist, back home from London to care for her ailing grandmother. While stuck in her hometown, she begins to dig into the story of the murder and sets about unraveling a mystery that has plagued her home for decades.

For fans of Kate Quinn and big family epics, Homecoming is an engrossing and compelling read.

I jumped at the chance to pick up this book in ARC form -- I mean how can I resist Kate Morton, first, and that gorgeous cover, second?

This is a slow burn novel and the length alone makes Homecoming a hefty novel. I have to admit I had a pretty good idea on some key storylines about 1/3 or so the way through. However, I was still surprised by a few twists, in the end. Complicated families and long buried secrets are Kate Morton's niche and Homecoming did not disappoint. In an interesting format decision, portions of the book are pulled from a (fictional) true crime novel account of the murder on which Homecoming is centered upon. It worked extremely well and felt very real.

I admit that I felt like I was being drug along in some points. I honestly thought it was because, despite my love for digital ARCs, I had a hard time picking up my e-reader in general these past couple months. However, I'm seeing some reviews mentioning the slow drag of this book, as well.. In the end, it all felt worth it me. I was drawn into the story and felt truly a part of the Australian town as I read.

My thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC of Homecoming, in exchange for my honest review.