Outside a small town in Southern Australia, a young family is found dead on Christmas Eve 1959 after enjoying a picnic lunch. With no obvious cause of death, suspicion mounts and rumors run wild. Worse still, the youngest child is missing from her crib, apparently taken by wild dogs (dingoes). Sixty years later, a journalist returns to Australia to care for her ailing grandmother who was injured in a fall, and learns more about her own family history than she ever expected.
I have read all of Morton's previous books and was happy to get an eARC of Homecoming. Like the author's earlier books, this is a story of family secrets and tangled relationships. It's a book-within-a-book with dual timelines set in 1959 and 2018. The interior book is a true crime story that is framed by the 2018 narrative. I suspected the family secret and the solution to the mystery about halfway in (I watch way too much true crime TV). Fans of Ann Patchett, Joshilyn Jackson and Diane Chamberlain will enjoy this family saga.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

I love Kate Morton books, and always enjoy the plot twist near the end! Homecoming was no exception, and I was delighted to find that I did not guess the ending.
Jess was raised in Sydney by her strong grandmother, Rose, and after college, moved to London. When Jess receives a call stating that Rose had taken a fall and was in the hospital, Jess takes the next plane and returns to Australia. Rose is drifting in and out of consciousness, and is talking in her sleep, leading Jess to discover a family tragedy that Rose had always tried to protect her from. But when Jess starts investigating the crime from several decades earlier, she has no idea of the events that she's about to uncover.

Kate Morton is the queen on descriptive fiction. Her strengths are lush settings, fully comprehensive characters (not just leads!), and history entwining with the future. I’ve loved her books since The Distant Hours and have gone back to read her whole back list as well as everything that came out after. Homecoming highlights everything that makes Morton a master of her craft.

Since the pandemic, I have noticed that I prefer shorter more plot driven stories. Homecoming is very character driven with a lot of extra. The pacing was tough for me because I wanted to get to the point of the Christmas Eve Turner case (not even so much about Jess and Nora and Polly as much as learn what happened to Issy and the kids, though, of course, it’s all entwined). This is by no means a criticism, just a note of where my mindset currently sits. Morton handled everything with her classic grace, which I hope to revisit once I am in that frame of mind again. I, of course, read the whole thing and the ending was very satisfying, even if I had moments of “get on with it.” Overall excellent.

Another big win from Kate Morton.

It takes some time to get into this book, but once you’re in, good luck getting back out! The storytelling is immersive and vast and the story itself spans several decades.

Morton’s writing is lovely with tons of detail, but still very approachable. I could definitely see this becoming a great book club pick!

2.5 stars rounded down

A long and leisurely, and at times stretched out and plodding, historical drama/mystery set in both mid-20th century South Australia and contemporary Sydney.

On News Years Day, 1959, Percy Summers finds the bodies of Isabel Turner and her three children, lying as if they were asleep after a sunny afternoon’s picnic. How did they die and what happened to baby Thea who had been asleep in a basket with them?

Nearly 60 years later, Jess Turner-Bridges is summoned home to Sydney from London as her beloved grandmother, Nora, has had a fall and is in hospital. Why was Nora trying to climb the stairs to the attic and what does she mean in the confusing conversation she has with Jess?

You don’t have to be Hercule Poirot to spot the connecting last names and thus the connecting mystery, but you do have to have the patience of a saint to wade through 560 pages of slow moving prose to get to the answers you’ve most likely already guessed. Reader, I did it on your behalf.

Ms Morton has written a number of popular novels with similar interwoven time periods and the unpeeling of an historical mystery so if you’re a fan of them, I can imagine this is already on your TBR list and you don’t want to bother with my rather grumpy review.

If, like me, you’re new to the author, what can I say? She does a great job of conjuring up 1959 Tambilla in the Adelaide Hills, a small town fully populated with recognizable locals including the family who run the local store, the brewer’s daughter, and the owner of the tea shop as well as the very well-to-do Turner family. Using the rather inelegant device of a book within the novel written by an American journalist about the tragedy in the New Journalism style, the minutiae of the Turner family’s last day and the subsequent investigation are yawningly detailed. Other sections are just randomly told from different characters’ perspectives otherwise we would never get to the bottom of it all.

As Jess reads the published account, she discovers whole cupboards of skeletons about her family and has to re-assess everything she thought she knew about her mother and grandmother. Clearly Jess, although an investigative journalist, has never even glanced at a mystery novel or she would deduced her answers by page 50, though that would have deprived Morton fans of several hundred more pages of speculation and detailed descriptions.

I did find myself caught up and engaged in the ideas about mother-daughter relationships, about identity, and about the imposition of other people’s perceptions, I just wasn’t wild about the package they came in.

Thanks to Mariner and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

If you have a To Do list, be sure to complete it before you start this book! My experience is that once you start it, you won't want to put it down. This is a dual timeline story, taking place in 1959 and 2018, in two different places in Australia. There is a mystery, but there is also a lot about mother-daughter relationships.
I not only recommend this title-I recommend all of Kate Morton's books!

I had a time engaging with this one, but once I did, it was the usual magnificent story from Kate Morton.

Kate Morton is one of my favorite authors and reading her books is like reconnecting with an old friend. This book was not up to her standards though. The plot was well thought out and she moved seamlessly between timelines but her writing was so descriptive that I ended up skimming through most of the book and only focusing on the content that moved the story forward. I think her editor might have failed her on this one.

This is an engaging multi-generational epic that keeps you guessing until the end.

Summary
In late 2010s, UK resident & journalist, Jess, is summoned home to Australia after her beloved grandmother, Nora, fell trying to retrieve something secret hidden in her manor house. Jess is determined to find out what her grandmother was looking for and realizes that her family is related to an infamous 1959 cold case where a family was murdered on a picnic. Jess becomes obsessed with how her life fits into the 1959 cold case, while also dealing with the aftermath of Nora's fall. Polly, Nora's daughter & Jess's mom, also has a subplot. The novel also details elements on the 1959 cold case told as a fictionalized nonfiction book within a book and giving intimate detail from the 1959 characters.

Thoughts
Although the length got lofty, I did enjoy this Kate Morton - though not as much as "Secret Keeper." I did find elements distracting, especially in the past sections. I had a hard time believing the descriptions of the book within a book. I don't think that element was necessary and that the story would've been stronger if it was just flashing back and forth in time. I also found other things distracting - like a man plugging in his phone to charge in the late 1980s? That was an odd oversight.

Overview
I will definitely be recommending this book to Kate Morton fans, historical fiction fans, family drama fans, and mystery fans.

Thanks to NetGalley & Mariner Books for an ARC!

Kate Morton switches it up by setting this book in Australia. Jumping between 1959, when a gruesome murder took place, and 2018, when a laid-off, London journalist is summoned to her grandmother's side in Sydney, this book quietly unspools its story.
One part of the story is the shocking murders that took place on Christmas Eve 1959 and came to be known as the Turner Family Tragedy. Jess, the journalist, has come back to Australia to be with her grandmother, Nora, after a bad fall. Arriving to find the usually vibrant Nora disoriented, Jess begins poking around Nora's house and finds a book about the murders. soon, she is caught up in exploring her family's connection to the tragedy, and the questions about the came that still remain unsolved.
This book is themed around the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, but it also weaves in complex family relationships (Jess was largely raised by Nora) and questions about how we can know the truth, and what the cost of uncovering it might be. A good choice for Morton fans and those looking for an atmospheric read.

Magazine freelancer Jess Turner gets called home to Sydney when her grandmother Nora suffers a fall and is hospitalized. While she's home she finds a mysterious book that outlines the tragedy of The Turner Family Murders of 1959, part of her family history that her grandmother has kept from her. When she begins to investigate she starts to unravel the lies that have been hidden for years.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-galley in exchange for an honest review. Let me tell you that Kate Morton is one of my all-time favorite authors-I am notorious for telling any and everyone who wants a book recommendation to read one of hers. Homecoming will be added to that list of "you HAVE to read this!" that I whip out whenever I need to recommend a title to someone. Morton is such a powerhouse author who creates such an intricate story blending history, dual timelines, setting, and emotion. I cannot state this enough: her books consume you. They are lush, beautiful, mesmerizing, and evocative. Homecoming is no exception to this. The absolutely gorgeous and chilling settings that Morton explores in Australia made me want to visit, but in the time(s) she writes about. I wanted to be there with Jess as she explores this history that is hers: the story that forms her past, the people who it involved, and the lessons she must learn going forward. When what I refer to ask The Big Moment occurred, I gasped. My husband heard me muttering in the other room. I always try-and always fail-to guess the Big Twists with this author, and my husband is used to me shouting out my guesses. I was actually delighted this time that one of my more far-flung theories was somewhat correct, but the way it twisted was even more shocking than what I expected. I chewed on this book in my mind when I wasn't reading it; I wanted to reexamine it, to revisit each moment as I tore through it. Cannot recommend this title enough!

Kate Morton excels at storytelling that slowly unravels family secrets while captivating the reader and Homecoming showcases her skill fully. On Christmas Eve 1959 in rural Adelaide Hills, South Australia, Isabel Turner and her four children have a picnic on that hot day while Thomas Turner, her husband and the children's father, is traveling abroad. A neighbor passes by as he returns home to see what he thinks is a peaceful scene of them sleeping but in fact, Isabel and the three older children are dead and the baby is missing. Jumping to 2018, journalist Jess Turner learns that her grandmother has fallen and is hospitalized. Jess arranges quickly to fly home to Australia from London where she finds a book about the sad deaths in 1959 which is the first she has learned of this family story. The book then flows between 1959, the book Jess found, and 2018 revealing the secrets of the past for Jess. Readers are also treated to fascinating descriptions of Sydney and Adelaide Hills and fully realized characters in addition to the family. A fascinating storyteller at her best.

Kate Morton always captivates readers, but this time you will travel to Australia. A horrible Christmas eve murder in 1959 of a mother and her children, a missing baby, and no suspects. It remains unsolved for years.
London-years later, Jess gets a call to return to Sydney where her grandmother who raised her is in the hospital. Jess begins to uncover so many unanswered questions, she struggles with connecting with her mom who allow Nora, her grandmother, to raise her. Travel back and forth in time to see how secrets hidden play out in lives through the years. Kate Morton draws you in, holds you close, pulls on your heart, and leaves you with characters who become friends!

Kate Morton is one of the few authors whose books I anticipate reading without even having to know the details of the story. Her books invariably contain well-developed characters, a twisty plot, and family secrets--and Homecoming is no exception. Set in Australia, this latest novel examines the mysterious circumstances and lasting effects of a family tragedy on Christmas Eve in 1959. In the present day, a woman must delve into her own past to uncover the secrets that impacted her life in ways she doesn't yet understand.

Kate Morton is back with another beautifully written story that takes the reader on a multigenerational journey. Told over 2 timelines, Homecoming tells the story of a horrific crime on Christmas Eve 1959 in Australia. Years later, Jess returns to her home in Sydney to research this unsolved mystery and learns of her own family’s connection.

Part mystery, part family drama this story references other true crime events that occurred in Australia. The characters are richly layered and the town comes to life with her rich descriptions.

One of my favorites in 2023. I will be highly recommending this one. Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is probably one of the best Historical Fictions works thus far, another absolute home run from Morton

As per usual, Kate Morton has done it again—successfully transporting the reader between two different times to understand the mystery of a place. Jess tries to unravel her grandmother’s death bed pleas in order to solve a centuries old family secret. Always love stories set in Australia. Highly recommended.

My first 4.5/5 star book of 2023! Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for providing an advanced copy.

Homecoming is part multigenerational drama, part murder mystery. The narrative alternates primarily between 1959 and 2018's Australia. There's also a story-within-a story element via excerpts from an In Cold Blood-esque non-fiction novel based on the murder. Though quite lengthy, I was fully invested from the beginning. Kate Morton does a beautiful job making the little midcentury town of Tambilla and its residents come to life. I came to love the characters and found even the ones that made perplexing decisions to be sympathetic.

The mystery is richly layered. You'll probably figure part of it out fairly quickly, but I had no idea about the who/what/why/how of it all until the end. The book also mentions other murders that took place in Australia in the 1950s/1960s. Out of curiosity I googled them and found that they actually happened - so that sent me down an Australian true-crime rabbit hole.

This is the first Kate Morton book that I've finished (I've tried reading the Clockmaker's Daughter a couple times but couldn't get into it) but now I'm excited to start reading through her backlist!

This is the first book by Kate Morton that I've read, so I wasn't familiar with her style. The synopsis sounded intriguing so I requested an ARC (thanks @netgalley!). The book focuses on Jess, Polly and Nora, and a tragedy that happened in their family in 1959. Present day timeline is 2018.

I really enjoyed the characters of Jess and Nora and to a lesser extent Polly as she was not as fleshed out as the other two. I felt like I really got to know them and understand what made them tick.

I also loved the descriptions of place and time. I really saw Tambilla and South Australia in my mind.

The mystery aspect of the book was the best part for me. I thought it was a great mystery with enough complication that I didn't see it all coming. I figured out one major part of the mystery right off the bat, but the smaller parts and piecing it all together had me guessing to the end.

That said, this book is too long. There is way too much exposition and unnecessary detail in many parts. Once I got about halfway I just started skimming and skipping pages at a time until she brought the main story back. I felt that the parts that were the book within a book could have been done differently. There was so much information in those parts and then some of it was repeated again in a different character's voice.

I think if you're a fan of Kate Morton, you may love this book. If you're not, personally I'd skip this.