Book Review of Back to the Homeplace by Maggie C

 See full review at Tethered Mommy

Back to the Homeplace by William Leverne Smith is the first book in The Homeplace Series.  This novel is about an older couple’s unusual will that asks all of their children to return to the “homeplace” for two years in order to inherit anything.  Some family members are happy to return, others are reluctant, but all do return and make the commitment to live there for two years.

At first, I was confused about the different characters.  Thankfully, Smith did put in a list of the characters so I could figure out who was who.  Eventually I got down who was included  in each immediate family.

Since this story is set in the 1980s, Smith tells us the news of each day so we can remember what was going at this time.   I really enjoyed this aspect as I was still very young in the 80s and some stories that I found interesting now were things I didn’t know about then.

Ultimately, I feel this book is about family and how each generation has different hurdles to overcome.  For example, the hurdle for the younger generation of this family is AIDS.  This book reminds us of the “death sentence” that AIDS was when we were just learning what it was and how it impacted us.

I enjoyed this book.  I know that Smith has more planned in the series and I do looking forward to finding out more about the family and seeing what happens to them throughout the two years at the Homeplace.

"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill ;-)