Homecoming

When Jess returns to Australia after almost twenty years in London she is determined to discover the true stories of past events that have never been revealed to her. Her grandmother, Nora, has had a fall and is seriously ill in hospital. Jess tried to communicate with her grandmother in the hospital but the only words offered at the end of one visit was Issy, help me ...he's going to take her from me. What did this mean? Jess was determined to discover the truth.

Nora had been Jess's prime carer when Polly, her mother had relocated to Queensland so the relationship between Jess and her mother had been strained for many years. When Jess discovered that there was a mystery about events that had occurred at a large house owned by Nora's brother in the Adelaide Hills in 1959 she decides to find out the true story as she suspects that this may be the cause of strained relationships in the family.

 Homecoming by Kate Morton is set in Tambilla in the Adelaide Hills in December 1959 and in London and Sydney in December 2018. Much of the plot is also revealed via a book written about the tragic events that occurred on Christmas Eve at Halcyon, Tambilla. Pages torn from a diary and a letter help Jess to unravel what happened at that time. Gradually Jess and Polly learn the true family story.  

This is not a book to read in a hurry but one to read when there is time to spend becoming immersed in the journey leading to Jess's gradual understanding of the truth about her family.