Homeplace

Book Description

After twenty-one years Micah (Mike) Winship is making the big move--she's going home for a visit. She hasn't been back since 1963, when her father threw her out, but now he is dying and asking for her. And although she is armed with her succesful journalism career and the strength found after her divorce, she is nearing forty and her sophisticated urban lifestyle is falling apart.

Heading home, Mike is unprepared for a past that has lain in wait for her--one that includes an old love, a spoiled sister, and a plot to seize her family's land. And in trying to understand her long-forgotten self, she learns at last those lessons best learned early about love and loss, family and forgiveness, and the undeniable need for a place called home.

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Homeplace is the story of Ana, a stranger on a lonesome Iowa farm, a young woman struggling to raise her late stepdaughter's child in a farmhouse filled with danger. There is Esther, the child's crazed aunt, and dark secrets and memories lurking in every corner. And there is Owen, the child's father, the master of the house--and the man awakening new passions in Ana . . . as well as a daring new dream.

Customer Reviews:

YOU SHOULDN'T MISS THIS ONE.......2007-08-05

Are Editorial Reviews written by people who get paid by the word? I find the summary on this book to be so overblown it's hard to understand just what the book is about.......And I've Read It! But I won't go into the plot yet again. I think you can get a general idea of what the story is about by simply reading the back of a softbound book or the jacket of a hardcover.

You should know that Siddons writes for women. Men could never understand the emotions involved in her stories but women will find a piece of themself in each and every one of them. She writes stories that keep you reading simply because they are written well. I wouldn't recommend them for someone who wants a book to read in bits and pieces, here and there. By reading it in huge clumps you become drawn into the world she created for her characters and in the end, you'll crave more.

This book sits on my home library shelves and will remain there, to be read over and over, for as long as I am able to read. You won't be disappointed if you enjoy a book that makes you feel emotion and a connection with the creative characters the author writes about.

Sit down in that favorite chair of yours, tell everyone to leave you alone and get ready to meet the characters in HOMEPLACE.

Moving story on home and family.......2006-06-16

I could have sworn that I've read all of Siddons' books but when I picked this one up at a garage sale recently, it didn't ring a bell with me at all. Normally, I could pick up a book, start reading it and then after awhile, I'll start to remember the characters and the plot line ... but not this time. It's like falling in love with Anne Rivers Siddons' books all over again. This one is definitely right up there with "Outer Banks" and "The Colony" ~~ my two all-time favorite books.

This one is about Micah Winship Singer also known as Mike. She was born and her birth killed her mother, her father's one and only true love. She grows up in a house filled with silence and anger and mothered by her oldest sister, Dee Dee. After an angry confrontation with her father, Mike packs up and runs away from home. She manages to stay away for 22 years till her sister calls begging her to come home and help with their father, who is dying.

In the background lays a piece of land that has been in the Winship's family for years and her father, John, is devoted to it and its history. Now a developer threatens to overtake the land and tear down the house to build a road through it. Against her will, Mike became involved with the protesting against it ~~ and along the way, she discovers what love and family really is.

Reading this book did hit a little too close to home since my family is undergoing some of the same issues that surrounds a family when someone dies. There is the ancient history between Mike and her father, between Mike and her sister, between Mike and her first true love, Bay, who is the town's successful realtor and there is new history between Sam, her father's attorney and herself. This is a fascinating and wonderful reading! Mike ends up rediscovering what really did matter after all.

It is a really good summer reading ~~ and one that I would definitely recommend for a lazy day. It is not like Siddons' later books ~~ this one still packs a punch to the gut and pulls at the heartstrings.

6-15-06

She spoils me..........2006-05-12

AR Siddons' books spoil me. When I finish one, I'm always disappointed in the next several fiction books I read unless they're hers. I've recently begun reading them a second time. I've just re-read Homeplace and enjoyed it more this time than I did the first.

Spellbinding Rivers Siddons.......2005-12-08

I have never read an author in her entirety who has continually amazed and enthraulled me with her skill as a story teller and a weaver of layered stories that unfold with one revelation after another. Anne Rivers Siddons writes in such a way that you feel, sweat, breath, smell, and live her stories right along with the characters...you become another character in the story almost. Her descriptions of the south are sensual, tactile, compelling, and ultimately, full of love for such a mysterious, and sometimes dark place. She truly understands and is able to paint portaites of people that we all know, in scenarios that we haven't thought of before perhaps...but in a way that you just can't walk away from these people. She's one of the most lyrical, and compelling authors of our time. More than a few of her books should be on the "modern classics" lists everywhere. If you are just discovering her...you are in for an absolutaly amazing ride. Enjoy!

Deeply Moving Story of Forgiveness.......2003-08-26

Micah "Mike" Winship was going home to a place she'd fled in 1963 when her father had thrown her out. It's twenty years later, she's become an award-winning journalist, and has not spoken to her father in all that time. A plea from her sister, Dee Dee asking her to return and help with their father who was dying from prostate cancer and wanted to see her came at a point in Mike's life where she virtually had no other place to go. Mike's world was collapsing around her and she needed a place to go - to re-group, and pull herself together, even if it meant facing the man whose love and acceptance she had tried to gain during her awful childhood. What Mike finally discovers, after more betrayals, is the heart, soul and essence of the man she called `daddy' and a real place called `home'.

This was my first book by this author whose eloquence with the written word is so outstanding that she slips under the skin of the extremely well sketched characters and lets you breathe their air, and pump their blood. You will laugh, cry, and feel each emotion as the author sketches the life of a memorable journey taken by the youngest daughter of coming home again. Totally thought provoking and believable. This is an outstanding classic novel that I see why it has been resurrected and reissued for a new generation of readers to embrace!

Average customer rating:

I loved it so much, I cannot wait to start the nex book in the series.

One of his best!

good book!

Long, tedious, and often predictable

The Homeplace (Singing River Series #1)
Gilbert Morris
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0310252326

Book Description

As the year 1928 begins, fourteen-year-old Lanie Belle Freeman of Fairhope, Arkansas, has bright hopes for the future. Her father has launched a new business, and her mother is expecting her fifth baby. Lanie has dreams of going to college and being a writer. Then tragedy strikes. Book One in the Singing River Series.

Customer Reviews:

I loved it so much, I cannot wait to start the nex book in the series........2007-07-19

The book is very inspiring and shows the strength of a very young woman during the Great Depression to hold her family together. She overcomes the odds many times and always gives God the credit for bringing her family through.
Very well written.

One of his best!.......2006-11-28

I like Gilbert Morris' books, but he is usually pretty predictable and therefore not my favorite author. This book was really interesting, the plot not so predictable, and generally gave me that "warm, fuzzy feeling". My friend felt the same way and was the one who recommended that I read this book. I enjoyed the fact that the first book in this series did not finish Lanie's story and move on to the next person with the next book. That gets a little old and less believable since real life doesn't move that fast. So basically, I can't WAIT to read the next book in this series! I would say that this is one of his best books. I loved it!

good book!.......2006-08-11

Very good--- I've read a lot of Gilbert Morris books and this one wasn't so predictable. It had some depth and leaves you with a nice ending that makes you want to read the next one. After reading several other christian novelists i'd have to say Morris is the best.

Long, tedious, and often predictable.......2005-12-30

Gilbert Morris's The Homeplace takes place over several years in the lives of the Freeman family and focuses particularly on Lanie Freeman, the eldest child. The Freemans go through a series of crises: their mother dies, their father is arrested for a fight he didn't start, and a bitter businessman continually tries to take their property.

The novel is divided into 32 chapters and five parts, titled "The Venture," "The Accident," "The Miracle," "The Revenge," and "The Woman." Unfortunately, not one of these sections is actually as interesting as the names imply it will be. Despite being set at the start of the Great Depression rather than the height of the pioneer days, Morris's historical fiction reads like watered-down Laura Ingalls Wilder, complete with general store, sibling rivalry, and a grizzled-but-loving Pa.

Morris' greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. His version of Fairhope, Arkansas is a place where things are simple, everyone knows everyone else's name, and practically everybody goes to church. It makes for a nice place to visit briefly, but it's too much of a cliché to want to stay for 327 pages, much less an entire series of books. There are also too many characters running across those pages, of which the heroine is certainly one of the least interesting. Also, giving characters names like Mr. Sixkiller, places names like The Dew Drop Inn, and forming phrases like "the snowy white blanket of snow" is unforgivable. Cliché on top of cliché?

The high points of this book take the form of poems written by Lanie. Unfortunately, while the author excels in this poetry, he often suffers in prose. Whereas Gilbert Morris offers a few good stories about prayer, faith, and miracles, the overall journey is long, tedious, and often predictable. There's a slim chance fans of the genre may enjoy The Homeplace, but general readers won't endure its slow pace and pedantic writing. -- Sean M. Cogan, Christian Book Previews.com

Average customer rating:

An enjoyable read with a gentle love story
One of the best!
Historical romance set in Iowa, late 1800's
Historical romance set in Iowa, late 1800's
Very good!

Homeplace
Dorothy Garlock
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0446359882

Customer Reviews:

An enjoyable read with a gentle love story.......2006-03-11

This is the first book that I have read by Dorothy Garlock and I very much enjoyed it. I had picked it not realising that it was sent in Frontier America - a time and place that don't hold any particular interest for me. However, from the first page I was hooked on the story.

Ana, a widow, receives a letter from her stepdaughter (just 11 years younger than her, at 16) who ran away to marry the man who had got her pregnant. She summons Ana to attend the birth and thus Ana is thrust into a strange family with all their secrets and problems.

Harriet dies in childbirth and Ana promises her at the end that she will bring up the baby, Harry. This binds her to Harriet's husband's family as the baby's father and Harriet's husband, Owen Jamison, won't allow her to leave. His sister, Esther, has treated Harriet abysmally and treats Ana similarly. The story unfolds as we learn about the history of Esther, Owen and their absent brother Paul and the way in which it has bound them together but also caused them huge pain. The writing is excellent, with great period detail about living and working in America of the nineteenth century.

There is a gentle love story which is a joy to read, and as the events unfold and we learn that things aren't necessarily as they seem, the resolution is very satisfying.

I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to others.

One of the best!.......2002-09-06

This is the first Garlock book I read and it made me feel like I was actually there. It was one of the most beautiful love stories I had read and Dorothy made me see the west as it was at that time. I could almost taste the foods that were prepared and could see how difficult it was for women of the early west to survive. I own every book that was written by Dorothy Garlock.....she is the best!

Historical romance set in Iowa, late 1800's.......2002-05-16

As far as I'm concerned, this book should probably receive three stars, instead of the four - but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. But that is only cause I love Dorothy Garlock's stories, and felt this one did not measure up to her usual quality. Nevertheless, this is a very good story, with a very unusual storyline that touches on some horrible family secrets, and how a stranger thrust into the middle of them copes as the secrets unravel. Without giving anything away, I'll stop here.

What surprised me was this is the story that people refer to as their favorite, when they speak of Dorothy Garlock books to me - and for the life of me, I can't understand why. Though this review sounds quite negative, don't let it influence your decision too much... as it is a very, very good book... just not Ms. Garlock's best, in my opinion. So, read it... and then tell me what you think of it!

Historical romance set in Iowa, late 1800's.......2002-05-16

Very good!.......2001-04-27

Dorothy Garlock has written another wonderful book. This one looks at the family dynamics on a small farm in Missouri and the joy one woman brings into an abused family.

Customer Reviews:

Homeplace for the heart.......2001-10-25

I stumbled across this book in one of the Smithsonian gift shops and had to have it. The warmth of the pencil and watercolor illustrations is captivating. When I read it with my daughter, it always brings up questions about my grandparents and others in our family she never got to know. This book is a wonderful gift for a new parent or grandparent.

A delightful trip down memory lane........1999-04-17

I work in an elementary school library and I came across Homeplace. This is a delightful book for children from 3 to 93. The story it tells brings back memories of simpler times. And the illustrations are superb. There is so much detail on every page everyone is bound to recognize an heirloom or tradition from their own past in them. I have recommended it to many children to take home and have their parents read it to them. I am 40 and I bought this book for myself.

A great story for bedtime reading!.......1998-11-12

My 5 yr. old brought the book home from her school library. I loved it so much and she enjoyed the pictures that we decided to purchase it. It's an excellent "sharing" book, I used it to talk with my daughter about the importance of what our ancestors did for us.

Average customer rating:

Plotless
A heartwarming romance....
Formulaic Writing
Felt like two separate books.....neither good
Sweet and Soothing

Homeplace
JoAnn Ross
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1416523529

Book Description

Contemporary and compelling, the novels of JoAnn Ross draw their power from the laughter and tears that fill women's lives. Now, after her triumphant bestseller A Woman's Heart, she makes a dazzling Pocket Books debut with a richly emotional tale of a woman struggling with her unconventional family...and a deep longing for a love of her own.

Fighting legal battles eighty hours a week has left Raine Cantrell burned out and empty. Although she once dreamed that success might make the father who walked away without a backward glance take notice, the high-powered big-city lawyer now finds herself feeling very alone. Then she gets an urgent call from three kids in trouble in her Washington state hometown, and suddenly Raine is returning to face unresolved feelings, unhealed wounds -- and an unexpected desire.

Sheriff Jack O'Halloran, a man with a tragedy in his past and a six-year-old daughter to raise alone, has three teens barricaded inside a house and the media clamoring for a story. He isn't ready for Raine to invade his territory -- or his thoughts. And Raine isn't ready for anyone to touch her heart.

Unable to deny their attraction to each other, their solution is adult, reasonable -- and totally foolish. They decide to have a simple affair. But they are about to discover that love is rarely simple -- and that lives can change forever in a single heartbeat.

A tender and deeply affecting tale, Homeplace will linger in your heart long after the last page is turned.

Customer Reviews:

Plotless.......2003-04-25

This book was rather boring in comparison to many of the other writers you can find in this genre. The writing was good though, and by that I mean the characters were fairly well-rounded and weren't just talking in cliches and mindless Harlequin-type sentences. The biggest problem, in my opinion, was that this book lacked a plot; I suppose the 'plot' is about Raine coming home to stay, but that wasn't well developed. In fact, the book didn't really get off the ground at all. The writing was ok though, and I'm still planning to try another Ross book - perhaps one that is more recent to see if she has improved.

A heartwarming romance...........2003-02-20

Raine Cantrell is a big shot lawyer in Manhattan who has clawed her way to the top hoping to make partner at one of the most prestigous law firms in the city. After winning a big case, she sees herself on the fast track to partner. Until she gets a call from her hometown of Coldwater Cove, Washington.

Sherriff Jack O'Halloran knew exactly what to expect after talking to Raine on the phone regarding the three juveniles that had barricaded themselves in her grandmothers house. He expected a pushy, uptight, stressed out lawyer, which is exactly what he got. And then some. What he didn't expect was the attraction that sizzled between him and Raine.

They were adults, so surely they could indulge in a brief affair, with no strings attached. What they didn't count on was Jack's four year old daughter, Raine's pagan mother and her pushy grandmother. Nor did they expect the plight of three teenage girls to bring them together.

Homeplace is a wonderful story of finding out who you are. It shows you that no matter how far you run, your family will always be waiting for you to come home.

Formulaic Writing.......2003-02-18

This reads like the author used one of those software programs designed for writing romance books. Bland and boring are both descriptives I would use. If you like this genre, try Nora Roberts. Roberts is much better and gives her reader more than just a benign read.

Felt like two separate books.....neither good.......2002-01-24

The first 2/3 of HOMEPLACE is a story about a woman, Raine Cantrell, going back to the town she grew up in to help her grandmother. While she's there, some old issues with her mother are brought up. The last 1/3 of the novel is a romance between Raine and the sheriff, Jack O'Halloran. Maybe if either of these two stories were done well, it wouldn't have been such a problem, unfortunately, neither was.

In the family drama portion of the book, Raines family is comically self-centered. Some issues are brought up including the anger Raine feels toward her mother for never being there for her when she was growing up and not providing a stable home. This was resolved by Raine being told she's too judgmental, that is who her mother is. I just don't think that a lifetimes worth of anger is going to be resolved quite that simply.

The romance aspect of the book was even worse and more superficial than the family drama aspect. First off, all of her family members have undergone complete character changes and are now wonderfully supportive. The romance itself was, frankly, boring. I kept finding myself looking at the page number to see how much longer the book was. If I was smart I would have just stopped reading the first time I caught myself doing that.

I can't finish this review without including one thing that drove me nuts throughout the entire book. The story takes place in Washington State, and yet New York City is continually referred to as "the city." I know this is a petty complaint, but I really don't think people in Washington think of New York when someone says "the city."

Sweet and Soothing.......2001-09-28

Given the present state of the world, it is very calming to curl up with a good, old-fashioned fairy-tale, and that's what "Homeplace" is.

JoAnn Ross has created a well-written, pleasant story of a hard-driving New York attorney, Raine Cantrell, who comes back home to her roots in more ways than one as she flies back to the Pacific Northwest to see to some family problems. Almost immediately, she encounters the town's sheriff, Jack O'Halloran, who she views as a small-town cliche. Raine's problem is that she is so self-protective, she views almost everyone as a cliche, rather than opening her heart enough to see their humanity.

Thus, we meet Raine's flightly wiccan mother, Lilith, who does things like conducting a pagan ceremony in the nude (to Raine's horror); grandmother Ida, a feisty physician who refuses to get old; three troubled teenaged girls, one of whom is pregnant; all from Raine's initial rigid point of view.

The gradual melting of that rigidity, combined with the inevitable (and very sexy) romance between Raine and Jack, makes for a satisfying, heartwarming read. I recommend it to anyone who needs to take a break from stress, and wants to read a truly nice love story.

Customer Reviews:

magnificent and universal.......2001-03-12

A primer on the very best of America. Touching and trenchant, McCaig's tales of rural life offer a richer, deeper glimpse of the American spirit than the dross produced by Hollywood. City dwellers everywhere should read this book to refresh the soul.

An Entertaining and Thought Provoking Collection.......2000-05-31

The word "essay" envokes thoughts of the dry historical documents that were required reading in school. That is not what Donald McCaig has written here. This book is an interesting collection of true short stories. The first chapter follows the history of the Virginia farm that McCaig and his wife purchased in 1971 and the beginning of their life there. The subsequent chapters describe the rural lifestyle of the McCaigs and their neighbors. There are stories of pleasure and of pain; stories of the hard labor and the simple rewards of farming. There are stories of humans and of animals. The chapter "The Best Four Days in Highland County", a narrative of a Virginia county fair, is the essence of the book, combining all of the elements that make the book, and the lifestyle, so appealing. Because each chapter can stand on its own, the reader can read or re-read each of them individually, and these are tales that deserve to be re-read and savored.

The Homeplace (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

Average customer rating:

A beautiful tale

The Homeplace (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)
Janet Dailey
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0783886861

Download Description

Every novel in this collection is your passport to a romantic tour of the United States through time-honored favorites by America¿s First Lady of romance fiction. Each of the fifty novels is set in a different state, researched by Janet and her husband, Bill. For the Daileys it was an odyssey of discovery. For you, it¿s the journey of a lifetime. Your tour of desire begins with this story set in Iowa.

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful tale.......2000-07-27

The homeplace is a book that simply takes you into another world, a world of love for the land and love between the two main characters - Cathie, a schoolteacher, who's family owned the farm once, and Rob, the city newcomer who bought the farm. It's so easy to sympathize with Cathie's feelings about the rude city slicker who came into her life and turned them upside down with his laughing remarks about her upcoming marriage, and with his fiery kisses. On the other hand it's also easy to sympathize with Rob, who only recently got reunited with the son he hasn't seen since Tad was 1 year old, and moved into the farm in order to try and give his son a chance for a real life. The homeplace is a story based on reality. At the end of the book Dailey tells of her experience as a child living in a farm owned by her great-grandmother. She managed to put all the love she felt for the land into Cathie's words and thoughts. It is a book that's easy to love. It makes you feel for the characters, and participate in what thet're going through.

Average customer rating:

The Homeplace (HC/DJ)

Manufacturer: Zondervan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739456660

Average customer rating:

Homeplace/Far Harbor
JoAnn Ross
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1416517154

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