Homecoming
A Novel
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- € 5,49
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With unerring insight and emotional power, Belva Plain, in her extraordinary novel, tells the story of a family divided and of the proud matriarch who takes a bold last stand to unite her warring children in what may be their last Homecoming.
It is a crisp December day when Annette Byrne walks to the end of her long, curving driveway and drops five sealed envelopes into the mailbox, quickly, before second thoughts stay her hand. Shortly thereafter, with the holidays approaching, her estranged family will be gathered at her country estate for the first time in years.
The sons. . . two brothers embittered by a breach of ethics, honor, and trust. The grandchildren. . . one young couple on the verge of divorce; another, lovingly united against the parents who have tarnished their lives. As the ill-fated meeting hurtles toward a bitter and abrupt conclusion, not even Annette Byrne's indomitable will can heal the rift--until a shattering event alters the landscape forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When the matriarch of the Byrne clan individually summons each member of her family to her country home, the estranged invitees have no idea that they will attend a reunion of sorts. Plain's 15th novel, which reads more like an outline than one of the lavish family sagas we've come to expect from her, zips along swiftly with scant character development. Indeed, readers may wonder why Annette Byrne bothers to gather this array of stereotypes: elder son Lewis and his wife, rich WASPs with "no sense of family"; their daughter Cynthia, who wallows in self-pity because she no longer has the perfect life, man or career; and Annette's younger son, Gene, estranged from Lewis because of a family business disaster years earlier. In addition, Gene remains embittered by the nine-year marriage of his daughter Ellen to Mark Sachs, whose parents, Aaron and Brenda, are orthodox Jews (of course, Aaron is a doctor, a surgeon, no less, who quotes the Bible at inappropriate moments). Can long-raging feuds be overcome by one family gathering? The plot is plagued by two-dimensional characters, stilted dialogue ("Come, come, for heaven's sake, you're out of breath") and an abrupt, all-too-happy ending. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; author tour.
