Homecoming

Rating:
Summary: I found this book to be entertaining but not very realistic
Review: Although this book is very well written, I didn't find it to be very believable. It would be nice if things like this worked out in real life but, as a rule, they generally do not. However, I did enjoy reading this book and I will be reading more books by Belva Plain. We all can use alittle fantasy in our lives to relieve the stress and tentions of the day.

Rating:
Summary: Belva Plain, this time, misses the mark!
Review: I have been an admirer of Belva Plain for many years - her novels are like watching a Sunday television movie on a snowy afternoon. However, her latest effort, "Homecoming" is a disappointment. The story is stereotypical and trite: A well-to-do matriarch gathers her troubled family together at her country estate for a homecoming in hopes all will resolve their family difficulties which include a troubled marriage and a rivalry between 2 brothers. A tragedy occurs at the home which brings everyone closer together and, like magic, by the end all have resolved their differences. It is all very neat and clean and, quite frankly, a bit of a disappointment. "Homecoming" is a small novel, almost a short story - still, I wish the characters were more developed and that their lives contained more than the usual "baggage" we all are used to reading about. The book is easy to read and can be finished in a few hours and, yes, it is enjoyable to read. I just wish this book would have been more interesting and not so contrived. I will continue to read Belva Plain and will await her next work which, hopefully, will be a more in-depth novel for, as I said before, I like to nest on a Sunday afternoon and sink myself in a comforting and soothing story.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable mush
Review: I received this book in a compilation of four works in a book of the month type club. This is the ONLY reason I read this book. I mistook it for a short story initially. I've never read the author before, but this book is amateurish at best. Simplistic, short, disappointing. The concept may have been promising, had everything not turned out happily ever after. Way too many long-term, complex problems solved in a day to even be considered minutely believable.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I wish I had read the reviews before buying this at the book store. After reading the Evergreen saga from Evergreen to Harvest, this book was very disappointing.. It lacked the depth of plot and characters I was expecting after reading the others. The excerpt of Legacy of Silence at the end was better than the whole Homecoming book. Don't waste money on this one. Rent it from the library for a weekend read. I am waiting for my copy of Legacy of Silence to arrive. I'll let you know how it compares.

Rating:
Summary: Good book, but not good enough!
Review: I've read many of Plain's works, but I just found this one to be not well developed. Of course an incident always brings people together. That's just par for the course. This book read like one of Danielle Steels newer ones (The ones that have fallen in quality). You're better off reading another Plain book.

Rating:
Summary: Is this the same author?
Review: Is this the same author who wrote the literary gem "Evergreen"? If I hadn't seen Belva Plain's name on the cover flap, then I wouldn't have believed that such an established author could produce such a trite, unimaginative, immature piece. Dare I call it literature? Quality is so much more important than quantity and I would suggest that instead of producing the "annual-quota" of fiction, Ms. Plain hibernate with her thoughts so as to present a better story line. This was truly disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Is this the same author?
Review: Is this the same author who wrote the literary gem "Evergreen"? If I wouldn't have seen Belva Plain's name on the cover flap, then I wouldn't have believed that the such an established author could produce such a trite, unimaginative, immature piece. Dare I call it literature. Quality is so much more important than quantity and I would suggest that instead of producing the "annual-quota" of fiction, Ms. Plain hibernate with her thoughts so as to present a better storyline. This was truly disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Very simple reading...VERY Predictable
Review: It was a harmless story...very easy reading and very short. Save your money because you won't want to read it again...this is one to read with the library card.

Rating:
Summary: A bit shallow
Review: My Book Club read this book and we were generally disappointed. Although we liked that it was a good short read, we were not happy with the lack of depth in the story lines. The overall concept was good, but unbelievable in the way it was presented.

Rating:
Summary: A family story
Review: O.k., maybe a little predictable, but you still want to see if and how she pulls it off! An interesting story of a family having faced major, extremely life-altering situations along with petty indifferences and prejudices. Very moving at times and definitely a human story. A very good story of family dynamics.