Summer vacation on Great Rock Island was supposed to be a restorative time for Kate, who’d lost her close friend Elizabeth in a sudden accident. But when she inherits a trunk of Elizabeth’s journals, they reveal a woman far different than the cheerful wife and mother Kate thought she knew. 
   The complicated portrait of Elizabeth—her troubled upbringing, and her route to marriage and motherhood—makes Kate question not just their friendship, but her own deepest beliefs about loyalty and honesty at a period of uncertainty in her own marriage. 
   The more Kate reads, the more she learns the complicated truth of who Elizabeth really was, and rethinks her own choices as a wife, mother, and professional, and the legacy she herself would want to leave behind. When an unfamiliar man’s name appears in the pages, Kate realizes the extent of what she didn’t know about her friend, including where she was really going on the day she died. 
   Set in the anxious summer after the September 11th attacks, this story of two women—their friendship, their marriages, private ambitions and fears—considers the aspects of ourselves we show and those we conceal, and the repercussions of our choices.

Ope’s Opinion:  I struggled at the beginning of this book.  I kept reading and was just not getting connected to the characters.  I kept reading.  It did improve, but I never really felt strongly about the decisions Kate was trying to make.  

                                     The only thing that kept me reading was curiosity to see how it ended.
                                      If someone really likes journals or memoirs – they may like this book.  
                                      Read other reviews – some people really liked it.
                                      

Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.

Author:  Karen Kingsbury
Publisher:  Zondervan
Pages:  304
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source:  Purchased

Goodreads:  Coming Home is a novel about tremendous victory and unprecedented loss, a story of faith and a forever kind of love, love that will stay with you long after the last page. This stand-alone novel will serve as either a grand introduction or a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter Family. The Baxters make plans to come together for a summer lakeside reunion, a celebration like they haven’t had in years. But before the big day, the unthinkable happens. As the Baxter Family rallies together, memories come to light in the grief-stricken hours of waiting and praying, memories that bring healing and hope during a time when otherwise darkness might have the final word. In a season that changes all of them, the brilliance of family love overshadows even the valley of heartache as the Baxters draw closer to God and each other. Along the way, secrets are revealed and the truth about the Baxter Family history is finally made known. Ultimately, in this portrait of family love, the Baxters cling to each other and to God’s promise of forever.


Ope’s Opinion: I recently read Karen Kingsbury series about Bailey Flanigan and was disappointed.  This one has renewed my faith in Karen Kingsbury’s writing.  I really enjoyed this book.  Even though it is about the Baxter family, you do not have to have read her previous books.  This book is fast moving.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.