Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Read advance reader review of The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield, page 4 of 5

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake

A Novel

by Jenny Wingfield
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Jul 12, 2011, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jul 2012, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews


Page 4 of 5
There are currently 33 member reviews
for The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
Order Reviews by:
  • Helen S. (Palm Desert, California)
    The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
    This book was a page turner and so difficult o put down when necessary. Jenny Wingfield did a marvelous job of "story telling" and kept my interest. The story was unusual. The payers in the story each had their own identity and purpose to the plot of the book. It was so easy to pick my favorite characters and stay with their intent in the plot. During some parts I found I held my breath and in other parts it was all "feel good" reading, I highly recommend this took to book clubs and personal reading.
  • Jean O. (DePere, WI)
    The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
    I read this book in record time - could not put it down! The characters left the pages and took residence in my head. The story is compelling. There is humor and fun, tragedy and sadness and all the things in between the make life interesting- - and all the interesting bits of life that make excellent novels. I hope that Jenny Wingfield keeps writing and we can look forward to more novels written by her.
  • Barbie R. (Jamestown, PA)
    A True Homecoming
    The author had my complete attention after the first sentence and she never lost it. I laughed, I cried, I even read lines out loud to friends. This is a story of a family. Quirky, sarcastic, sometimes dysfunctional, and always honest family. I stayed awake to finish this book in a day because I couldn't bear the thought of putting it down, and when I reached the end, I wished I could be at the Moses's. This is my favorite book I've read this year. Two thumbs up. Great book for christian book clubs or any book club at all!
  • Amber B. (East Sparta, OH)
    Best Novel I've Read in Years...
    A book you can fall in love with, The Homecoming of Samuel Lake was the best novel I've read in years. It had a similar feel to Leif Enger's Peace Like a River, which I would rank among my top five ever.
    You'll wince at some of the atrociously cruel scenes in this book, and laugh aloud at the funny ones. You'll fall under the spell of Swan Lake. (Yes, that's a poor kid's name. The meanings of all the unusual names will give you something to talk about in your book clubs.) You'll admire her mother & grandmother, be impressed by her father, sympathize with her uncle; you'll hate her aunt. But you'll DESPISE Ras Ballenger, as much as you've ever loathed any other book character in your life - he is unfathomably evil.
    The ending isn't exactly happy. But it rings true, clear and strong.
    Well done, Jenny Wingfield. Well done.
  • Regina F. (TOPEKA, KANSAS)
    Highly Recommend!
    I could hardly put this book down. Wonderful debut book by Jenny Wingfield. Wingfield does a good job of captivating the reader in this tale of good vs evil. This is an emotionally charged book, with several breathtaking moments, and one moment that left me sobbing for thirty minutes (the only time I put the book down). This is some of the best storytelling I've read in years and the book has the potential of becoming a great movie. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
  • Susan B. (Coventry, RI)
    The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
    I had mixed feelings about this book until I was about one third of the way through. I felt that it was too quiet for me. but then 'the plot thickens' and it picks up speed and races to the finish. I was breathless when I got to the end. I'm glad that I persevered!
  • Gayle M. (Billerica, MA)
    Enjoyable Summer Read
    Reminiscent of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', the book centers on the precocious daughter of the title character. The book starts out slowly, giving the reader time to get to know, and like, the members of the Moses and Lake families. But once the plot takes off, its hard to put the book down. Overall a good read with well developed characters, and a villain that you just love to hate.

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

I have lost all sense of home, having moved about so much. It means to me now only that place where the books are ...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.