The Homecoming

Emma Powell's evocative narration creates drama and suspense in this touching story about a young woman who is uncovering a repressed trauma. When her honorary godfather and friend, Patrick, is hospitalized, Maddy returns to Havenbury to take care of him. She also must run the pub Patrick owns, where she lived and worked three years earlier. Although the voices of the characters aren't always distinguishable from one another, Powell delivers an assortment of English accents and captures the plot's shifting moods effectively. As she conveys the mystery behind Maddy's anxiety attacks, Powell's dramatic tone maintains the suspense. In other scenes, her pacing brings out the awkwardness between Maddy and her love interest, Ben. A sweet story that is mostly engaging. M.F. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

April 2, 2018
Anglophiles will enjoy Howard’s well-rounded contemporary, the first in her Havenbury series. Maddy returns to the English market town of Havenbury Magna—three years after fleeing college with an undiagnosed case of PTSD, a metal plate in her ankle, and no clear memory of the traumatic incident—after Patrick, her honorary godfather and the local publican, suffers a heart attack. She assumes management of the pub, but complications ensue when she reinjures her leg. Her mother, Helen, arrives to help Patrick convalesce, despite their difficult, unexplained history. Meanwhile, Maddy develops a mutual attraction with Patrick’s 32-year-old friend Ben, a psychologist and college lecturer. Ben specializes in PTSD and pulls back from their burgeoning relationship for ethical reasons after recognizing the magnitude of her symptoms; other obstacles follow. Howard (Never Marry a Politician, written as Sarah Waights) introduces a substantial cast of characters with ease and successfully juggles the various narrative threads: the pub’s future, Maddy’s mental health and business prospects, Helen’s secrets, and how it all affects a romantic partnership with Ben. This successful entry bodes well for the series.