Welcome to my Book Nostalgia feature where I'm allowing myself the luxury of going back in time with some of my favourite reads. Over the past 15 years of blogging I have been privileged to read some amazing books which have featured on my BOOKS OF THE YEAR list.
Sometimes it’s good to revisit these stories in order to remember those extra special books which have influenced my reading over the last 15 years..
Come with me and let's wallow in a book memory from 2011 when Jaffareadstoo first started blogging …
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| Harper Collins 2011 |
A bewitching debut novel in the vein of the much-loved classic Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. It's 1956 and Samuel Lake, a handsome preacher, is voted out of his ministry by yet another congregation, disappointed by his relentless pleas for them to live more charitable lives. Out of options and out of pocket, Samuel and his family are forced to move in with their Arkansas in-laws, the rambunctious Moses clan. At first they thrive in the unruly sea of relatives - Willa, Samuel's wife, runs the bar for Grandma Calla, while the boys, Noble and Bienville, run riot through the surrounding countryside. But when Swan, their formidable but loveable 11-year-old tomboy, crosses the path of neighbour Raz Ballenger, things take a turn for the worse. Raz Ballenger, horse trainer, is a man who rules both his family and his animals through terror. Used to instant obedience, he is insulted when Swan leaps to his son defence, an act that sets a whole chain of unexpected and terrible events into motion...
I recall reading this one, I think, for a magazine review and was totally immersed in the story. It was the author’s debut novel and was so accomplished I’m surprised that she has not written another novel. Known mostly in the USA for her screenwriting and filmography The Homecoming of Samuel Lake is one of those magical stories which will stand the test of time. Here’s what I thought about it in 2011…
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Homespun America in 1950’s is beautifully described in this accomplished debut novel which interweaves the lives of the Lake and Moses family. Samuel Lake is a preacher without a congregation and without any hope of a ministry of his own he is forced to return to his wife’s family farm in Arkansas with his eccentrically named offspring. Of his three children, it is eleven year old Swan Lake who is the formidable ringleader, who is tomboy enough to run wild through the rural landscape, and yet has a heart bigger than the Arkansas sky.
Reminiscent of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, this emotionally charged book reveals a story that is at times dark and dirty, and yet has a theme of faith, and family that transcends pure evil. There is an abundance of rich and varied characters who bring the story to life, from grandmother Calla who tends her flowers, and dispenses wholesome wisdom, through to the bravery of Uncle Toy who keeps the bar at ‘Never Closes’, and who loves the Lake children as he would his own.
I stayed up late and long in order to finish reading this story, it made me laugh, it made me cry and ultimately, it made me believe in the power of storytelling.
This is storytelling at its absolute best, and I would recommend this novel wholeheartedly, if I could give it more than five stars I would do so without hesitation.
Read it if you can.
