Almost Home by Valerie Fraser Luesse is a historical piece taking place in the mid-1940s.   Many people have had to leave their farms to work in factories. Dolly Chandler has opened up her home to an assortment of interesting characters that grow as close as family.

The story was not especially engaging at first, but very quickly thereafter Dolly’s husband responds to someone in a way that immediately made things interesting.  All of the main characters of the book have stories that really pull on readers emotionally.  The author does a nice job of helping people to see how people might have been feeling in these situations.

There are some novels where readers don’t really care about the characters and what happens to them so long as the plot is resolved.  This book is quite different.  Reading the various experiences really helps readers to feel as though they know and love the characters.  This is the type of story where you hope everyone gets a happy ending, but you don’t really know if they will.  The author does resolve all major plot points so don’t worry.  Enjoy your time in the Deep South.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Revell

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None 

Violence/Gore:  Man shoots a chair out from under a person; a person mentions rumors that a person killed people; report of a men being shredded in battle; man mentions having to kill enemies during a war; report of suicide and a person’s siblings being killed during a war flashback; a person is bitten by a snake and an incision is made to get the venom out, blood is mentioned; body found in lake and suicide is mentioned; a person sets fire to another’s property, but no one is injured. 

Sex/Nudity:  Person wants to know about what happens on the wedding night, but nothing is really said; it is implied that a married couple had sex, but no description; married and non-married couples kiss and embrace.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of spouse, war, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Men reportedly enjoying homemade spirits.