The Home Place

Sometimes it seems that a lot of writers use real stories behind the premise of their latest novel, but in this case, it happened after the novel was written. I had just begun the debut novel The Home Place by Carrie La Seur which opens on the death of Vicky Terrebonne, a young woman who wandered around town drunk one night on a cold winters night in Montana. Surprisingly, the very same thing happened in the news recently when a young 20-year-old woman was found dead after a night drinking and searching for her car keys in Provo, Utah. Interesting how things happen that way. I kept wondering why the two sounded so familiar til I picked the novel back up again and continued reading.

For Alma Terrebonne, death is the only reason to bring her back to her families home in Montana. It seems that all the other family members have found themselves on tired of late night phone calls from Vicky and then later her younger daughter Brittany. It's a sad tale of simply calling wolf too many times in a contemporary fiction. It seems that everyone in the family has had to deal with coming to Vicky's rescue, after a night of one too many drinks and late night parties with unsuitable friends. Sadly in this case, it turned out to be the one thing that would haunt them long after the death had occurred with each of them wondering how circumstances might have been different if they simply answered the call.

While it seems that Vicky's death may in fact have been accidental, Alma isn't so sure. Even after the history that Vicky has had, she still seems to believe there is more to the story than simply accepting she slipped and fell on the ice, being drunk, she succumbed to the elements and the rest they say is simply history. So when Alma heads home to do some investigating of her own, she isn't ready to tie everything up with a pretty bow and accepting things as they are. She learns that Vicky has been questioning the selling off the "home place," the family homestead of sorts due to being hassled by a coal mining company of possible mineral rights to the land the property sits on. Sounds perfect for a struggling, drug and alcohol addicted, out of work, mother who desperately needs a way to provide for her daughter. Is it possible there is a connection between the two and that Vicky's death was no accident?

I received The Home Place by Carrie La Seur compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed are simply my own. To the reader, a word of caution, this book is definitely not for the majority of my blogging readers. It does contain profanity and questionable content, dealing with addictions and the consequences to those actions. For those that love a great murder mystery that doesn't resolve the clues early in the novel so you can follow along nicely, then you will love this one. It truly shows that some sides of life aren't the ones we'd like to look at all the times, and often will look the other way when it does, hoping it will simply fade away. This is simply about how one families secrets will be discovered and the resolution doesn't always turn out the way you want it to. For me this novel was a 3 out of 5 stars simply due to the writing style that seemed to keep me from becoming invested in the outcome of the characters and was a bit slow for me. I actually liked the way the acknowledgments was written better than the novel. While this one didn't really work for me, I am confident others may find it more enjoyable.

For more information about The Home Place, Carrie La Seur or where you can preorder of a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Home Place by Carrie La Seur

You can also find Carrie La Seur on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Home Place, please visit William Morrow's website.