Coming Home [Hardcover]

David Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

Jessica Lehman, world-weary and despondent, takes an impulsive detour to visit her hometown and discovers more than she anticipated. A single purchase in a quaint gift shop becomes the catalyst for reviving long-buried memories of her tragic childhood, mixed with happier memories of her ?rst sweetheart, who had always promised to""rescue her from dragons.""Her childish hope for the fairy tale""happy ending""had been dashed years ago, and Jessie now ?nds herself at a crossroads, ?ghting her last battle alone. Can she renew her faith in a God who seemingly abandoned her? Is the deepest desire of her heart-to love and be loved-lost forever?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Lewis, an accomplished keyboard artist and piano teacher, was born in Minnesota and raised in the Midwest. He co-wrote the bestseller Sanctuary with his wife Beverly. They make their home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

Tormented by memories of her mother's death, her father's retreat into alcoholism, and her hatred of her grandmother, whom she blames for both, Jessica Lehman is determined to put the past behind her. Instead, she finds herself drawn back to her grandmother's home to face her suspicions about what really happened there. Andy, a childhood friend, becomes her ally in the search for truth that engages and changes them both. Narrator Aimee Lilly portrays Jessica's conflict in somber tones and handles gender changes with skill. When events escalate to the point of Jessica's sanity being questioned, Lilly portrays her terror with palpable realism. A surprising ending reveals complex characters and motives. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 341 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764226800
• ISBN-13: 978-0764226809
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,317,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Home at Last, March 24, 2005

By 

R. L. Hodges - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coming Home (Paperback)

This was a profound story that included so many issues from demenia, alcoholism, run-away teens, foster homes, deceit, death and unresolved issues that were intricately woven in the lives of Jessica, her grandmother and best friend, Andy. Jessie thought that running away would solve her problems. But it was only when she was ready to confront her past and all the pain, grief and heart break that consumed her life that she found answers. As she learns the truth about her mother, father and grandmother and can forgive is she able to receive and return the love of her childhood sweetheart. This story touched tender places of the heart with encouragement to resolve conflicts in life that can lead to freedom from fear and regret. This is one book that can't be put down until the mystery is solved about Jessie's mother and how Jessie will handle the life that has been dealt her.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Write some more, David!!, May 27, 2004

By 

michaeld (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Home (Paperback)

Pity David Lewis, who has been living in the shadow of his famous wife Beverly, author of numerous bestselling Christian novels involving the Amish. Whether David undertook this project in order to step out of his wife's shadow is unclear, but whatever his motives, it was well worth it. David has made a clean break from his wife's common themes- there is not a single mention of an Amish person in the story. Instead, it is set mostly in Colorado's Front Range, where the author makes his home. It focuses on the plight of a girl named Jessie, a recent college graduate who battles emotional and psychological scars from the death of her parents and the lack of a secure home. En route to a new job in Oregon, she plans to make a short detour to her childhood home in Colorado, but once there, discovers she must face the ghosts from her past that have constantly been haunting her. Along the way, she is also confronted with the issue of faith in a God she has long since abandoned, but can't seem to escape. Jessie's struggles are portrayed in a starkly realistic light, and the characters she comes across are all geniune and believable enough to attach the reader. The story manages to be very moving without getting sappy or overly sentimental. Here's hoping it's not the last by David Lewis.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, October 26, 2004

By 

Novel Reader "Melissa" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Home (Paperback)

Jessica Lehman doesn't want to remember her past, with all its heartache. She doesn't want to get help, as her latest boyfriend seems to think she needs. All she wants to do is flee to paradise--Oregon. The sea.

On her way there, she changes her mind. She decides to face the painful memories. She returns to her childhood home, thinking it will help her to get on with life.

Little by little, glimpses of the past come back to her, and it frightens her.

Then, she finds out her grandmother--Doris Crenshaw--bought her childhoom home. Angry, Jessie drives to her grandmother's house, ready for a fight. Her grandmother always wanted to own everything. First she stole Jessie's mother--now this. This was stealing a part of Jessie's childhood, leaving it uninhabited and cold. No cheerful family lives in the house, no lights illuminate the windows.

When Jessie arrives at her grandmother's house, her nerve leaves her. Her grandmother looks frailer than she remembers, but her manner is the same. Chatty and in charge.

Andy McCormick, childhood friend of Jessie's, shows up one day when she meets with her friend Mrs. Robinette, who works at the ice cream shop in her hometown. Andy and Jessie strike up a friendship again, talking of old days and new.

As their friendship is reestablished, they go back to Jessie's old house. Memories come back, and Jessie finds herself sharing some of them with Andy.

Andy has his own problems, and they intensify when he realizes his affection for Jessie is growing. Andy's parents think he is a Christian, as he once thought. Now, he knows he is not, for doubts of the Bible's authenticity plague him. Jessie herself is not a Christian, he finds. His parents would never understand why he would be interested in a non-Christian, and he also doesn't want to marry a non-Christian. Yet he can't marry a Christian while he is not one.

Can Jessie and Andy face their past--and their future?

With doses of humor, mystery, and sorrow, David Lewis has written a candid and poignant novel that I will not soon forget.