Coming Home [Mass Market Paperback]

Rosamunde Pilcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1996

Against the backdrop of an elegant Cornwall mansion before World War II and a vast continent-spanning canvas during the turbulent war years, this involving story tells of an extraordinary young woman's coming of age, coming to grips with love and sadness, and in every sense of the term, coming home...

In 1935, Judith Dunbar is left behind at a British boarding school when her mother and baby sister go off to join her father in Singapore. At Saint Ursula's, her friendship with Loveday Carey-Lewis sweeps her into the privileged, madcap world of the British aristocracy, teaching her about values, friendship, and wealth. But it will be the drama of war, as it wrenches Judith from those she cares about most, that will teach her about courage...and about love.

Teeming with marvelous, memorable characters in a novel that is a true masterpiece, Coming Home is a book to be savored, reread, and cherished forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set around the time of WW II, Pilcher's tale of youthful friendship and romance spent 16 weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Pilcher's novel is big, both in size and scope. Yet its charm is in its details. The book's heroine is Judith Dunbar, who is a schoolgirl of 13 when the tale begins in 1935. Sent to boarding school in Cornwall because her parents are posted to Singapore, Judith becomes friends with Loveday Carey-Lewis, who introduces her to a family and an estate, Nancherrow, that is to influence her for the rest of her life. Pilcher does a marvelous job of describing life in England before World War II. Readers, especially Anglophiles, will adore the care Pilcher gives to setting her scenes, decorating them with everything from Cornish wildflowers to china dogs to particular tartan plaids. The same care is evident later in the tale, as Pilcher chronicles the changes brought by the war to the fabric of British life. There is, of course, more to the novel than a carefully rendered historical backdrop. There is a story, too, and a quite involving one even if its outlines are familiar from other melodramas set against the dramatic events of history. As Judith makes her way to adulthood in the midst of great wealth, great tragedy, and, naturally, romance, Pilcher effectively balances the demands of plot with the pleasures of revisiting a different place and time. Fans of the author's previous books, such as September (1990), will know what they're getting into and willingly plunge in headfirst. A Literary Guild main selection and an 850,000 first printing indicate supreme confidence on the publisher's part. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 977 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; First Edition edition (August 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312958129
• ISBN-13: 978-0312958121
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly classic reading! March 11, 2005

By Busy Mom VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I couldn't decide what books to read when I have my surgery ~~ and I was browsing through my shelves when I saw this. I remember loving "Shell Seekers" and "September" ~~ so I thought, who can write better than Pilcher when you're groggy and tired? I took the book, read the first fifty pages and was hooked on it from the beginning ~~ Pilcher is a classic storyteller. And her descriptions of Cornwall is absolutely stunning. This book literally beckons you to sit and have a cup of tea, cozy up on the couch and with the radio playing softly in the background ~~ and this book will take you away.

This book focuses on Judith Dunbar over a period of years ~~ before the WWII started and shortly after it ended. She was fourteen when her mother and younger sister went back to Columbo to rejoin their father, before his move to Singapore. Judith was sent to live at a boarding school where she struck up a life-long friendship with Loveday Carey-Lewis, a genteel young girl who loved horses and her home at Nancherrow. Judith becomes immersed in the Carey-Lewis family as well as with her aunts and uncle ~~ and falling in love ... Their stories swept over the years with trimuphs, tragedies amidst the backdrop of the war ~~ love, sorrow and joy. Dreams discovered and shattered ~~ it is a story of a time that has never been lived since then. It is about Cornwall and WWII.

This is a beautifully written novel ~~ poetic and descriptive and lovely. It is also a romantic novel ~~ not a romance novel ~~ just incredibly romantic where it does gloss over the horrids of the war but realistic enough to pierce the heart over the terrors that some of the people had faced. It is also a lush novel ~~ full of thoughts and dreams and letters written in the old-fashioned way ~~ telling stories of lives bygone. It is just an incredible novel ~~ one that I am pleased to have in my possession. Pilcher is one of the few writers in my library that I collect ~~ her writing always beckon you home. This novel is just one of those that you just have to read to know what I am trying to say here.

3-11-05

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-Warming Read By Rosamunde Pilcher May 14, 2005

By Antoinette Klein TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Mass Market Paperback

If you are a fan of family sagas, love cozy and comforting reads, admire protagonists who endure hardship and survive, then you will love this monumental work by Rosamunde Pilcher.

Set in the days preceeding, during, and after World War II in Cornwall, London, and other other spots, the reader is introduced to Judith Dunbar at age 14. She is left at a girls' school in England while her mother and younger sister Jess go to join Judith's father in Singapore. The separation stretches on for years, and Judith grows through her teen years with the help of new-found friends, the affluent Carey-Lewises, but mostly survives due to her own indomitable spirit.

There is so much to say about a book that goes on for nearly 1,000 pages, but for me the plot was secondary to the endearing characters who populate this book. From Judith to her bestfriend, Loveday Carey-Lewis, the inspiriing Diana, the haunting Gus, the stable Jeremy and the host of minor characters who come to life, this is a riveting read that takes you through the trauma of war and its effects on ordinary people living their lives as best they can. The book is filled with many happy moments and perhaps even more heart-breaking ones, but always there is hope and strong survival skills working to make things right in the end.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Weekend Need-A-Book Reading March 17, 2000

By Sharon

Format:Mass Market Paperback

There are some books that I know so well, I can pick them up and just start anywhere, anytime, and be whisked away without moving a step. Coming Home is just that.

We meet Judith Dunbar, a 14 year old girl in 1935, as her mother and baby sister are preparing to leave her in an English boarding school and join her father in Singapore. For the next ten years, we follow Judith and her new-found family through love, death, and the outbreak of a war that will tear Judith's loyalties in two.

Rosamunde Pilcher's worlds, as always, are filled with people who you would love to meet and consider friends. The families she writes about -- even the disfunctional ones -- are families you wish you could be a part of, just so that when you finally finish the last chapter, you don't have to leave them forever. (Or, you can just start the book again ... )