Home Before Dark [Hardcover]

Susan Wiggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

She left her child behind, but couldn't let her go

As an irresponsible young mother, Jessie Ryder knew she'd never be able to give her newborn the stable family that her older sister could, and the security her child deserved. So Luz and her husband adopted little Lila and told her Jessie was but a distant aunt.

Sixteen years later, having traveled the world with the winds of remorse at her back, Jessie is suspending her photojournalism career to return home--even if it means throwing her sister's world into turmoil.

Where life once seemed filled with boundless opportunity, Jessie is now on a journey to redeem her careless past, bringing with her a terrible burden. Jessie's arrival is destined to expose the secrets and lies that barely held her daughter's adoptive family together to begin with, yet the truth can do so much more than just hurt. It can bring you home to a new kind of honesty, shedding its light into the deepest corners of the heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jessie Ryder, the heroine of this latest novel from romance veteran Wiggs (Halfway to Heaven), returns to her Texas hometown after 16 years to visit Lila, the daughter she gave up for adoption to her older sister, Luz. Her eyesight is deteriorating rapidly from a rare disease, and soon she will no longer be able to continue her successful work as a photojournalist. She now wants to tell Lila the truth about her parentage, but Luz balks at the idea. Luz has chosen a starkly different lifestyle, making a home for her husband Ian, three boys and Lila, who's now a rebellious, out-of-control teenager. Both sisters are envious of the other's choices, and free-spirited Jessie's sudden arrival turns Luz's world-not as stable as it seems on the surface-upside down. As long-buried family secrets come to the surface, Luz and Ian's marriage threatens to unravel. Meanwhile, Jessie's wanderlust is held in check when she falls in love with Dusty Matlock, a local widowed pilot with a two-year-old. The novel sets up provocative family tensions, but these are resolved too easily. Wiggs's tendency to overwrite ("a wave of devastating love and protectiveness rolled over him with crushing strength") and lackluster humor ("Jeez, you're turning into a drama queen," Lila says to Jessie, who quips, "I've been wanting a change of careers") may further disappoint readers. Some of the scenes are finely drawn, however, especially those set at Beacon for the Blind, a facility for training those without eyesight to live independently.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this fairly typical romance novel, we meet free-spirited Jessie Ryder, a beautiful, independent, strong-willed woman who has traveled the world working as a photojournalist and living life on her own terms. This beautiful firebrand has a tormented secret, however, and it has haunted her for the past 16 years: she gave her baby daughter, Lila, away. Now faced with a devastating illness that is causing her to lose her eyesight, she follows her doctor's advice to see the most important people in her life before her eyesight fades for good. As a result, she soon attempts a reconciliation with Lila and her adoptive mother, Jessie's sister Luz. Returning to her Texas hometown, she decides she wants to tell Lila, who has grown up under the assumption that Jessie is her aunt, the truth. This confession soon jeopardizes the solid marriage of Luz and her husband (who happens to be the child's biological father) as well as the relationship between Luz and Jessie. In addition, Jessie becomes involved in a complicated tango with a young father who has just lost his wife. Everything is neatly resolved by the story's end. Heavy publicity will result in high library demand. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira; 1St Edition edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551666731
• ISBN-13: 978-1551666730
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Wiggs's life is all about family, friends...and fiction. She lives at the water's edge on an island in Puget Sound, and she commutes to her writers' group in a 17-foot motorboat. She's been featured in the national media, including NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a popular speaker locally and nationally.

When her recent novel, FIRESIDE, hit #1 on the New York Times, the author reportedly reacted to the news by "putting on my lipstick and sweeping the patio." Why? Because she knew that within a matter of minutes, her girlfriends would show up to pop the bubbly and help her celebrate. [Update: FIRESIDE has been chosen of one of Amazon.com's Top Ten Romances of 2009.]

According to Publishers Weekly, Wiggs writes with "refreshingly honest emotion," and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is "one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book." Booklist characterizes her books as "real and true and unforgettable." She is the recipient of three RITA (sm) awards and four starred reviews from Publishers Weekly for her books. Her books make frequent appearances on Amazon's "best of" lists. Several of her novels have been listed as Indie Next picks and optioned as feature films. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have made national bestseller lists, including the USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times lists.

The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unsentimental sentiment, March 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Home Before Dark (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful story of sisters separated by life's deepest issues, and how they find their way back to one another. Not just each other, but the other people in their lives. Older sister Luz rediscovers the magic in her longterm marriage. Younger Jessie is facing a life-changing problem just at the moment she learns to fall in love. It all sounds pretty schmaltzy but trust me, it's not. The sisters are hip, funny, sad and altogether human. You'll never forget them, and the lessons they learn along the way.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expertly Crafted Novel, April 26, 2003

By 

Sheri Melnick (Enola, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home Before Dark (Hardcover)

Many a historical romance author has tried to make the crossover to contemporary fiction. In rare instances, authors excel equally in both genres, and Susan Wiggs is one of those rare exceptions. With her latest novel, she explores the bond between sisters Jessie Ryder and Luz Ryder Benning.

After almost sixteen years traveling the globe on photojournalism assignments, Jessie is back to see her beloved sister Luz, three nephews, and fifteen-year-old niece Lila, who is actually the baby Luz and husband Ian adopted from Jess who took off years ago. Through the pain of separation and untold secrets, the sisters try to fit into each other's lives again, as Luz and Ian must decide whether to tell rebellious Lila the truth of her birth. And even Jessie has some secrets regarding Lila's conception. Amidst this very realistic glimpse into one family's drama is the surprising romance Jessie finds with local pilot and widower Dusty Matlock, who has a tragic story of his own.

Expertly drawn characters set against the beautiful Texas landscape are the life force of this compelling novel. Not only is the reader entranced by the unearthing of past secrets, but present-day secrets come to light in this thought provoking read with a unique and believable view of one family's ability to stay together despite personal trauma and tragedy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars engaging relationship novel, April 13, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home Before Dark (Hardcover)

After living for the past fifteen years in New Zealand and photographing much of the world, Jessie Ryder returns to her hometown of Edenville, Texas near Austin. Jessie suffers from a debilitating illness that will leave her blind, so she needs to see her biological daughter Lila one last time. Years ago Jessie became pregnant after making love to Ian Benning, who later met, fell in love with, and married her sister Luc. Jessie hid the father's identity from everyone and her newly married sister and husband adopted Lila and loved her as their own.

Jessie wants Ian and Luc to tell Lila the truth about whom is her biological mother. As the trio struggles with what is best for Lila, the teen engages in hill hopping which leads to the death of another passenger. Meanwhile, Jessie falls in love with widower neighbor Dusty Matlock and his little girl. However, Jessie does not trust relationships so as she loses her sight she flees, but not before the Bennings tell Lila the truth.

HOME BEFORE DARK is an engaging relationship novel that contains a delightful extended cast. Much of the tale focuses on Jessie, yet readers also learn about the other key characters. Although why Jessie felt that Lila had to know the truth is never fully explained, the audience will savor this warm modern day family drama.

Harriet Klausner