Home Song [Hardcover]

LaVyrle Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1995

The arrival of a new transfer student spells emotional upheaval for the Gardner family when it is revealed that he is the result of a brief affair that Tom Gardner, a devoted family man and high-school principal, had years earlier. 300,000 first printing. $200,000 ad/promo. Lit Guild & Doubleday Main.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A seemingly Norman Rockwell-like family is at the center of Spencer's (Family Blessings) latest novel, and, as usual, Spencer reveals the hard truths that lie beneath the bright exterior. On the first day of school, high-school principal Tom Gardner thinks his biggest problem is finding the shipment of textbooks for his wife Claire's English class; but the most difficult ordeal of his life is about to begin. Tom's real troubles start when he meets a new student, Kent Arens, who turns out to be smart, well-mannered, a star athlete-and the illegitimate son Tom never knew he had, conceived during a one-night stand 18 years ago, just before Tom married Claire. Tom swings between fear that Claire will find out about Kent and pride in his newfound son, but when the boy, unaware of his lineage, starts courting Tom's 16-year-old daughter, Chelsea, Tom is forced to reveal his secret. Claire, bitter and angry, asks Tom to move out of their home. Robby, their son, resents his new brother and takes out his anger on Kent on the football field. Chelsea, meanwhile, starts running with the wrong crowd. But while Tom and Claire grow farther apart, the three siblings decide to become friends. Together, they reunite Tom and Claire, restoring family harmony. While the course of events is predictable, the characters are warmly drawn and their dilemmas realistic, and Spencer knows how to tug at readers' hearstrings. Chalk up another likely bestseller, the 11th in 11 years for this consistently commercial author. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; film rights to CBS-TV.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The Longfellow poem that Spencer uses for the title of her new melodrama urges "my heart [to] stay at home." But high-school principal Tom Gardner almost loses home and family because of a long-ago betrayal. When transfer student Kent Arens enrolls at Tom's suburban St. Paul school, Tom realizes that Kent's mother, Monica, is the college acquaintance he took to bed the night of his bachelor party in a brief rebellion against having to marry his pregnant girlfriend, Claire; Kent is the son the principal didn't know he had. Tom delays telling English teacher Claire and children Robby, a senior, and Chelsea, a junior, this secret, until Kent and Chelsea appear to be attracted to one another. There's a hothouse quality to this confrontation: the only major characters who don't spend their time at the high school are Monica, a 3M engineer, and Tom's wise-old-man father; Kent and Robby are rival candidates for homecoming king and bump shoulders on the football team; and Kent is a student in Claire's honors English class. All the characters are such decent folk that it's clear from the start their wounds will heal and they'll find ways to forgive one another. Spencer's latest is as simple but satisfying as the made-for-TV movie it may well become. A main selection of both the Literary Guild and the Doubleday Book Club. Mary Carroll

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 366 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Printing edition (January 25, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039914014X
• ISBN-13: 978-0399140143
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tom felt like he was looking at his image of 25 years ago., July 14, 2003

By 

janlouise (Ruston, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Song (Mass Market Paperback)

I first had mixed feelings about reading this one, but then I decided I needed to give it a chance- and now I am glad I did. It's a really good read! Now about the story... Tom Gardner is the principal at the local high school, happily married with his first wife, Claire of 18 years, who teaches English at the same high school and they have 2 good kids of whom are both at the high school. Things change when Kent Arens walks into Tom's office as a transfer student. Tom's first reaction to Kent is like looking at himself 25 years ago. Kent is accompanied with his mother, Monica whom Tom recognizes from college days. And then Tom starts getting a sickening feeling. There was that one night- the night of his bachelor party, the night before his wedding to Claire when he made the fatal mistake of getting drunk and making-out with the pizza delivery girl. He has always felt guilty of that night- the one time he was unfaithful to Claire. And then it was because he had felt cornered into getting married. Claire had come to him and told him that she was pregnant. He had just graduated from college and had been looking forward to having a time of fun and freedom but now he was being tied down. It had been purely an act of rebellion. He had never told Claire but had tried making it up to her by being a good and loving husband... and they were the happiest they had ever been. How could this have happened? Was it possible for him to have another son the same age as his present son that he had with Claire? What was this going to do to his family? How would they react? And what would people there at the school say? Tom was so well thought of and Tom and Claire were thought to have the ideal marriage. What about Kent? He was the ideal son-great grades, out-standing athlete, well-liked and thought of, and his mother's life. He had never known his father-had no idea who he was and what the situation was between his mother and father. How was he going to take having a father step into his life now? The story is so realistic... you can't help but feel for the characters involved, you really feel their hurt. Once again LS makes you really think and get involved in the story. It's a good story and I highly recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great book by Lavryle Spencer, May 4, 2004

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Home Song (Paperback)

HOME SONG by LaVyrle Spencer

One of my favorite books by LaVyrle Spencer so far, HOME SONG is the story of a family torn apart by an indiscretion from the past.

The Gardners are the perfect family. Tom is the principal of the local high school, his wife Claire is an English teacher in the same school, and their children Chelsea and Robby attend the high school in this closely-knit town. They are a happy family, and everyone knows it. Tom and Claire are 100% devoted to their children, and Chelsea, a cheerleader, and Robby, a football player, are well-rounded well-behaved teens that love their parents very much.

Right before the school year starts that September, Tom is introduced to a new student, Kent Arens, and after a second look at Kent's mother, Tom realizes Monica Arens was the one-night stand he had a week before he married his wife Claire. And it is obvious to him that Kent was the result. Kent is the spitting image of Tom at that age. Tom had never had a need to let Claire know about his fling, because it happened before he made his wedding vows, and he did not think he'd ever see Monica again. There was nothing between them, no emotional ties. They meant nothing to each other, then or now.

What happens the next few months is something out of Tom's worst nightmare, as he struggles with keeping this a secret or letting his wife and family know about the affair. Their world is torn apart as slowly, the rest of the school finds out who Kent really is, a student that was embraced by the student body and as popular with them as Chelsea and Robby.

HOME SONG deals with the theme of infidelity and how it impacts a family that seems too strong to be torn apart. LaVryle Spencer as usual creates real characters with real feelings, characters that are also likable and authentic. This reviewer's only complaint is the Hollywood-type ending, but over all, this was another excellent book by Spencer. She has a knack for writing stories that will shock the reader, yet does so in a very realistic manner that makes her stories believable. Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a waste!, January 29, 2009

By 

D. Quinn (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home Song (Paperback)

This book reads like a bad made-for-tv movie and was a complete waste of time. Spencer's grammatically shaky, over-emotional and adjective-laden prose made the book a pain to navigate and nearly impossible to enjoy, while her complete inability to draw a realistic human character forced the story into cliche after cliche. Her teenagers were wooden, drenched with sickly sweet kindness and school spirit and completely lacking any normal adolescent characteristics; her adults were erratic, frenzied and drawn without an ounce of realism.

I picked up this book at a used book sale and thought the story might have some interesting twists - there were none. I thought the plight of the characters, especially the principal's wife Claire, might resonate in some way - it did not. I suppose if nothing else, Home Song did evoke strong feelings in me as a reader: I was so angry with each of the characters and so bored by the non-existent plot that I couldn't wait to finish the book, review it and shelve it on the 'never to be touched again' pile.