The Way Home [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Alexandra Raife (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

The three sisters haven't been together for six years when they all gather at Calder Lodge in the wake of the stepmother's death. They quickly settle into the old sibling patterns: Vanessa, the eldest, clucks round like a mother hen; rebel Jamie, just back from America, is the outspoken one whose straight-talking isn't always to her sisters' taste; and Phil, the youngest, in the shadow of the other two, is willing to follow where they lead. But the familiar roles are deceptive. Vanessa's apparently happy marriage conceals domestic abuse; Jamie's successful career has ended in ruin and a broken heart; in fact it is Phil, always the low achiever, who has managed to make the most of her life. These secrets become apparent only after several months and the resolution of the various problems takes place against the breathtaking beauty of the Scottish Highlands.

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"On MOVING ON: [a] love story full of emotion, pain and despair.' - Coventry Evening Telegraph 'Scotland's answer to Rosamunde Pilcher.' - South Hams Newspapers 'Brilliant descriptions of twenty-first century life in the lonely wilds of Scotland. Much creative talent and literary grace.' - Gwynedd Chronicle On THE WEDDING GIFT: 'It is the country as much as the vividly portrayed people that jumps out to grab the reader's attention.' - Coventry Evening Telegraph On SUN ON SNOW: 'Has a most appealing character as its heroine' - Vanessa Berridge, Woman & Home On BELONGING: 'This book has all the emotions... we have come to expect from Alexandra Raife's characters.' - Woman's Weekly 'A lovely story with an unconventional twist and a very readable novel.' - The Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Alexandra Raife has lived abroad in many countries and worked at a variety of jobs, including a six-year commission in the RAF and many years co-running a Highland hotel. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Charnwood (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708949649
• ISBN-13: 978-0708949641
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,715,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Story, Pleasing Read, September 2, 2003

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way Home (Paperback)

If you like intelligent British women writers, you'll like Alexandra Raife, who writes more or less in the Rosamunde Pilcher style, although not quite as heartwarming or memorable.

Anyway, "The Way Home" is another of Raife's pleasing Scottish novels, this one the story of three very different sisters who find themselves uncomfortably together in their ancestral home upon the death of their much-disliked stepmother. It has been six years since proper upper-class housewife Vanessa, maverick Jamie, who has emigrated to the U.S., and much-younger, dumpy and silent Phil have been together. They find they have inherited their beloved family home, Calder, but are horrified to find the ugly and disfiguring changes to the fine old estate that their late stepmother has wrought.

Now they must make some heavy decisions about what to do with the house, how to divide the spoils, whether or not to sell, and all kinds of other practical and emotional matters. The problem is that each of the sisters is at a personal crisis in her life, and none of them is able or willing to share these crises with the others.

The most well-rounded of the sisters is Jaime, who escaped her unhappy childhood to build a successful PR business in Seattle. But something big is troubling her--and the reader learns her problems before she can bring herself to share with her sisters. Vanessa, so brittle and shallow on the outside, is in an equally desperate situation, one that she cannot even admit to herself. And Phil, the "baby" who is nevertheless in her thirties, will not let either of her two sisters even close to her own secret.

This book is lovely--a solid read and a good story. It's not great literature, nor was it meant to be--but it's a heartwarmer nevertheless. Recommended.