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283rd out of 691 books
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1,044 voters
Coming Home
This is a novel to be savored, a curl-up-under-the-covers kind of old-fashioned reading experience hardly anyone knows how to write anymore. In telling the story of Judith Dunbar and her loved ones, Rosamunde Pilcher writes with warmth, wisdom, and clear-eyed insight about every family. This is a totally involving story of coming of age, coming to terms with both love and...more
Hardcover, Large Print, 1216 pages
Published
November 1st 1995
by Thorndike Press
(first published October 1969)
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I really love Rosamunde Pilcher books. I hate how they look like sappy romance novels because somebody put dorky flowers and curlicues all over the cover, but rest assured, they're far from that genre. This is one of my particular favorites. It follows a girl (left in boarding school in England while her family goes to Singapore) before, during, and after WWII and goes back and forth between Cornwall, London, and various South Pacific locations. It's fairly epic in length--I think it clocks in a...more
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For the first third of the book or so, I felt it was moving too slow and was getting bored. But then, I got adjusted to the pace and the style of things, and I started feeling relaxed and entranced by the good sense of the characters and the ever-present soothing cups of tea. The story takes a fourteen-year-old British girl through her years at boarding school and through the years of World War II. It was interesting to read about the experience of the Brits during the war and to think about how...more
6 likes · like · see review
Feb 15, 2008
Jodi
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves WWII era stories
Shelves:
highly-reccomended
I read this when I am craving comfort and familiarity. Rosamunde Pilcher's books are like a hot bubblebath. You sink into the story and resurface a few hours later feeling refreshed.
Ok, I have to do this. I find Coming Home trashy yet really compelling. I read it over and over when I'm sick, when I'm on a plane, when I feel terrible for whatever reason, and it's always escapist and comforting. Mostly it's that I'm compelled to read anything about WWII Britain; since this is so long and so much happens, I'm compelled to read it over and over again. At the same time I have some major problems with various business such as 1. ridiculous stereotypical characteristics/behavior,...more
Jan 01, 2008
angeljoy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves descriptive British writing
Coming Home covers the young life of Judith Dunbar. The book follows her from entering boarding school at about 14. Her mother and father have gone overseas with her father's job. Then WWII hits. Judith is left on her own, yet along the way, via her best friend at school, there are people who enter her life and become her second family. Nothing is rushed in this book, which is as it should be. I enjoyed the descriptions of the countryside and homes. A lovely British read that has me wanting endl...more
Originally posted at A Novel Idea Reviews
Rating: 5/5
It is 1935, and thirteen year old Judith Dunbar is saying goodbye to her mother and baby sister for what will be seven long years apart. Her father has been given a new post in Singapore, but Judith won’t be joining her family there. Instead, she will be going to an English boarding school, oceans and continents apart from those she loves. At St. Ursula’s, the catalyst occurs which will change Judith’s life forever: she meets young Loveday Care...more
Rating: 5/5
It is 1935, and thirteen year old Judith Dunbar is saying goodbye to her mother and baby sister for what will be seven long years apart. Her father has been given a new post in Singapore, but Judith won’t be joining her family there. Instead, she will be going to an English boarding school, oceans and continents apart from those she loves. At St. Ursula’s, the catalyst occurs which will change Judith’s life forever: she meets young Loveday Care...more
This is possibly my favorite book of all time. It follows 14-year old Judith in pre-WW II Britain for about 13 years -- through pre-war family disruptions, boarding school (where she meets a new friend with an interesting family and a wonderful country house), the war itself (as a WREN, which takes her to Ceylon), and back to post-war Britain to find missing family and sort out her life.
I loved every part of it -- the girl herself, her family and friends, the country house, the romances, the vi...more
I loved every part of it -- the girl herself, her family and friends, the country house, the romances, the vi...more
4 likes · like · see review
Jan 03, 2012
Janice Williams
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
world-war-ii
I was looking for something captivating and relaxing to read over the holidays and pulled Rosamunde Pilcher's "Coming Home" (1995) off of our home library shelf. I'd bought it at the Athens County Library book sale for $3. What a find! This was a wonderful book by the author of "September" and "The Shell Seekers", two books which I also enjoyed.
Judith Dunbar attends boarding school in England while her parents and little sister are in Singapore. Her best friend, Loveday, comes from a wealthy fam...more
Judith Dunbar attends boarding school in England while her parents and little sister are in Singapore. Her best friend, Loveday, comes from a wealthy fam...more
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher follows Judith Dunbar for ten years before and during World War II in England. The book begins with fourteen year old Judith being left at Boarding school in Cornwall while her mother and sister join her father in Singapore. Judith soon makes friends with Loveday Carey-Lewis and is swept into her family and their eccentric privileged life. Judith grows from a timid young girl to a woman and faces love and loss, joy and tragedy.
I've been in a mood lately where I...more
I've been in a mood lately where I...more
Feb 09, 2010
Pbwritr
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-women-s
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This is probably my favorite Pilcher novel. It is a tender, gentle and very real story of a young girl coming of age during WWII. She lives with an aunt as her parents are out in the Far East. She becomes friends with a wonderful family whose lives and loves she grows to be an integral part of. Ultimately she must take on the responsibility of a young sister who survived the brutal invasion of the Japanese while their parents didn't. It is such a real life, with young people having to make grown...more
A delightful book. Unfortunately ended.
One of my small guilty pleasures is an occasional Rosamunde Pilcher novel. They are fairly modern English novels about rather realistic women--but the characters are still are very sensible about having tea each afternoon--or any time they need to chat or solve a problem. This one is the story of a young girl growing to a woman during the years of the Second World War, as well as all her friends and family. That war was so very long for them and so awful in the way it took away lives and turned...more
Brideshead Lite... very light. I loved the Shell Seekers and liked September. This is a very weak production which rides on the popularity of those books - and I am really amazed that none of the reviews I've seen have commented on the class-consciousness and sexism which pervade the novel. Judith is a boring character who doesn't seem at all attached to any of the people who die tragically around her, some of whose deaths allow her to climb socially and improve her position, but not to actually...more
An immensely enjoyable read that though large, never gets dull. Every time I picked it up, I dived right in and in one day, I read half of the book- that's about 500 pages!
The main character is Judith Dunbar, a really nice girl who grows into a steady and likable woman. That sounds painfully dull, I know but it isn't at all. She's surrounded by a cast and while these liven her up a bit and you get their various perspectives at times, I still feel a bit of a mystery about Judith herself. She has...more
The main character is Judith Dunbar, a really nice girl who grows into a steady and likable woman. That sounds painfully dull, I know but it isn't at all. She's surrounded by a cast and while these liven her up a bit and you get their various perspectives at times, I still feel a bit of a mystery about Judith herself. She has...more
I'd always got the impression that Pilcher wrote cheesy romance, but after being told by a friend that she reminded them of Jane Austen, I gave her a go. Here's what I thought.
While I can see why people make the Jane Austen comparison (everyday people, some romance, making ordinary things interesting), I think there are more differences than similarities. Pilcher isn't a concise writer (I always feel like there isn't a wasted word in JA), and her prose isn't nearly as witty or elegant. But JA i...more
While I can see why people make the Jane Austen comparison (everyday people, some romance, making ordinary things interesting), I think there are more differences than similarities. Pilcher isn't a concise writer (I always feel like there isn't a wasted word in JA), and her prose isn't nearly as witty or elegant. But JA i...more
May 04, 2012
Emily-Jane Hills Orford
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
historical-fiction
This is an epic story. At 977 pages of fine print, I suppose it should be an epic. It covers 10 years: from the mid-1930s leading up to World War II and the aftermath. Multiple character sketches and stories entertwine and well-described to enhance and strengthen the plot of the main character, Judith Dunbar. The agony of being left behind in England to attend boarding school while her mother and younger sister rejoin their father in the Far East. The torture of waiting for news that would never...more
When looking at the cover of this novel I had no idea that I, being male, would ever enjoy this story. Boy was I wrong. I fell in love with the characters and the setting of this timeless piece of art. I sometimes consider myself a literary snob and was looking for something completely different to read. I now rank this book right up there as one of the most absorbing and emotional reads I have come across in a long while. For a previous reviewer who wrote this is poorly written, I would beg to...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This is a wonderful book. I loved the main character Judith, although I never really got over feeling that a sense of loneliness and loss permeated her world no matter how close she became to the people she loved. Yet she still maintained her ability to love and be loved despite her loss and the distance she seemed to prefer to maintain in relationships after losing Edward. I've been thinking about the idea of loss in relationships a lot lately, and how perhaps I tend to lose out on a lot becaus...more
The first thing I did when I picked up this book at a used book sale was throw away the dust jacket - too frilly and flowery, too women's magazine. Even so, Rosamunde Pilcher has become one of my favorite authors. She has a way of writing that makes you feel good about the world and the people in it - not that her characters don't have problems - but so much of today's fiction is ultimately depressing (murder, incest, child abduction, disintegrating families - all of which happens, but sometimes...more
Nov 25, 2012
Stephanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-for-adults
A perfect big, fat book for sinking into during grey winter days. The first two hundred pages didn't have a lot of drama, but somehow they felt completely absorbing and enjoyable anyway, and then the last 600 pages were hugely dramatic and I couldn't stop reading! (I took 3 days to read the first 200 pages and 2 days to read the last 600 - which is definitely a sign.)
The final emotional scene at the end of the book felt just a tiny bit flat to me after waiting for it so long...but that's a very...more
The final emotional scene at the end of the book felt just a tiny bit flat to me after waiting for it so long...but that's a very...more
Whew. This book, clocking in at nearly 1000 pp, nearly did me in, but I finally finished it and lived to tell the tale. It is very good and I recommend it, but it does require some commitment just b/c of the length, I believe! So, you’d have to be in the right “frame of mind.” It really is an epic.
Interestingly, about half-way through the book, bits of it started feeling familiar to me and I realized that this part of it had been made into a British made-for-TV movie, which I had seen about a fe...more
Interestingly, about half-way through the book, bits of it started feeling familiar to me and I realized that this part of it had been made into a British made-for-TV movie, which I had seen about a fe...more
This book is one that I pull out and reread when I am in need of a great escape. It never fails to pull me in. It is a story of a girl who goes to a boarding school in England while her parents are colonials in Singapore. She spends weekends and holidays with an elderly aunt and befriends a wealthy family who have an estate in Cornwall. This is the story of her childhood, adolescence and young adulthood during the pre world war 2 years and throughout the war sand the many changes that occur as a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I was very sceptical when I started, because I have seen couple of movies made based on Pilcher's books and these were too "soft" and sweet.
But I have to admit that I loved this book. It was really interesting to follow how the characters developed through the time. How they lived before the II WW and during and after. I think the way how writer described how war changed everybodys lives in England was fascinating.
I liked Judith. she is a real care-taker and finallt she finds what she needs. I l...more
But I have to admit that I loved this book. It was really interesting to follow how the characters developed through the time. How they lived before the II WW and during and after. I think the way how writer described how war changed everybodys lives in England was fascinating.
I liked Judith. she is a real care-taker and finallt she finds what she needs. I l...more
Feb 13, 2011
Sophia
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-20th-c,
historical
A re-read - first read a condensed version (courtesy of an old Reader's Digest copy) back in high school, then bought myself a copy at Half-Price on a whim. If you like BBC historical dramas with a good dash of high society melodrama, this is like the junk food version of Evelyn Waugh. It covers a fairly long period and it has several historical fiction tropes - the poor schoolgirl who befriends and is consequently "adopted" by a rich classmate and her glamorous family, romance that crosses soci...more
This book speaks to my soul. It is about family, friends, and finding a place where you belong. It is about life-changing moments, moving past tragedy, making the most of life in turbulent times, and more important, it is about living in the now and finding happiness with what you have. Set during World War II, one can't help but wonder how people coped with the losses they suffered on a daily basis, and this book is full of characters who are like the phoenix rising from the ashes of this war....more
The story is among the classic world war 2 setting. But what sets this book apart from its counterparts (I've read Crossings/Danielle Steele etc) is the seemingly actual account of the events and characters that when you read Coming Home, you're like coming to London,Colombo, the Hotels, holidays and the vivid color of Pilcher's storytelling.
Reading it is a pleasure but addictive. I always get upset when I come to moments wherein I have to stop to sleep or work but inspired as well to be on the...more
Reading it is a pleasure but addictive. I always get upset when I come to moments wherein I have to stop to sleep or work but inspired as well to be on the...more
This story starts out in Cornwall, England just prior to WWII. Judith, a 14 y.o. girl, is enrolled in a boarding school when her mother and 4 y.o. sister return to Singapore to rejoin the father/husband who works there for the British government. At boarding school Judith's best friend, Loveday, is a student who boards during the week but goes home on weekends. Judith becomes like a member of Loveday's family. The book follows the lives of Judith and her family, and Loveday's family over the nex...more
1 like · like · see review
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| good characters, interesting place in history | 6 | 35 | Sep 14, 2012 03:04am |
Rosamunde Scott was born on 22 September 1924 in Lelant, Cornwall, England, UK, daughter of Helen and Charles Scott, a British commander. Just before her birth her father was posted in Burma, her mother remained in England. She attended St. Clare's Polwithen and Howell's School Llandaff before going on to Miss Kerr-Sanders' Secretarial College. She began writing when she was seven, and published h...more
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“Other people's houses were always fascinating. As soon as you went through the door for the first time, you got the feel of the atmosphere, and so discovered something about the personalities of the people who lived there.”
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7 people liked it
“She yawned and stretched, and settled back again on her pillows and thought how perfect it would be if sleep could not only restore one but iron out all anxieties in the same process, so that one could wake with a totally clear and untroubled mind, as smooth and empty as a beach, washed and ironed by the outgoing tide.”
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3 people liked it
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