The Quilter's Homecoming

Elm Creek Quilts #10

by Jennifer Chiaverini

A Roaring Twenties adventure unfolds in Jennifer Chiaverini's latest bestselling Elm Creek Quilts novel.

Newly wed in a festive yet poignant ceremony at Elm Creek Manor, bride Elizabeth Nelson takes leave of her ancestral Pennsylvania home. Setting off with her husband, Henry, on the adventure of a lifetime, Elizabeth packs the couple's trunk with more than the wedding quilts she envisions them dreaming beneath every night of their married lives. They are landowners who hold the deed to Triumph Ranch, 120 acres of prime California soil located in the Arboles Valley, north of Los Angeles.

"Triumph Ranch," says Mae, a traveling companion whom Elizabeth has let in on the promise of the Nelsons' bright future. "That sounds like a sure thing." But in a cruel reversal of fortune, the Nelsons arrive to the news that they've been had, and they are left suddenly, irrevocably penniless.

They are hired as hands at the farm they thought they owned, and Henry struggles mightily with his pride. Yet clever, feisty Elizabeth -- drawing on her share of the Bergstrom women's inherent economy and resilience -- vows to defy fate through sheer force of will. As her life intertwines with Rosa Diaz Barclay, native to the Arboles Valley and a fellow quilter, their blossoming friendship sheds light on many secrets that have kept each of them and their families from their rightful homes.

In the cabin where Henry and Elizabeth are living on Triumph Ranch, Elizabeth discovers quilts belonging to Rosa's mother, and in their exquisite patterns recognizes a misplaced legacy of love, land,and family. But her newfound understanding of the burden of loss that Rosa shares with the mysterious Lars Jorgensen places her in mortal danger. Only by stitching the rift between the past and the future can the inhabitants of Triumph Ranch hope to live in peace alongside history.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Quilting, Audiobook, Chick Lit, Historical, Adult Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Jennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-three novels, including acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. She has also written seven quilt pattern books inspired by her novels. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin. About her historical fiction, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, "In addition to simply being fascinating stories, these novels go a long way in capturing the texture of life for women, rich and poor, black and white, in those perilous years."

Reviews

[Natcat77027 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about Sylvia Compson's cousin Elizabeth and her husband Henry. Elizabeth shows up in an earlier book in Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek series and she and Henry move to California. This book is their story. At first, I was not as interested in the story because a lot of the Elm Creek characters only show up in the first chapter. I also didn't think that I'd be interested in Isabel & Rosa's story. However, as I kept on reading and the two stories started to intertwine, it became more engaging. I was really irked at Henry's attitude when their problems started but he came around in the end. There was less about quilting in this book as there has been in her earlier books. However, it was interesting to read about California in the twenties. It seems like most readers like either the present day books or the historical ones. I enjoy both timeframes and this one was different from Chiaverini's usual Elm Creek series. I hope she keeps exploring different and creative avenues in this series.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should admit I'm already a fan of this series of books by Chiaverini. But this is one of the best in my opinion. It's about a young newlywed couple who come west in 1925 to the Conejo Valley (called something else) to take ownership of a ranch the husband purchased. A major catastrophe causes their life to be vastly changed and it's interesting to see how they make the best of their new circumstances. The fact that the book takes place where I live made it personal for me and enhanced the story considerably. It has stayed with me so much since I finished it that I would give it 4.5.

[Loraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Roaring Twenties tale of boom and bust unfolds as young bride Elizabeth Bergstrom Nelson sets off with her husband, Henry, from her family home of Elm Creek Manor in Pennsylvania to start a new life in the unfamiliar terrain of southern California.

I have always been a fan of Jennifer Chiaverini's writing, and The Quilter's Homecoming did not disappoint. There were so many things to love about this story: First, the quilt thread that connected the three families, Nelsons, Jorgensons, and Diaz-Barclay; second, the dual storyline placed in different time periods that gave the background of the Diaz-Barclay family and the Rancho Triunfo and the present day happenings of the Jorgensons, Nelsons, and Barclays; finally, the focus on the lies, deceptions, and second chances that plagued all 3 families. Although these were interwoven throughout the plot, it change back in forth during time periods was incorporated well to give necessary background information.

Rose Diaz Barclay and Elizabeth Nelson were both women of strength. Neither found their life what they expected it to be but made the best out of what they were given and developed a friendship that would help them both particularly with the quilt connection. Lars Jorgenson, Henry Nelson, and John Barclay all hid secrets that led to the problems that beset their lives. Both Lars and Henry only resolved their problems through faith and with the help of their wives. John Barclay was so bitter and angry that his problems only led him to become lost forever. The setting of Southern California during the 1920's was well researched and the descriptions and happenings of the time period were evident in Chiaverini's writing. The theme of forgiveness, dependence on faith, and second chances were obvious in the plot. Although this is the last book (#10) in the Elm Creek series I did not have any problem reading it as a standalone. I now look forward to reading the rest from beginning to learn more of the Elm Creek story.

FAVORITE QUOTES: "Bitterness and hatred can kill you as surely as cancer does."

"She had chosen a path when she chose her husband, as all brides did. It had probably seemed as smooth and as sunny as any she could have walked along. But no young wife knows what sort of man her husband will become. She only knows what he is at the moment she marries him and trusts that he will not fail her, that his love will always be true, no matter what hardships they encounter.

"When someone desperately needs your help, you don't stand around and ponder what they'll do once you help them, or philosophize about whether they deserve your help. You simply help them."

[Heidi Madden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this book was hard to read. I know part of it is because I have the hard copy rather than the audiobook which would have allowed me to gloss over and push through but I just didn’t like the story. We learned from the first books in the series that Sylvia idolizes her Aunt Elizabeth to a level of jealousy that is just uncomfortable. You hear a lot about Elizabeth who marries Henry and moves to California. I was looking forward to hearing how the story unfolds but I just didn’t like Elizabeth as a character. They endure hardships, as one might expect in a novel, but I had a horrible time caring and getting into the book so it took me FOREVER to get through. As a standalone novel it’s actually not bad but unfortunately Sylvia has built her aunt up and I was frankly really disappointed in her. Also, there’s a lot of mystery in this book and “what actually happened” and it all sort of just wraps up at the end really quickly. You get the answers but somehow it’s just not satisfying.

I bought this book in 2018 and it's taken me this long to get through the first ten to get to it so it's disappointing that I didn't really enjoy it. Still, I will persevere with the series because in general I am enjoying them.

[Teri-K · Rating 1 out of 5]

The heroine of this book is so spoiled, selfish and self-centered I couldn't finish it. I've read many books in this series and this is the first DNF for me. I just didn't like her enough to spend any more time in her company. Henry seems like a nice guy but he doesn't have enough personality early on to keep me reading. Disappointed.

[Michelle Kitto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a Jennifer Chiaverini book that I didn't love and this was no exception. One of those books that had me thinking of the characters long after I read the book.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bergstrom loves horses and farms. So marrying Henry Nelson, a former friend and secret love, makes sense. His dream becomes hers to buy a ranch in Southern CA. Unfortunately this is the 1920's and the laws don't always coincide with expectations. Especially when they come to claim their land, and find out that it isn't exactly theirs to have.

This is a multi-layered plot filled with artistic tapestries.

There is love. Chivalry. Mean-spirited people. Mystery. Goodness. And resolution.

Good writing and able to read as a stand-alone.

[Tamara H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here I am wishing for Elizabeth to be able to get her wedding quilt back some day. ♥️

[HadenXCharm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think every long series has a dud; I had to force myself to finish this one even though it wasn't that long. I just didn't like it that much, and there are a lot of reasons. While it's clear that research did go into this book, there were a lot of historical inaccuracies when it came to the social and cultural attitudes of the time. There were so many fundamental misunderstandings of how people thought and behaved, especially when it came to the portions about the Diaz family, that it became hard to suspend disbelief. There was also a heavy use of foreshadowing, and I mean so heavy that it started to make characters look stupid for not picking up on things that were happening right in front of their eyes. AND! There were so many story threads that didn't go anywhere and didn't get rounded off. (What the hell happened with Mae? Why was there no resolution to the tension between Hannah and Isabel?)

I also just wasn't emotionally attached to Elizabeth or Henry as characters. They played a really minor role in the Christmas Quilt, and I don't think they needed their own book. Elizabeth is a self-centered, spoiled girl who is trying to prove herself, and Henry's main character trait is that he's bitter about getting scammed and is taking it out on Elizabeth. The other half of the story is about the Mexican family who lost their land because their white neighbors took advantage of them, and the legacy of suffering that sent through the female line of the family.

Elizabeth is the character we're following, and she just sucks, dude. She's naive, annoying, and extremely immature. She's also full of double-standards and is constantly making little misogynistic pick-me comments in her head. Even though the first thing we learn about her is that she's a huge flirt who goes on dates with a ton of guys just to tease Henry, she calls girls who do the same thing as her, the "Dumb Doras" 'who cling to guy's arms and who don't mind if he pulls the car to the side of the road to make out,' i.e., she's calling other women sluts, but she's not like that, she's better than them. Girl, shut up. I wouldn't have a problem with this kind of attitude, as it's true to the historical period, but the author will also try to inject progressive modern values at weird times as well as if to go, "Look, my characters aren't bigots! They're good people, see?!"

For example, at one point Elizabeth is talking to this guy from the circus who said he had to marry his wife to get her to stop complaining, and Elizabeth is affronted, thinking to herself, "The last moral I want to hear is that marriage means the end of a woman's right to speak her mind! I can't imagine the Bergstrom women standing for that! If she can deal with a horse, she can discipline her husband." I find it hard to believe that Elizabeth was this naive about sexist attitudes and spousal abuse, and is later in shock when she finds out that John, a guy she already saw shove Rosa and shout at her in in front of guests twice, was also beating her in private. Like, are you stupid? Marital rape was legal, beating your wife 'for discipline' was legal. Divorce was socially impossible for women in the 20s. People were well aware of domestic abuse at the time, it just wasn't prosecuted and the woman couldn't leave. "I can't imagine a Bergstrom woman putting up with that!" she says, but... you can though. You yourself witnessed your mother staying in an abusive alcoholic marriage because leaving him is out of the question. You yourself have gotten yourself into a situation where you are now isolated with this man on the other side of the country, cut off from your support network, incredibly vulnerable and alone with this man who is now angry and bitter about your situation. You yourself have been self-policing your emotions and thoughts ever since you got here because you don't want to further wound your husband's ego. Henry has been nothing but rude and mean to her for months and Elizabeth just keeps telling herself that it's her fault for being 'selfish' enough to be sad about his behavior. She also starts lying to strangers, friends, and family to conceal what is going on in her marriage, because Henry is too prideful to 'go hat in hand to his father, proving myself a failure',(classic warning sign of abuse, by the way, when you're embarrassed for other people to know how he acts in private!), and she maintains his lie, just to protect Henry from 'the shame.' She spends so much time in this book doing damage control for Henry, maintaining a façade that everything is normal within the marriage, when she knows it isn't. But "I can't imagine a Bergstrom woman would put up with that." ...

My characters are good people, so I must come up with excuses for why the men in Rosa's life didn't stop the abuse! I'll just claim that they 'didn't know!' Isn't that every bystanders excuse? "I didn't know." Bullshit. The book claims that if Lars and Carlos and Henry only knew Rosa was being beaten, they'd do everything they could to help. No? Men of the day saw it as another man's right to discipline his own wife. This was a time period in which products were advertized in newspapers with images of women being 'put over their husband's knee'. Men didn't jump to the rescue; it was a conspiracy of silence. Even the men who didn't beat their wives benefitted from the ones who did, because now they can look better by comparison. Pretending Carlos didn't know, even though John has been raping and beating Rosa's ass for years, it's the story's way of absolving the men who did nothing. He even says aloud "She made her bed, she has to lie in it." Which is a fine thing to say to a woman who wanted to marry the other guy, but wasn't allowed to because her parents wouldn't allow it; ended up choosing the man they approved of, and then was disowned anyway. "She made her bed." FUCK you. You guys made the bed for her and pulled back the covers. Elizabeth then tells him, "MY brother would never allow anyone to hit me." Are you sure about that? You brother might come back to you and say, "Well, you married him!" and you'll be SOL!

There's also this little self-righteous speech from Mrs. Jorgenson about how "if one man gets away with beating his wife, other men will think it's tolerable, if one woman accepts a beating, other women will think they should too!" Which is all well and good, but what year do you think this is? What do you think the history of the world is? This is the modern readers perspective trying to absolve the sins of historical people, trying to justify and sanitize the past somehow. If you wanted to be authentic, you would've had these women slipping Rosa some rat poison to put in his food. Telling the other men and telling the authorities would do nothing except get her beaten even worse. Also, for all the self-righteous speeches she gave, when it comes down to it and they're saying Rosa should leave, Mrs. Jorgenson said, "Well, she married him, and that's that." The same attitude as Carlos, that she ultimately DOES have to put up with the beatings and rape and bear it, because they're married. Chiaverinni just doesn't want her characters to look like monsters who condone domestic abuse, but this is the time period you're writing about and you chose to bring spousal abuse into the story. You can't run away from it like this!

Another example of this weird insertion of modern views to make historical people more palatable to modern readers is in the sections with the Diaz family. Like, she shows a scene in 1890 where a Mexican father taking over the family cooking with no complaint, and two mexican parents in 1910 who are concerned that their 14 year old daughter is dating an 18 year old man, and that four year age gap is too much for them. Do you know anything about Mexican culture? Especially in the early 1900s? Not a progressive place! In fact, it was an extremely patriarchal culture based on strict social hierarchy. Girls getting married and pregnant young was extremely commonplace. What the hell do you think Quinces came from? It's a ritual signaling that a young girl is now of marriageable age. Also, there's a reason that Isabel had to take over as 'little mom' after her mother died, and become a surrogate wife to her father, cook and clean everything: Patriarchy and traditional gender roles! This book portraying a mexican man from 1880 happily taking over cooking for the family when Isabel refuses is pure fantasy. "Your father can look after himself, you can leave and get married." Uhhh no? A young woman in this situation wouldn't have been permitted the social freedom to leave and get married. She would have been deemed responsible for her father's care by the community. In this story, her dad asks her if she's going to cook dinner, and she goes, "No", and then he goes... "Okay, I guess I'll cook my own food." This was not how it'd go down. The real story is Isabel is little mom for her dad and siblings, takes on adult burdens and loses her own childhood, and finally gets married and knocked up young just to escape her parents house, and immediately becomes saddled with her own kids-- and her responsibilities are passed on to her sister. There was also this stuff about Isabel's little 16 year old sister saying she wants to go to college to be a teacher, and... no ordinary poor family in the 1880s in Mexico was sending a girl to college; they weren't sending kids to college period. Only 28 percent of Mexican adults have any college education in the 2020s, let alone in the 1880s. In the 1910 census, they found only 33% of men and 27% of women were literate. Very few students went on to secondary education, let alone college. Like, are you kidding me with this? Women did start to become teachers and participate in the revolution in the 1910s (The author didn't have the stones to mention the socialist revolution in Mexico in the 1910s by the way. Interesting slip of the tongue to have your mexican family be named Diaz, which was the name of the dictator that was overthrown in the revolution, by the way.) when this book is set, but this wouldn't have been an opportunity that Isabel's family had; they were simply too poor. The majority of the population couldn't even read. But, let's say for some reason this was possible in 1910, and their daughter does have the opportunity to go to school-- Rosa then goes on to say, "I don't actually want to go to college." .... and her parents... allow it. They allow her to turn down that unbelievable opportunity that only the elites had access to. This was one of the big giveaways that she doesn't understand the culture she's writing about. First of all, as a Mexican daughter in this time period, you don't tell your parents no, especially your father, without major repurcussions.

What boggles belief is the suggestion that mexican parents in the 1910s allowed their daughters, even their adult daughters, to 'date', leave the house in secret to meet lovers, etc. Ridiculous. This is an extremely catholic society with a patriarchal attitude. Parents were authoritarian and strict with the girls in order to keep them 'pure', and lenient and coddling with the boys. The idea that her parents caught Rosa sneaking out of her room at night even ONE time and weren't like, 'You're marrying him tomorrow morning' is ridiculous. I DO NOT buy the fact that Miguel just shrugs his shoulders and goes, "she's twenty, we can't do anything" and 'can't believe that his beautiful daughter could do any wrong', and doesn't feel any type of way that 'this young man doesn't want to meet us.' You've never met a Mexican father, have you. Dating at this time and for decades after, is the young man hanging around in front of the parent's house so he can talk to the girl on the porch, then going home. The way these sections are written reveals a complete ignorance to how differently girls are treated by parents in Mexican society, especially back then.

There were a lot of silly mistakes like that, and some of them were so easy to verify too, and are just based on widespread historical misconception. A big one is her repeating several times that 1920's flapper dresses were 'up to the knee'. Flapper dresses did not expose the knee when you were standing up. They were considered daring because when you sat down, the knee was almost exposed. There's also this goofy passage near the beginning where Henry and Elizabeth are stargazing, and the hay is described as warm and sweet from the sun.... in the middle of the night?

The way Prohibition is handled in this book is also weird. Unless you were a teetotaler or a sobriety warrior, you wouldn't be talking about prohibition like it was some moral necessity. People of the day remembered what it was like having the right to drink and the societal problems that popped up because of the ban were immediate, violent, and self-evident. People knew how ridiculous and counter-productive prohibition was; that's the reason it was reversed. This makes it extremely strange to hear random characters make comments about how "Prohibition was the best thing in the world for some people", suggesting that prohibition stopped alcoholics from accessing alcohol. Don't make me laugh!

It also doesn't escape my notice that the author subverts the real history of Mexicans having their land stolen by Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, and other whites who moved into the area, by having her fictional latino family 'sell' the land to the Norwegians in a 'fair trade' during a drought, and then being unable to buy it back. Then Mrs. Jorgenson have the nerve to talk shit about the new housing developments, she doesn't want new people moving in, when her own family is the one who moved in and stole land from a desperate neighbor who's family had lived there for a century and wouldn't give it back. "You shouldn't put your own interests before that of future generations-" KIND OF LIKE HOW YOU STOLE THE LAND AND FUTURE FROM YOUR NEIGHBOR'S DESCENDANTS. "We don't have enough water to support other neighbors, not in drought years." Kind of like how you used that drought to exploit your desperate neighbors and take their land. Like, this isn't your valley; your family moved in here from Norway and displaced the people who already lived here.

Also, fuck Henry! I hate him, the fucking liar! He feels so inadequate and emasculated by his own failures to provide for his new wife, that he takes out those feelings on her and punishes her by withdrawing his affection. The only thing that matters is his stupid wounded male ego, meanwhile she's going out of her way to prove her loyalty and love to him, and he repays her by pretending she doesn't exist and refusing to return her hugs. Also, notice how he's working in the field all day, come home and goes to bed to rest, but she also works all day, then has to clean, cook, run her husband's bath, and basically work a second shift during their 'off' time as well? She sacrifices everything to stay with him, she leaves her home and family and moves across the country, and it turns out he has none of the things he promised her, none of the money or security he promised, but she stays, she sells the quilts and china she was given by her family members as wedding gifts, and he repays her with anger. He's the one who got scammed and ruined your lives because he was too foolish to go look at a piece of land before buying it, but now SHE feels like she has to pay the price to prove herself to him. He's too wrapped up in his own ego and can't ask for help or admit that he was scammed, and is willing to plunge his new wife into poverty and degradation because his humiliation is more important to him than his wife's comfort and safety. They end up getting into a shoot-out at this stupid farm!

We find out near the end that he lied to her about the most crucial aspect of their relationship because he was trying to test her to see if she actually loved him-- and now he's punishing her for passing the test. He withdrew all affection because now he feels undeserving and his ego is shattered. And in this time period she can't even seek a divorce even though he totally lied about everything to get her to married him. He thinks it's okay to lie to his wife about major life decisions, and was also okay with conspiring with his father to lie to his mom about him leaving. Imagine being that woman, betrayed by your husband and your son, because they think she 'can't handle' the truth, so they just bypass her opinion by lying to her together. Men like this are the fucking worst, dude. Elizabeth gets angry and betrayed, and then we get to see her gaslight herself into staying in real-time, "He wouldn't lie to me, he's not like my father, he would never do that to me." HE JUST DID. She just forgives him and then gives him sex! Don't do for men what they would never do for you.

Worst part is that the quilting felt like an afterthought of this book, not the focus. Elizabeth working on the quilts feels shoe-horned, the real quilt drama is Mrs. Deigel lying to her and selling her quilt after promising to keep it so she could get it back .

And finally, the way the movie-star plot was rounded off was that Elizabeth accepts motherhood and being a farmer's wife; I don't want to be a star anymore, I have an even BETTER role here, barefoot and pregnant on the farm! Ugh.

Rosa's story was sad, and was the only thing that kept me reading to the end. Very tragic and drawn out.

[Maureen Timerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is cousin Elizabeth Nelson's story. It begins just after her wedding to Henry. We are on the train West, they are so much in love and can't wait to get to California and their new Ranch.
Henry has saved and given all of his money to buy the new ranch, and he can't wait to get there. His dreams are being fulfilled. He has all the proper paper work, and knows he is going to be a success..with his Triumph Ranch! How things work out is devestating. Going from owners, to workers in a few days.
They end up at the Jorgensen Ranch, Henry and Elizabeth both get jobs. Henry helps on the rance and Elizabeth in the house. They also are given an old cabin to live in. At first when we see it through the author's eye, it looks and feels horrible. Elizabeth works wonders and does turn it into a home.
Love looking around at the country side, what a beautiful area! We also meet some sweet and loving people, and some down right nasty individuals. Like the Post Master, John Barker who beats his wife Rose. His jealousy is almost his undoing.
Enjoyed how we go back in time about the history of the Jorgensen Ranch, and them back to the present time [the 1920's and '30's]. My heart ached for poor Rosa, and her horrible life. Also loosing to death so many children. Terrible!
The ending is a dream come true. Enjoy your visit Nelson's, Jorgensen's and Barkers, a real page turner!

[Jess Van Dyne-Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first (and probably the last) I have read of this group of books - The Elm Creek Quilts Novels. It started out slowly - young newlyweds starting out traveling across the country, having bought a ranch. Then they arrive and all is lost - the papers they have are forgeries and they have no money and nowhere to live.

Amazingly, instead of selling something (they brought trunks full of wedding gifts) and hopping the train back home, the husband squeals something about his pride and how he's not going back home with his tail between his legs...and effectively condemns his young wife to years of house servant labour. Adding insult to injury, they both end up as field hands at the ranch they thought they owned, so there are pages of the wife wandering around cleaning things and thinking about how if this was hers, how it would look/feel/run/work differently.

The lesson throughout this book? Be happy with what you have.

(Oh, and there's the requisite happy ending.)

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book of the Elm Creek Quilters...
the story takes place mostly around 1925 and is about Sylvia's older cousin Elizabeth and her new husband Henry as they set off to southern California for a new life on Triumph Ranch, which he used all his savings to purchase "sight-unseen".
As newlyweds, they go through many disappointments, bad choices, and many losses... including trading her precious quilts stitched by her Bergstrom relatives for their daily needs. Elizabeth is troubled on whether she will ever earn them back or will other quilts fill the void? She finds answers to her own future as she makes friends with a local, Rosa Diaz, who has secrets of her own.
I am loving all of the Elm Creek books and I'm trying to read the series in chronological order, so "Sonoma Rose" is next in sequence (written as Book #19).

[Diane Ferbrache · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story that fills in some more of the Bergstrom family history. Elizabeth and Henry have left PA for California in hopes of starting their lives as owners of a lovely ranch. We join them on the trip west and sympathize when they discover that all is not as promised.

This is Chiaverini at her best. She shines in family stories that are steeped in history. I loved learning about the early days of California, and (of course) how this story fits in the Elm Creek history. Great book for fans of the series.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a spin off from the regular series in that it dealt with Sylvia's favorite cousin, Elizabeth, who moved to California. While I wish we could have seen more have Elm Creek Manor, I still really enjoyed the story line. My only complaint is that most of it was so detailed and then all of the sudden everything "happens" at the end in much less detail.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because it was a Kindle deal of the day. The story was pretty good, but I enjoyed the setting -- the Conejo Valley in the early 1900s. It was a surprise to me, and it was fun reading about familiar landmarks.

[Mary Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Another great installment of this series. Every time I pick one of these books up I am pleasantly surprised. This one I couldn't put down and read it in one sitting.

[Barbara Spieker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading my way through this series and there are quite a few books I skip through or don't finish. This was one of them. This review is strictly based on my own reading preferences these days and so is not truly analytical and is not even fair. It is just my opinion. I don't read this series for drama and adventure. This particular book in the series started out in a way that was interesting to me. Elizabeth was touched on a prior book as a member of the family that Sylvia adored, but who went away and never came back and and even lost communication with the family. So it answers why that was. But it became too tragic and sad, elements I don't need more of in my life and so I began to skip through it. I finally just returned the book to the library and didn't finish it. That's one of the reasons that I say this review may be unfair, because it may have smoothed out later on. I will go on to read book #11.

[Jo Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Elm Creek Quilts series, but I like the books that involve the quilt camp and Silvia Bergstrom as an old lady. This book was set in 1925 into 1933 and was about one of the Bergstrom nieces, Elizabeth. She marries Henry, the "boy next-door" who tells her he has bought a farm (sight unseen) in California and if they marry, they will be moving there. Elizabeth loves Elm Creek but she also loves Henry and she's excited to start married life on an adventure. Except things go terribly wrong when they arrive in California.
Chiaverini always tells a good story and this one was the same, but I wanted more about the quilts. Yes, Elizabeth repaired some old quilts she found in a trunk and mourned over two quilts her aunts had made her that she traded away for supplies once she and Henry arrived in California. But the story felt like the quilts were just an afterthought. I'm sure readers will enjoy the story, but I wanted modern times and quilt camp and I was disappointed.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Elizabeth and Henry start out their newlywed life, little did they know what the future held in store for them. Henry had spent his life savings buying a farm in California only for them to find out he had been swindled. Unwilling to go back home to Pennsylvania with nothing he and Elizabeth end up working on the farm they thought they had purchased in order to save up enough money to return home. As the days go by their marriage suffers and Elizabeth also discovers some family issues of the people they are working for and another local family.
Having bartered the wonderful quilts that were wedding gifts from her family for badly needed supplies for the cabin they lived in on the farm Elizabeth spends her evenings repairing two quilts she found in a box in the cabin.
As time passes Elizabeth gets to know the situation that Rosa Barclay is dealing with and decides she has to help.

[Lynetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third book bound together and my least favorite. Some of the characters and/or their relatives from The Sugar Camp are included. Elizabeth Bergstrom's father is an alcoholic and runs a hotel in Harrisburg PA. Her heart is at Elm Creek Manor which she loves to visit. At the farm next door is Henry Nelson. Elizabeth has a crush on him from a young age and writes him with beau problems.

Henry tells Elizabeth he wants to move to California where he has bought sight unseen a ranch complete with cattle. Even at this point the plot is evident...it's a swindle. They are married at Elm Creek Manor and their many family heirlooms are shipped by train to this ranch. Their honeymoon on the train is is very chaste. The characters are well drawn overall.

Problems and disappointments ensue but at the end all the trauma is magically rewarded.

[AngieA Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book number 10 in the Elm Creek Quilts, this is a prequal about Elizabeth and her journey and life away from Elm Creek Manor beginning in 1925 when, as a newlywed, she travels with husband Henry to California. This story moves between 1925 and an even earlier saga about the previous family to live on El Rancho Triunfo, or Triumph Ranch. The historical drama catches up with Elizabeth's story in a well crafted narrative. As with all Elm Creek Quilts books, there are some quilts featured that are perfect for the situation. "Double Wedding Ring" and "Corners and Chimneys" plus two that Elizabeth discovers in a trunk in her log cabin home which she names herself: "Road to Trimuph Ranch" and "Arboles Valley Star." I enjoy this series and look forward to reading the rest.

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Elm Creek Quilt series continues to become more beloved to me with every new book I read.

This 10th book in the series is the best so far. It tells the tale of Elizabeth leaving Elm Creek Manor and heading to California after marrying Henry.

Henry has paid his life savings for a ranch in California, and they travel across the country by train to get there. Unfortunately, when they arrive, they find themselves swindled and destitute. Elizabeth is forced to part ways with her beautiful wedding quilts.

It is an action packed story with a lot of heart. All of Jennifer Chiaverini’s works are well-written and have wonderful settings as well as well drawn characters that you feel invested in.

Loved this! 5 stars.

[Vicki Carbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet. In the early 1920's, Henry and Elizabeth Nelson marry and head out to California from Pennsylvania to take possession of Triumph Ranch, which Henry has purchased sight unseen. Unfortunately, it is a swindle and both Henry and Elizabeth are forced to hire on at the Jorgensen farm, which, in earlier times was known as the Triumph Ranch. Because Elizabeth has befriended Rosa, the granddaughter of the owners of the land when it was known as Triumph Ranch, they are, at the end of the book, landowners themselves of a farm which they are instructed to name Triumph Ranch. Read the book to discover how they go from hands to owners.

[Dale Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a bit boring- I scanned several parts. A newlywed couple go across the country to take over a ranch they thought they bought - but it turns out to be a scam. The husband is too proud to go home, so they become hired hands at the ranch. Then they slowly work their way to a reasonably good life. Elizabeth, the wife, sells her quilts to an innkeeper, the person they stayed with when they thought they owned the ranch. They fix up a cabin that is in terrible shape. There is also a subplot about a woman who had children who are sick and whose husband abuses her. The book didn't grip me well, but I usually like Jennifer Chiaverine

[Tafta Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Elm Creek Quilts novel. I love Jennifer Chiaverini as an author. This book takes place away from Elm Creek. It takes place in California.

Elizabeth takes her quilts from Elm Creek with her to California. They are precious to her and fulfill a new need. They help Elizabeth and her husband, Henry find a home with each other as they start a new life together so very different than they thought they would be living.

They learned to overcome loss and disappointment as they become workers rather than owners of the Triumph Ranch. A charming story with quilt lore mixed in.

[Delores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry and Elizabeth Nelson, newlyweds, set out from their ancestral home in Pennsylvania to go west to California, making a new life on Triumph Ranch. However things were not as they appeared to be and the couple must make some new and/or difficult decisions on their change in circumstances. Their story was filled with disappointments, discouragements and unknown opportunities. However they had their love and shared goals. Their final reward was more than they could anticipate. Overall I did love reading this book and how the author using quilting throughout telling the Nelson's story.

[Chattynatty Van Waning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy this series an is a “go to” when I want a good audiobook. This story takes us away from Elm Creek- which I tend to not enjoy those stories in the series as much. This was good Ab I think I didn’t mind leaving Elm Creek as the reader gets to know about Aunt Elizabeth’s life, Sylvia’s favorite Aunt. I enjoyed the dual time line between early 1900’s and 1920-30’s. California is an intriguing state- so beautiful yet can be so hard with drought, Great Depression, and farming challenges highlighted in this story.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Quilter’s Homecoming was not my favorite Elm Creek Quilt novel. Most of the story took place in California, a long way from Elm Creek. It also did not include many of the main characters in the series. While it was interesting, it didn’t quite have the same charm of the Elm Creek books. The story of Elizabeth’s marriage and move to the west was engaging. The theme of quilts was continued. It wasn’t a disappointment, just not what I expected.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually really enjoy the books in this series, but this book really left me feeling like there was so much more the author could have done to make this a much better story. It felt like I was getting the surface of the story and characters but if the author had chosen to dig into more character development, background and more of the history it could have evolved into a much better story.

So much potential but seriously lacking overall.

[Elaine Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story about families who have settled in Arboles Valley in California in the 1920's. Life was hard in those early years. Some had electricity and some did not. Some had privy's and some had real bathrooms. The ladies in this story had an interest in quilting. Some old quilts were found in a trunk in a derelict cabin. The story starts on the east coast and moves by train and wagon to the west coast. I enjoyed this story and you will too.