From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: The Home Place by Carrie La Seur

Author: Carrie La Seur

Publisher: William Morrow

Date of publication: July 2014

The only Terrebonne who made it out, Alma thought she was done with Montana, with its cruel poverty, bleak winters, and stifling ways. Hard work and steely resolve got her to Yale, and now she’s an attorney in a high-profile Seattle law firm, too consumed by her career to think about the past. But an unexpected call from the Montana police takes the successful lawyer back to her provincial hometown and pulls her into the family trouble she thought she’d escaped.

Her lying, party-loving younger sister, Vicky, is dead. The Billings police say that a very drunk Vicky wandered away from a party and died of exposure after a night in the brutal cold. The strong one who fled Billings and saved herself, Alma returns to make Vicky’s funeral arrangements and see to her eleven-year-old niece, Brittany. Once she is back in town, Alma discovers that Vicky’s death may not have been an accident.

Needing to make her peace with the sister she left behind, Alma sets out to find the truth, an emotional journey that leads her to the home place, her grandmother Maddie’s house on the Montana plains that has been the center of the Terrebonne family for generations. She re-encounters Chance, her first love, whose presence reminds her of everything that once was . . . and everything that might be. But before she can face the future, Alma must acknowledge the truth of her own life—the choices that have haunted her and ultimately led her back to this place.

I had to sit on this one for a while because I am on the fence at how much I liked it, or didn't like it. I will say that I was intrigued enough to read it fairly quickly. But in the end, I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed the book.

What I liked most was the mystery of what happened to Vicky. I thought the mystery for that was well planned out and I didn't see the solution coming. That is always a good sign. As for the rest, I really didn't like any of the characters. They all seemed kind of depressing to me. Maybe it's because I don't know much about the region of Montana that the story takes place. There just wasn't anyone I found myself rooting for, not even Brittany, the 11YO. The "romance" felt like an afterthought and felt forced. The ending left me feeling a little unsatisfied as several things were unresolved.

So, in the end I'd have to say it was just an OK read for me. I recommend reading it for the mystery alone, but don't expect much from the rest.

About the author:

Carrie La Seur is an energy and environmental lawyer in Billings, Montana. She earned a doctorate in modern languages from Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar, a law degree from Yale, and a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College. She is a licensed private pilot who hikes, skis, and fishes the Montana wilderness with her family in her spare time.

Find out more about Carrie at her website, follow her onTwitter, and connect with her on Facebook.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Carrie’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, July 29th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, July 30th: Read Lately

Thursday, July 31st: River City Reading

Monday, August 4th: From the TBR Pile