“Beautiful, inspiring, emotional, masterful.”—Heidi Chiavaroli, Carol Award–winning author of Freedom’s Ring and The Orchard House. This dual-time story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of the mother-daughter relationship, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and the lives of others, and the healing power of telling the truth. You know the story: The main character, after many years away, must return to their hometown because of an illness or death in their family, or because they’ve been at war and now they’re back, or maybe they’ve gotten a divorce and need familial support while they get back on their feet — the reasons go on and on. The point is that there are a ton of great books about a person returning to where they grew up. But there are a different genres of these stories: Someone returns to the haunted house to face down a demon. The main character returns home and finds the nerdy kid next door is now a dreamboat. A detective is assigned a murder investigation in the town where they grew up. Whatever the reasoning, whatever the genre, returning to the childhood home stories are always compelling and full of drama and secrets. So please sit back and enjoy these nine great books about returning to the childhood home. Because you might not be able to go home again, but you can read about other people doing it all you want. Bonus recommendation: Mark down Memphis by Tara Stringfellow on your TBR right now. It’s a remarkable story about returning to the childhood home, and it’s going to be one of the big books of 2022.
