AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS, by Monica McInerney

I'm a great fan of Australian author Monica McInerney’s novels--At Home With the Templetons is no exception. This family saga opens with the widow Nina Donovan and her son, Tom, invited to a fete at neighboring Templeton Hall in the historic goldfields area of Australia.

Secretive Nina is overwhelmed by the Templeton clan’s lavish family estate, which they open to the public for weekend tours. The family dresses in period costumes as they guide tourists through the Hall, and are wearing these costumes when Nina first encounters them.

As the story progresses, the reader comes to know each of the characters (and I use this term in every sense of its meaning) in the Templeton family as their lives intertwine ever more closely. McInerney does an impressive job of detailing each person’s life, although the focus of the story is on Gracie Templeton and Tom Donovan. When a tragedy tears the families apart, secret after secret is revealed about each life.  

The story reaches a satisfying climax, yet the thought-provoking issues raised left me pondering how I would have reacted in the same set of circumstances.

If you enjoy reading stories of family dynamics, as I do, you’ll love At Home With the Templetons. This novel is general market fiction and as such contains infrequent profanity and sexual references.

THE DISCOVERY, by Dan Walsh

When best-selling author Gerard Warner dies, his grandson, Michael Warner, inherits the man's stately home in Charleston. On a desk in the home, the grandfather has left a wooden box containing an unfinished manuscript, which he intended for Michael to find.
What follows is a story-within-a-story, as Michael reads the manuscript. The Discovery is structured in such a way that the reader is allowed to look over Michael's shoulder and read along with him.
The story he discovers is a fascinating tale involving little-known events that took place in Florida during World War II. Running through the authentic wartime scenes is a heartwarming love story, told with Walsh’s customary depth and richness.
The Discovery will go on my "keeper" shelf. I recommend it highly, both for history buffs and lovers of touching romantic fiction.

My thanks to Revell for providing me with a review copy of this book.