I recently finished reading Coming Home by Julieann Dove. It’s the first book in a planned series about some women who grew up in a small town in Texas. This one is about Abigail, who left that small town with her parents during her senior year of high school. Her father’s a preacher, and Abigail was pregnant at the time. Her pregnancy could ruin his reputation. That pregnancy was one of the many secrets Abigail kept from many of the people that she loved.
Introducing the Story
The plot was interesting. When it starts out, Abigail is going through a bit of a life crisis. She was a lawyer, and a recent case hit Abigail a bit hard, causing her to quit her job. When Abigail’s daughter, Tessa, whom she gave up just after birth, shows up on Abigail’s doorstep seeking answers, secrets from Abigail’s past slowly start to surface. Neither Abigail’s almost-fiancé, Joe, nor Abigail’s high school boyfriend, Ryan, know about Tessa.
When Tessa expresses a desire to meet Ryan, Abigail makes up some excuses. Soon, she’s heading from Maine to her Texas hometown, a place she hasn’t visited since leaving 18ish years ago.
This was an enjoyable story. Abigail and Ryan, as well as some of the other less prominent characters, were really well-written and enjoyable to read about. I would definitely read other books in the series.
Where It Went Wrong for Me
With that in mind, there are two main reasons that this wasn’t a 5-star book for me. The first is that there were some issues with when events took place. I will try not to ruin the book, but Abigail mentions starting to date Ryan after junior prom. That would be probably April or May. She later says that she dated him for “one year, two months.” Yet, she also says that she left before she finished her senior year. That doesn’t quite add up. Dating him starting late sophomore year and dating for roughly a year and two months makes a lot more sense, especially since it sounds like Tessa was born in February of Abigail’s senior year.
There’s also a singing group mentioned that Abigail and Ryan listened to as teenagers, which would have been about 2001. That singing group didn’t get together until 2006. While these little things won’t bother some readers, they were distracting to me.
The second issue is that I felt like there was something missing. I’m not completely sure how to explain it without saying that disclosing too much of the plot. I will say that Abigail and her parents were apparently very close with Abigail’s aunt and her grandma while Abigail was growing up. When her parents sneak her away to hide her pregnancy, they cut off almost all contact with these family members. Neither group goes to visit the other. One of the characters mentions how when Abigail and her parents left, it was like they were in the Witness Protection Program, which was what I was thinking throughout the story. Even after reading this book, I’m not sure why some of the loss of contact happened and why Abigail never questioned it.
Clean or Not?
This book is a bit of an odd combination. It has a lot of Christian values throughout the text, but then there’s also some swearing. I didn’t count the swear words, but I’d say that there were probably 5-7 total, so not a lot. There’s no sexual content or violence. The book does talk about some potentially sensitive topics, including rape, teen pregnancy, giving up a child for adoption, and controlling parents.
I felt like religion was presented as both a good thing and a bad thing. The very reason that Abigail’s pregnancy is a secret and that there are so many secrets is because her dad can’t look like a failure as a preacher. Yet, there are also messages about forgiveness and the importance of going to church. Honestly, I felt like hiding Abigail’s pregnancy was more important to her mom than it was to her dad.
The Secrets Continue
While this does end on a mostly happy note, it is not until almost the very end that one of the biggest secrets is revealed. When that’s revealed, some of the things that didn’t make sense make a lot more sense. I am interested in reading the other books in the series. I’m wondering if Abigail’s high school friends will have some of their own secrets. While the beginning of the story mentions several women, we are only really introduced to one of her high school friends other than Ryan.
