Review: The Homecoming by Dan Walsh

The Homecoming
By: Dan Walsh
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3389-6

About the book:

A reluctant war hero returns home and encounters a new chance at love.

No sooner has Shawn Collins returned home from the fighting in Europe than he is called upon to serve his country in another way – as a speaker on the war bond tour. While other men might jump at the chance to travel around the country with attractive Hollywood starlets, Shawn just wants to stay home with his son Patrick and his aging father, and grieve the loss of his wife in private.

When Shawn asks Katherine Townsend to be Patrick’s nanny while he’s on the road, he has no idea how this decision will impact his life. Could it be the key to his future happiness and the mending of his heart? Or will the war once again threaten his chances for a new start?

Dan Walsh does not disappoint in this tender story of family ties and the healing of a broken heart.

Review:

In The Homecoming, Shawn Collins is a newly-minted war hero, recalled home to grieve the sudden loss of his wife and to care for his young son, Patrick. Shawn is a man adrift, lacking focus and purpose since learning of his beloved wife’s death – an event that occurred while he was halfway across the world in a war zone, attempting to evade capture by the Germans after being shot down in enemy territory. Forced to face a life he’d never imagined living, Shawn battles coming to terms with the overwhelming changes life has thrown his way in the span of a few short weeks. The death of his wife, a near escape, reconciliation with his father, and the demands the Army continues to place on his time leave Shawn grappling with his grief and question his faith in the God who would allow such heartache to rain down in his life. From the glamour of an all-star war bond tour to life in London under the threat of German rocket attacks, Shawn must decide whether or not to accept God’s offered gift of second chances and new beginnings grown from the ashes of wartime heartbreak.

Dan Walsh’s debut novel, The Unfinished Gift, was a sweet story of forgiveness and reconciliation set in the American homefront during World War II. While stylistically Gift was not my usual read, I enjoyed Walsh’s nostalgic recreation of WWII homefront life and was curious to see the resolution of the Collins family story. Homecoming contains all the strengths of Walsh’s first book – the evocative, nostalgic sense of time and place, and an emphasis on faith and family - and improves on them. The book’s greatest strength is Shawn’s spiritual and emotional “homecoming” journey. Shawn’s character is well-drawn and the emotional roller-coaster he experiences throughout the novel is realistically portrayed, particularly in how he confronts questions of faith. I really enjoyed reading the sweet wartime romance Walsh creates in this novel. I love how he shares Shawn’s wartime experiences while still giving the story a unique homefront perspective, this time seen through the eyes of a soldier on a war bonds tour, witnessing the sacrifice of those left behind to support the troops. Sure to appeal to fans of Richard Paul Evans or Nicholas Sparks, The Homecoming blends wartime romance with a dash of faith and is a satisfying conclusion to the Collins family story of heartbreak and restoration. These stories would make wonderful TV movies – keeping my fingers crossed that they’re brought to life on-screen someday.

• Click to read my review of The Unfinished Gift.

The Homecoming Blog Tour Stop!

First, I must start this post by offering my apologies - I'd really hoped (and expected) to have a full review of The Homecoming by Dan Walsh posted by yesterday. Unpacking and finding places for stuff since the move is still taking up most of my time (books are the worst offenders, LOL!). The Homecoming is Walsh's sequel to The Unfinished Gift, a sweet story I reviewed back in December (you can read that review here). So far this second offering is an equally heartwarming tale, sure to be enjoyed by fans of the first book. And I have to say, I love getting to know Shawn. :)

Here's a bit about the story to "tide you over" till I can get a full review up:

A reluctant war hero returns home and encounters a new chance at love.

No sooner has Shawn Collins returned home from the fighting in Europe than he is called upon to serve his country in another way--as a speaker on the war bond tour. While other men might jump at the chance to travel around the country with attractive Hollywood starlets, Shawn just wants to stay home with his son Patrick and his aging father, and grieve the loss of his wife in private. When Shawn asks Katherine Townsend to be Patrick's nanny while he's on the road, he has no idea how this decision will impact his life. Could it be the key to his future happiness and the mending of his heart? Or will the war once again threaten his chances for a new start?

Dan Walsh does not disappoint in this tender story of family ties and the healing of a broken heart.

Review: The Unfinished Gift by Dan Walsh

The Unfinished Gift
By: Dan Walsh
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 978-0-8007-1924-1

About the book:

Can a gift from the past mend a broken heart?

Ian Collins is an old man without his son. Patrick Collins is a young boy without his father. On his Christmas list are only three items. He wants the army to find his father. He wants to leave his grandfather’s house. And he wants the dusty wooden soldier in Grandfather’s attic – the one he is forbidden to touch.

Review:

It’s December 1943, and seven-year-old Patrick’s world had been rocked by the sudden death of his mother in a car accident. Sent to live with Ian Collins, the paternal grandfather he’s never even met, and who disowned Patrick’s father for his marriage and renewed faith in Christ – Patrick’s wishes are simple. He wants his father to come home and save him from his cold, unfeeling grandfather, and he wants the unfinished, hand carved wooden soldier hidden in his grandfather’s attic. The wooden soldier just happens to be a very painful reminder to Ian of the long standing rift between him & son. Ian has no intention of giving up that very tangible symbol of years of anger and bitterness, until unexpected truths are revealed and he may have a chance to restore his fractured family. But has his change of heart come too late to save a wounded little boy?

The Unfinished Gift is a sweet little story, especially heart-tugging this time of year, when families tend to be uppermost in one’s mind – those with us physically and those with us in spirit. This is the type of story that should definitely appeal to fans of Richard Paul Evans or even Nicholas Sparks’s at their heartwarming best. Gift is a nice, light diversion but personally, the message of reconciliation and forgiveness got just a bit overly didactic. Also, I had real trouble buying Patrick’s voice as that of a seven-year-old. He’s an adorable kid, but he comes off as way, way too mature for his age and too completely, well, perfect. By the time we meet him in the novel, his mother’s been dead just about a week – one week, and it felt like the narrative just barely scratched the surface of the pain and confusion that must surely be there, somewhere. However, as the impetus for facilitating reconciliation between father & son, Patrick’s character fits the bill perfectly.

Walsh does a commendable job evoking the setting of America during World War II. It’s a treat to read stories set in the homefront, especially ones like this that give you a real sense of the hardships war imposed on those left behind, waiting for and hoping loved ones would return safely from the conflict. That nostalgic sense of time and place is one of the novel’s greatest strengths. I think this story would make an ideal made-for-TV movie. The story is a great little reminder of the importance of faith and family. Though stylistically it’s a little too preachy for my tastes, Walsh does such a good job bringing the time period to life and introducing the Collins family that I want to check out the sequel – The Homecoming releases June 2010.