In my latest interview, I’m in conversation with the bestselling author, Kate Morton, to discuss her latest novel, Homecoming, which has just been released in the paperback edition in the UK this week.

Press the play button below to listen to our conversation:

Homecoming is a suspenseful, page-turning book that explores what home really means, the power of storytelling and the secrets that families keep.

The novel begins in 1959. It’s a boiling hot Christmas Eve in Australia, and Percy Summers makes a horrific discovery by the banks of a creek in the grounds of a grand country house.

Isabel Turner and her children are lying, seemingly asleep, having just finished a picnic, but as Percy approaches he realises something is terribly wrong and that a shocking crime has been committed. The Turner Family Tragedy of 1959 causes ripples throughout the small town community in which the Turners lived in South Australia, and remains a baffling mystery for decades.

Then, flashing forward to 2018, young Australian journalist, Jess Turner-Bridges, has been living in London for many years, when suddenly she gets a phone call that sends her back home to Australia. Her beloved grandmother, Nora, is seriously ill.

Once back in her grandmother’s house, Jess finds a book that Nora was reading before being taken to hospital. Jess is puzzled as to why her grandmother would be reading a true crime book about an incident from so long ago - The Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. As Jess reads the book herself, she realises that there are connections between her own family history and this terrible crime, making her question everything she has been told.

I had a wonderful time chatting to Kate about her spell-binding latest read, and how her own ‘homecoming’ in returning to Australia influenced her writing. 

In common with Kate’s other much-loved novels, Homecoming features incredible houses and gardens. One house in particular, Halcyon - the home of the Turner family - acts as a character in its own right within the novel. During our chat, Kate told me about a real house in Australia, Martindale Hall, which provided some inspiration for Halcyon.

Kate very kindly sent me some photos from when she visited Martindale Hall in 2020. The wallpaper gets a special mention in our interview!

All images of the interior and exterior of Martindale Hall © Kate Morton

Episode Links:

• Homecoming by Kate Morton.

• The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton.

• Martindale Hall.

• Keep up with Kate Morton’s news through her instagram and website.

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