The Homecoming of Samuel Lake

Every first Sunday in
June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at “the old
home place,” a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year,
Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved
wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the
festivities. The children embrace the reunion as a welcome escape from
the prying eyes of their father’s congregation; for Willadee it’s a
precious opportunity to spend time with her mother and father, Calla and
John. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes,
jolting the family to their core: John’s untimely death and, soon after,
the loss of Samuel’s parish, which set the stage for a summer of crisis
and profound change.In the midst of it all, Samuel and
Willadee’s outspoken eleven-year-old daughter, Swan, is a bright light.
Her high spirits and fearlessness have alternately seduced and bedeviled
three generations of the family. But it is Blade Ballenger, a
traumatized eight-year-old neighbor, who soon captures Swan’s undivided
attention. Full of righteous anger, and innocent of the peril facing her
and those she loves, Swan makes it her mission to keep the boy safe
from his terrifying father.With characters who spring to life as
vividly as if they were members of one’s own family, and with the
clear-eyed wisdom that illuminates the most tragic—and
triumphant—aspects of human nature, Jenny Wingfield emerges as one of
the most vital, engaging storytellers writing today. In The Homecoming of Samuel Lake she has created a memorable and lasting work of fiction.