Sometimes there are books that capture your heart, and Home From Home is most certainly one of those. Set in idyllic rural Rushbrook, the focus of this novel is Dragonfly Farm, complete with apple orchards that produce the mystical Melchior cider. A long standing rivalry between two families, the Melchiors and the Culbones is the starting point for the story and we are introduced to a cast that include Tab, Georgia, Gum, Joy, Dash, Gabriel, Lola, Chris and Nicola. Each has secrets and tragedy in their past, and Henry reveals these layers languidly, which was in perfect keeping with the feel of this beautifully paced story. Overwhelmingly though, each character has love flowing through their veins which made this a pure joy to read. I cried, I smiled, I was transported to Dragonfly Farm. Home from Home was like a warm blanket wrapped round me in the coldest of winter months and I wish I could bottle the joy it gave me, for it would surely sustain me during the depths of winter. By far my favourite read of 2019 and thank you Veronica Henry for your beautiful book.

I loved this book. Veronica Henry's tale of 2 families and their rivalry is very entertaining. The characters are likeable and the story believable. The different threads of the story are cleverly woven together to make a satising ending without feeling contrived. Great for whiling away time on holiday.

Veronica Henry at her finest. Characters that are genuine and a plot line that truly reflects the tangled web of families linked over generations. I didn’t want the story to end and just know that this must be the start of something special!

The Melchior and Culbone families have been arch rivals for many years, with Dragonfly Farm being right in the middle of them both. Dragonfly Farm in Somerset originally belonged to the Culbone’s until it was won in a card game by one of the Melchior family. The family feud continued through the generations, resting with its present owner Matthew Melchior. With the West Country renowned for its apples, Matthew runs Melchior Cider Farm with his great niece, Tabitha. When Matthew dies unexpectedly, the farm is not only passed to his two great nieces, Tabitha and Georgia but also to someone who they have never heard of. Gabriel Culbone is an estranged member of the Culbone family and also has no idea why the farm has been left to him. When they all begin looking into their family’s histories, they uncover secrets which have been hidden for years….

I LOVED this book!! Note the LOVED in capitals as it’s the only way to visually express how much I LOVED it!! I’ve read many books by this author, so I knew I was going to enjoy this one but it took me completely by surprise by how good it was! There was nothing in this story which I didn’t enjoy. The location was perfect and I could picture so vividly both Dragonfly Farm and Rushbook House, with the little brook running between the both of them. All the characters were adorable, and I don’t think there was one which I could say was my favourite, as they all were!!

Switching between different characters, the story takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions through the two family’s stories. Jumping from present day to different times in the past, the storyline slowly reveals what really happened between the families over the years and how those secrets have had an effect on so many people over time, with each generation having its own secrets. Of course, the main story was what was going to happen to the farm now and the suspense of this was kept going all through the book.

I have to admit, this book did have me in tears at points throughout the story and I couldn’t believe how much emotion was written into the storyline. Once I started the book, I read it at every given opportunity and wasn’t satisfied until I’d finished it. I completely lost myself in the story every time I picked it up and was the perfect piece of escapism from normal life, even if it was just a few chapters at a time. I really wanted to get to the end, but once I got there I just wanted to go back to the beginning and start all over again. A heart-warming and equally heart-breaking story of families, love and secrets. Absolutely perfect, loved it!!

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

‘It was odd, she thought, how death recalibrated everything and brought people together.’

This is the first Veronica Henry novel I’ve read and I normally prefer thrillers so this was a different genre for me.

The story is mainly set on an old, rundown farm in Somerset that’s been in the family for years. Tabitha lives there with her great uncle until he unfortunately passes away. His death heals the rift that’s come between Tabitha and her cousin Georgia but also introduces them to new faces they knew nothing about. As the family are brought together, secrets that have been kept for many years are finally told and historic feuds are forgotten.

The imagery of the farm and the quaint village is well done, it made me want to walk by a river and sit down under a tree with a cold cider!

Although I didn’t like every character, they were all well developed and it was easy to remember who was who as you could easily picture each one.

This is a perfect, comforting read for summer.

A home from home isn't my normal genre but I have to say I enjoyed it, it isn't over schmaltzy like some stories I've read in the past and the characters are engaging so I was left wanting to know what happened to them. It is a perfect read beside the pool or curled up beside a roaring fire,

The story is about family rivalry between the Melchoirs and the culbones, the latter having lost Dragonfly Farm in a card game generations beforre to the Melchoirs, ever since there has been hostility between them but when Matthew Melchoir dies, his will leaves his neices 2/3rds of the farm the other 1/3rd confussingly to a Culbourne and with no explanation as to why. The will leaves everyone involved confused and searching for answers, but who is left to answer them? and more importantly are they able to put their past history behind them and will everyone involved be able to move on to their happily ever after.

A perfect summer read and the type of book I needed.
It's well written, fun to read and engrossing.
I liked the well written cast of characters, the setting and the plot that flows without issues.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book. A light hearted read which I read while on a train journey. Highly recommended for those who want do switch off and be transported to a lovely setting with great characters.

HOME FROM HOME BY VERONICA HENRY
I love Veronica Henry’s books and this book is as good as any she has written. She makes the characters sing out from the page and you get totally engrossed in the story. This is set in Somerset which is a slight deviation from her normal setting of the Cotswolds or Cornwall. The main plot is about the occupancy and ownership of Dragonfly Farm which has been the home of the Melchior family for many years. When the current owner dies he leaves it to his great nieces Talitha and Georgia and one other unknown person who features at the beginning of the book. The plot mainly revolves around the heritage of this unknown person but there are other twists involving the Culbones who have been the arch enemies of the Melchiors for many years. The story does a bit of going back in time with a storyline about Georgia’s mother, but this is done in one chunk so there is no going backwards and forwards wondering what is going on.
I love Veronica Henry’s style of writing and the fact that there is often food involved which is wonderfully described to the point of making one feel hungry! She is also good at describing surroundings enabling one to actually visualize the scene. I have loved every book she has written but I think this one is going to be one of my favourites. She has written a number of books over a relatively short space of time. I hope she continues to write so prolifically!
Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read and give an honest review of this book.

A really enjoyable read with several twist and turns which keep you guessing. It is well written and is very fluid which makes it a joy to read. The main characters, and there are more than one - keep reading and you will find how many, are very real and could so easily be people some of us would know.

I want my own dragonfly farm!! Sounds so delightful! I loved this book and I sincerely hope there are more to follow.
The divide for many many years between 2 families at war against each other,but secrets lie within each family to which eventually comes out,where relatives are not who they think they are!
A wonderful weekend read. Loved it. Now I want more please.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
A very good read and one I can highly recommend to others.
I could not put this down.
Thoroughly enjoyable with an amazing cast of characters that you cannot help but engage with.

This is a book that pulls you in right from the start and you truly feel a part of the landscape which is rural Somerset and the wonderful Dragonfly Farm. Veronica Henry describes this so well that it became a very special and lovable place in my mind's eye and one that I'd love to visit. The characters are equally warm and appealing and there are many of them which I initially thought I'd have difficulty with, i.e. remembering who belonged to whom but with such unusual names as Gum, Dash, Tarka, Plum, Gabriel, Tab (Tabitha) and Georgia it wasn't too hard to keep them separate in my mind. The story which revolves around a long standing feud between the Melchiors and the Culbones reveals many family secrets, surprises, tragedies and love affairs and I was gripped throughout and rooting for the cousins Georgia and Tab who stood to lose their beautiful farm which was also the beloved home of Tab who lived there with her great uncle Gum until his death and who afterwards resides there alone. .All of the characters were likable and very real - the kind you'd want for friends and neighbours - and I'd love to re-visit them, (and Dragonfly Farm), again in a future book.. There certainly does seem to be scope for future stories here. For an easy to read, family saga to while away a summer holiday or a winter snuggle-up by the fire, look no further. My thanks to Netgalley and Orion books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Different to the type you of book I’d normally go for but I really enjoyed this story of family, family feuds, love, mystery, sadness and happiness. A real feel good story that was easy to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I chose this book because I am a genealogy nut and thought I would really enjoy the stories from both the long-dead ancestors and the present ones. There wasn't actually as much of the story of the ancestors as I had expected, nevertheless, I enjoyed the characters and the story and thought this was a lovely, relaxing summer read. I have highlighted some of the descriptive passages as they are beautifully written and I can see my students enjoying analysing the various language devices Henry has employed.

Generations previously, a feckless member of the well heeled, affluent Culbone clan gambled and lost the family farm in a game of cards to a member of the Melchior family. This sets in motion an ongoing feud and rivalry between these opposing factions, which is passed down through successive generations. It shows no sign of abating in the youngest generation of Tabitha Melchior and Dash Culbone, who live on opposite sides of the river. However, the death of Tabitha’s beloved great-uncle Gum reveals a mysterious bequest and skeletons begin tumbling out of both families cupboards, and we learn through flashback the various backstories which make sense of the present day predicaments. An enjoyable, frothy summer read brimming with romance, drama and intrigue.

I enjoyed reading this story about the coming together of feuding families and the intrigue of their dispute.. The twist in the tale belonged to which characters were from which side but was sorted nicely in the end. I have enjoyed Veronica Henry's books in the past and this one lived up to expectations

This book does not disappoint. I am such a fan of Veronica Henry and all her wonderful stories. This particular one, featuring Rushbrook House and the beautiful ramshackle Dragonfly Farm, is delightful and charming with exquisite characters that you want to meet in real life! The Melchiors and Culbornes are sworn rivals and the two don't mix or cross the river that divides the two Somerset properties. And yet in spite of tragic history, the two did (and do) mix, and as the battle to keep Dragonfly Farm home to Georgia and Tabitha ensues, we learn that the two families are very much connected.
I love the way Veronica Henry creates characters that you instantly fall in love with. None of them are ever the same but every single one, whether main characters or 'bit players' in the plot, are so lovingly drawn that as a reader you leave behind your life and fall head over heels in a world where, although there is conflict, you just know there are always going to be uplifting, life affirming happy endings!
A rural delight plays out amongst the pages, with a young child called Plum ,a knife craftsman called Gabriel, a model wife, a script writing cousin and Tab, the feisty female whose home Dragonfly Farm is. Step into their world, meet Dash, Diane, Tarka and a whole host of others who make the story what it is - a welcome hug to relax into which feeds your soul, warms your heart and puts a genuine smile on your face. My kind of reading heaven!
Highly recommend this book to all Henry's fans and new readers too. Just don't ever stop writing Veronica!
Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication.

Heart warming tale of families, love and tragedy... captivating and engrossing. I loved this book, finding it difficult to put down as It was described so well and with such feeling, examining the different forms that love takes- passionate, family, enduring and comforting. perfect escapism.

This is such an enjoyable story, perfect for reading outside in my sunny garden. The longstanding feud between the Melchiors and the Culbones is the central focus for their two families, and how their relationships entwine - or don’t! The sudden death of an older Melchior brings many tensions and disputes bubbling to the surface, along with several long held secrets.
There are one or two surprising twists and turns along the way, which hold the reader’s interest, and the characterisation is excellent, I enjoyed getting to know the different members of each family.
The writing is excellent, and although the book is undemanding and cosy, I would recommend it. It’s a perfect holiday read, and I will read more of this author’s work.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.