Until She Comes Home by Lori Roy – a Review

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Description:
Winner of an Edgar Award for Best First Novel for Bent Road, Lori Roy returns with Until She Comes Home, a tale of spellbinding suspense in which a pair of seemingly unrelated murders crumbles the facade of a changing Detroit neighborhood.

In 1958 Detroit, on Alder Avenue, neighbors struggle to care for neighbors amid a city ripe with conflicts that threaten their peaceful street.

Grace, Alder’s only expectant mother, eagerly awaits her first born. Best friend Julia prepares to welcome twin nieces. And Malina sets the tone with her stylish dresses, tasteful home, and ironfisted stewardship of St. Alban’s bake sale.

Life erupts when childlike Elizabeth disappears while in the care of Grace and Julia. All the ladies fear the recent murder of a black woman at the factory on Willingham Avenue where their husbands work may warn of what has become of Elizabeth, and they worry what is yet to become of Julia—the last to see Elizabeth alive.

The men mount an around-the-clock search, leaving their families vulnerable to sinister elements hidden in plain sight. Only Grace knows what happened, but her mother warns her not to tell. “No man wants to know this about his wife.” Ashamed that her silence puts loved ones in harm’s way, Grace gravitates toward the women of Willingham Avenue, who recognize her suffering as their own. Through their acceptance, Grace conquers her fear and dares to act.

On Alder Avenue, vicious secrets bind friends, neighbors, and spouses. For the wicked among them, the walk home will be long.

Review:

Until She Comes Home is Lori Roy’s second novel.  Last year I read her first book, Bent Road and said at that time, she was an excellent writer, and we should expect more of the same from her.  Well I can safely say, she has done it again.  Until She Comes Home is a suspense story of two tragedies that take place in the same neighborhood in Detroit.  It is a somber and tension filled story of how these murders intermingle, during a time of racial conflict, and how it causes everything to slowly crumble.

We meet the ladies early on, as they all are at Grace’s house for an afternoon get together. We meet Grace, who is pregnant, and her best friend Julia, who is taking care of her two nieces. Malina is another of the wives we meet, and we learn that her husband is cheating on her with one of the prostitutes who hang around the factory where many of the men work.  Malina goes one evening to follow him, only to come face to face with a few of “colored ladies” who know why she is there.  The next day, one of the those woman is found dead.  Malina is worried her husband is responsible, and is desperate to hide that she tried to follow him.  

At a get together at Grace’s house, the gossip is about the murder in town.  Malina is the one doing most of the talking.  During this time, we meet Elizabeth, who is somewhat handicapped mentally, and Grace, keeps an eye on her.  When it is time to get Elizabeth home, Grace makes sure Julia walks her home.  That night, Elizabeth is found to be missing, and the neighborhood joins forces to search for her.  All the men take turns, leaving no stone unturned, but to no avail, Elizabeth remains missing. Everyone fears the worse.

A day or so later, while she is in her garage, Grace is attacked by three men, one of whom rapes her.  Grace’s mother finds her, and cleans her up. She tells Grace to never tell anyone, especially her husband what happened, because he will never look at her the same.  Also in this mix is Julia’s two nieces, who may have witnessed something bad that happened to Grace, but they are afraid to say anything. Despite being warned to stay in the house, they continue to go about and find themselves getting into trouble.

What follows is a tense story of how the murder of the prostitute, and the disappearance of Elizabeth effect everyone and turns their lives around.  The secrets, the fears, and the betrayals divide everyone, creating dangerous situations. 

Does Grace tell her husband and the police the truth, to help find the men who may have done the same thing to Elizabeth; or does she hide the truth to save her marriage?  What secrets does Julia discover about her husband that threatens their marriage?  Will Malina continue to hide where she was the night of the murder, and to what will she go through to protect herself?

Lori Roy does a fantastic job in this suspenseful and tense tale of a neighborhood that seemed a perfect place to live, become a cesspool of lies and secrets.  Roy slowly rips the masks of their lives, and shows us what is underneath in the face of tragedy.  The key here is that she does this so flawlessly.  This was a very intense story, very well written, with so many emotional moments, that I found myself thinking about this book for two days before I wrote this review.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author