In 1970, Violet Hawkins’ only wish at eighteen is to escape her life in the Dayton, Ohio, foster-care system and make her way to the west coast to enjoy a mellow life and find the love she’s been missing all her life. She makes it to San Francisco, but soon learns she needs a job if she’s to live properly. A kind, young man named Kenton Chandler offers her a sandwich and a job at his father’s inn and vineyards. With nothing to lose, Lettie takes him up on his offer and begins a whole new life in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. She immediately falls in love with the land and is fascinated with the idea of growing grapes in order to make wines. She, Kenton, and Rafe Lopez become friends as she learns about running the small inn on the property.
At the same time she marries Kenton, a stroke kills his father. And then before she can tell Kenton she’s pregnant, he dies in an automobile accident. Heartbroken and burdened with the gift of the Chandler Hill Inn and Winery, she’s left with the task of making them a success. Struggling to raise a child alone while working to grow the business, Lettie makes a shocking discovery that changes everything.
Reader Reviews
“Going Home by Judith Keim is a beautiful story about friends, family, and overcoming struggles while building a beautiful life. Author Judith Keim does an amazing job making you fall in love with Violet (Letti) Hawkins. This is an amazing book!” – Jamie Onderisin, Reviewer
“Author, Judith Keim, pulls us to a story spanning the 1970’s, 80’s, 90’s and very early 2000’s with all the background of what was going on at that time. The central character, Lettie Hawkins, a young woman finds herself in a world she could only have imagined. She spent her life in foster care and has no confidence and is very naïve about a lot of things. Lettie is a wonderfully imaginative, honest person and catches the eye of a young man who happens to be the son of a very famous man with great ambitions for his land and life. A first immature but wonderful love gives way to stability and marriage with another. She finds herself growing up and becomes a stronger individual once taken under their wings.
Lettie’s romantic relationships may be naïve, but her natural instincts for the land the Chandlers want to turn into a winery and Inn are mature. In the years staying and working at the Inn, she will know many joys and gain self-confidence. The price is great sorrow, though, and we are taken through times of the Vietnam war, PTSD, losing family and friends to cancer and accident, but gaining a beautiful daughter in the process and hard won success at the Inn and in the fields.
This is much more than a romance and tells of successful women who build, create, and love in equal parts and strength. I look forward to the second book in the series by Judith Keim.” – Pam McCarthy – Reviewer
“Going Home is truly about the heroine and main character of the story, a green girl trying to find her way in the world. Quickly becoming disillusioned with life in California, Lettie meets what she hopes is a nice guy and agrees, on a whim to travel with him to Oregon for a job. She winds up accepting the job and her life truly changes in a very short time. This novel allows the reader to watch Lettie grow up into the woman she is meant to be. Tangled love interests, secrets that come to light, wine making by day, love making by night. and frustrated relationships between mother and daughter keep this book moving when it could have slowed down. I would say the book goes down easy enough but has a tender bite to it that needs to be explored.
Lettie’s joy and innocence and the way she connected with the land and the people around her really touched my heart. I also felt like she was real enough not some virtuous woman that only belongs on a pedestal. Well done, Judith Keim…. Going Home is about what home is and who we choose to make a place in our heart for along the way. I can’t wait to read the next one!!!!!” – Tonya Pennington, Reviewer
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About the Author:
Growing up, books were always present being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. Information from the books was shared in general conversation, giving all of us in the family a wealth of knowledge and a lot of imagination. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to the idea of writing stories early on. I particularly love to write novels about women who face unexpected challenges and meet them with strength. A hybrid author who both has a publisher and who self-publishes, Ms. Keim writes heart-warming stories of strong women who face challenges and find love and happiness along the way. Her books are based, in part, on many of the places she’s lived or visited and on the interesting people she’s met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many, loyal readers love.
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