The Journey Home by Micheal Baron – Review

Synopsis via goodreads:

Joseph, a man in his late thirties, awakens disoriented and uneasy in a place he doesn't recognize. Several people are near him when he opens his eyes, all strangers. All of them seem perfectly friendly, but none of them can explain to him how he got there. They offer him a delicious meal and pleasant conversation in a beautifully decorated room. This would be a very nice experience if not for one thing: Joseph doesn't know where he is and he has no way to contact his wife, who he is sure is worried sick over him. Thanking the people for their hospitality, he leaves to make his way back home. The only problem is that whatever happened to him has stripped him of most of his memories. He knows he needs to get back to his wife, but he doesn't know how to find her. He sets out on a journey to find his home with no sense of where he's going and only the precious, indelible vision of the woman he loves to guide him.

Antoinette is an elderly woman in an assisted living facility. She’s spent the last six years there since her husband died, and most of those years have been happy. She enjoys the company of others in her situation and her son comes to visit often. But in recent months, she’s had a tougher and tougher time leaving her room. Her friends seem different to her and the world seems increasingly confusing. She spends an escalating amount of time on a journey inside her head. There, her body and mind haven’t betrayed her. There, she’s a young newlywed with a husband who dotes on her and an entire life of dreams to live. There, she is truly home.

Warren, Antoinette’s son, is a man in his early forties going through the toughest year of his life. His marriage ended, he lost his job, and in the past few months, his mother has gone from hale to increasingly hazy. Having trouble finding work, he spends more and more time by his mother’s bedside. But her lack of lucidity both frustrates and frightens him. With far too much time on his hands, he decides to try to recreate his memories of home by attempting to cook his mother’s greatest dishes using the rudimentary appliances available in her room. He finds the challenge surprisingly rewarding, especially because the only time he feels his mother is truly with him anymore is when she is eating the meals he prepares for her.

Joseph, Antoinette, and Warren are three people on different searches for home. How they find it, and how they connect with one another at this critical stage in each of their lives, is the foundation for a profound and deeply moving story.

The Journey Home holds a special place in my heart now...it's a beautifully told story about family...and though this review is not totally about the book, I hope you can understand how much I loved it...

This story hit close to home for me, for a few reason's the most important though is that of the relationship between my grandfather and grandmother - I almost relived there love though Michael Baron's telling of The Journey Home. A love story about finding home - even if you feel like your lost in a world and have no idea of who you are.

It also reminded me of a question I have asked myself several times in life...what happeneds when we stop being here...I believe in God - but I have a friend, my best friend actually whom does not believe in anything. She believes in the now only, for reason's I don't really want or need to get into. Does that mean that once we both pass, I will never see her again?

After reading The Journey Home, I am almost convinced that when we pass, our souls live - and they find those we loved in this life time, no matter what it is exactly that they believe.

Micheal Baron found my heart with his novel Crossing the Bridge, and with his new novel The Journey Home he's found my life. It was like he was writing to me, for me, about my family – about the love that my grandparents shared so many years ago.

I look back on the time when they were here, the love they shared in the littlest things. My grandma wrapping her arms around him for an impromptu hug, him leaning over for a smooch, thanking her for a beautiful dinner...the smallest details showed all of those around them how much, after 50 years they still loved each other, respected each other.

The Journey Home brought back all those memories for me, they flooded in, happy to make a home in my heart. Micheal Baron has a way with families – though this book is only 176 pages, the characters danced in my head and the story jumped off the page and into my soul.

Bottom Line – The Journey Home is a main dish of love, with a side of laughter, a pinch of kindness, and a dash of hope. It left me reliving moments in my life I had long since forgotten about, revealing a love story that I witnessed while growing up, a love story I had forgotten, and for that, Micheal Baron has my sincere thanks! I give The Journey Home a 5 mushrooms. PS. Though this one is "adult fiction" I think many of my teen readers would enjoy and maybe even fall in love with the story!

The Journey Home
By: Michael Baron
176 Pages
Published: May 11, 2010
Publisher: The Story Plant

I was sent The Journey Home by Lou Aronica at The Story Plant for my honest review. Thank you!