10๐! Beautiful, beautiful book! It's the BEST book I've read so far this year. ๐❤️
I literally just finished reading the last page of this lovely, touching, bittersweet and glorious novel. I wanted to write down my thoughts and feelings before they faded away—though, in this case, I doubt they will.
The description on the flyleaf of my vintage edition:
“๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ธ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ด...๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ; ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.“
I absolutely LOVED this book. I can't say it enough. Even though this Ruby Ferguson title didn't end quite the way I wanted it to, it was still a very satisfying ending. I'm still reeling, though! The last couple of chapters were a whirlwind of activity and I could not put the book down until I was done.
WHY I ADORED THIS NOVEL:
๐ Writing like a clear and sparkling crystal bell
๐งก Family reminisces expressed in the most touching way
๐ Letting go of appearances and conceit
๐งก The small town of Hockworth and its people
๐ Clothing/woolen mill descriptions
๐งก Beautiful and wild nature of the Yorkshire country
๐ Separate chapters focusing on each of the family members and their thoughts about the past
๐งก The Bridmoor Family (๐๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ, ๐๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ข, ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ)
๐ The feelings, the descriptions, the inner thoughts!!
FAVORITE QUOTES & PASSAGES:
'All experience is an arch where through gleams that unraveled world.'
"She was already bustling about, utterly happy, in her element, spreading a white cloth on the table and laying out a knife and a fork, with a flower-patterned plate of fine china, a cup and saucer. Then she cut two rounds of white bread and toasted them to a delicate brown on the fire, buttering them generously and popping them into the oven to keep hot."
'Your mother used to come along to the kitchen about the end of November, and we would make out the list for the grocer. Not only the currants and raisins and candied peel, but all the things you never hear about now: the crystallized rose-petals and violets, the angelica and icing sugar and Chinese ginger and glace cherries and fruits, and the sherry and the brandy for the puddings, and the ground almonds and crackers, and the sugar biscuits and the cheese assorted, and the Garibaldis—those were your father's favorites—and the Bourbons. I never could keep you children away from the Bourbons.'
"And then trimming the Christmas-tree. The lovely things you used to get for a penny! Silver angels, and blown glass mandolines with tinsel strings, and crystal birds with long blue feather tails. And for a few pennies we used to buy pressed concertina things made of coloured paper, and, when you pulled, it came out about a mile long and hung with enormous paper bells. And Father used to take us to town before Christmas just to see the shops full of wonderful things, all colour and gaity and charm."
"How many of Daphne's memories were of sewing! Sewing in the garden on summer afternoons with Mother and Vida, folds of white silk billowing to the green grass, taking a pride in choosing the finest needle, so that Mother would cry, 'How can you see to thread that?—What it is to be young!' And the chink of tea-cups mingling with the hum of the lawn mower in the sultry afternoon.."
"He wandered over to his bookcases to choose a book, something soothing, but at the same time gripping. This was an hour he loved, late and quiet, the room lamp-lit, the fire steadied to a rich glow He ran his fingers along the shelves, touching a cover here and there, remembering happy hours spent with this and that volume. He liked to keep his favorite books, and read them again and again, having provided that every time one re-read a book there is something to be discovered."
"They were all picturing the dining-room as it had been, handsome with its broad table covered with a green velvet cloth when not in use, and its sideboard display of silver articles and old-fashioned spirit heater. The aroma of good food had hung every around those walls, the rich scent of golden Yorkshire pudding and beef gravy, of roast meas and buttered vegetables, of apple pies stuck with cloves and Wensleydale cheeses and warm peaches and grapes, and creamy tea and strong coffee, and plum cake and Christmas puddings."
"Mother would run out of the drawing-room to press the child's cold cheeks between her warm, soft hands. 'Bed for you, my duck.' Then Patty would be running upstairs with paper and sticks and coal, and Carrie with hot-water bottles wrapped in red flannel for Hope's bed, and Mother would take her up and undress her before the cheerful blaze and pop her into the soft inviting bed. Chest rubbed with nice-smelling lotion, blue dressing-gown on, Hope would sit up like a queen for her supper, a tray with the rose-embroidered cloth and the pink fluted china, poached egg, hot buttered toast, pears and cream, hot custard, and Pink Milk, which was ordinary milk with just a few drops of raspberry essence to make it pretty."
Sadly, Turn Again Home is very hard to find. At the time of my review, there is one copy available on Abebooks.com. I was so incredibly lucky that my husband bought this HC/DJ edition for my 52nd birthday this year (it was in a bookstore in Australia!! ๐ฑ). But, if you are lucky enough to see a copy somewhere, please buy it. It will be worth every penny!!
I'm hoping SO MUCH that Dean Street Press will be able to republish some of Ruby Ferguson's out-of-print books (like they did with Apricot Sky!) This one is definitely a must and I'm crossing my fingers that, one day, everyone who loves Ruby Ferguson's books will be able to read this heartfelt story ๐❤️
Once again, Ruby Ferguson did not let me down. I've read 6 of her books so far and they've all been 5 stars. ๐คฉ๐
Highest of recommendations possible!!
If you want to find out more about this fabulous author, check out these pages: Pony Mad Book Lovers and Jane Badger Books (and also HERE!)
Have the most awesome weekend, book friends! Much love and many hugs! ๐๐ธ๐ค๐ธ๐
