Welcome Back: 9 Great Books About Returning to the Childhood Home

When the Vignes twin sisters ran away from their small southern town, no one knew if they’d be seen again. Now, years later, one sister has returned to live with her daughter. While abroad, because of the twins’ light skin color, Stella discovered they could pass for white. She still lives away from her twin, Desiree, and is married to a white man who doesn’t know her background. Meanwhile, Desiree and her daughter, Jude, face prejudice and rumors in the twins’ hometown because of Jude’s dark skin. This is a powerful book about sisters and race.

After the death of the patriarch of the Turner family dies, his ailing widow can no longer live alone in the big house on Detroit’s East Side. The Turner children gather together for the first time in years to decide what is to be done about their childhood home, now only worth a tenth of what it originally was worth. Flournoy takes readers through 50 years of events under the roof — some of them otherworldly.

After decades away, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the funeral of his childhood best friend. Falk was driven out of town as a suspect in a death when he was a teenager, but a note arrives demanding he attend the funeral. Falk discovers that not only have people not forgotten — or forgiven — what happened all those years ago, but his friend’s mother now wants him to investigate his friend’s death.

Ruth thinks that returning to her parents’ home after a bad breakup will give her a fresh start. But like they say, you can’t go home again, and Ruth discovers things are not how they seemed. Ruth’s father, a brilliant history professor, is losing his memory and it’s more than Ruth’s mother can handle. Ruth suddenly finds herself the grownup in the house. This is a sweet, sad comedic drama that plucks at the heart strings while tickling your funny bone.

This is an excellent, scary book involving the erasure of U.S. history. Mira grew up poor with her two best friends in a small southern town, where she witnessed a horrifying event on an abandoned plantation. As soon as she could, Mira fled town. Now, many years later, Mira’s former best friend invites her to her wedding out of the blue. Mira is surprised to hear from Celine, and more surprised to learn the wedding is being held on the now-renovated plantation. Despite reservations, Mira attends, where she learns the past is never that far away from you.

Abby Williams was more than happy to put her terrible small-town life in the rearview mirror as soon as she graduated. Now, ten years later, her job as an environmental lawyer brings her back to her childhood home and all the things she wanted to escape. While some things are changed, Abby discovers that some of the things she thought she knew as a child aren’t what she thought — and that knowledge may kill her.

This book has two sort of homecomings. In the 1970s, the Prestons were an American family living in Bangkok for the father’s job when their son, Philip, disappears. Forty years later, Laura Preston is a famous reclusive artist and her sister, Bea, takes care of their elderly mother. Then Laura gets news that Philip is alive and without a second thought, Laura hops on a plane and returns to her childhood home. It’s a powerful experience, but not as overwhelming as it will be to bring Philip back to their mother.

When Judd Foxman’s father dies, it reunites all the Foxman children together under one roof again. But it’s not just a somber occasion — the reunion will bring up old hurts and grudges and shine lights on the present-day problems all the Foxmans are having. This is a funny, biting story of family and forgiveness.

Nate Graves had a terrible childhood growing up with his father. But when his father dies and leaves him the family home, Nate sees it as a great opportunity. Nate and his wife Maddie have a son, Oliver, who is being bullied in school. To get Oliver away from city life, they decide to move into his father’s home to get Oliver away from city life. But the place comes with ghosts of all kinds, real and imaginary, and the legend of a serial killer who promised to return to their neighborhood right before he was executed. You can go home again — but holy cats, it might be scary.