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Top review from Canada

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Bunny

The Long Way Home

Reviewed in Canada on May 31, 2011

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"They say you can't go home again, but Raine St. James doesn't know why anyone would want to.

Rory St. James was disowned after she came out at seventeen. She rebounded by moving to Chicago, changing her name to Raine, and putting down her hometown to audiences around the country. Now, ten years later, too old to be considered a gay youth, broke, evicted and fresh off a much needed break-up, Raine St. James is forced to accept a job teaching at Bramble University in Darlington, the town she's been publicly bashing for the last decade.

Beth Devoreaux was born and raised in Darlington. Despite losing her parents at a young age, she is well loved by everyone who knows her. She leads a comfortable life with a good job at Bramble University, a long-term but closeted relationship, friends that she can count on, and everything she thinks she wants. So why is she so drawn to a rabble-rouser like Raine St. James?

Can Raine and Beth face their pasts and come to terms with their differences in order to have any hope for a future together?"

Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer

Love finds a way

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2018

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You can find love where you least expect it and when you’ve over looked the one person who truly understands you .This happens to Rory St.James who leaves her small town home after coming out,After hitting the high life and losing it all she returns home to lecture in the small college.Beth the closeted librarian helps her settle back into small town life but after being out and proud for so long Rory finds it difficult especially when she finds out that Beth’s girlfriend friend is an old high school nemesis and won’t even acknowledge Beth in public.Tensions ensue,old friendships rekindle and you finally realise that the person you thought couldn’t really love you is the love you’ve been longing for all your life!!!

Velvet Lounger

A brilliant story about finding ourselves

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2014

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Rory St James runs away from home when her parents react badly to her coming out. Fleeing to Chicago she creates a whole new persona for herself, Raine, who builds a life and a career out of the bitter anger and hurt. But 10 years on the world is bored of a 27 year old who is still angry with her parents. On the brink of being evicted and without an income, she is forced to take a job at Bramble College in Darlington, the town she has ranted against and vilified for her rejection.

Beth Devoroux is the archetypal small town girl, the plain farmers daughter who has grown into a beautiful curvaceous woman. She seems content with her small town life as librarian at the college, darling of the town and a solid but extremely closeted relationship.

Despite their shared teenage years they seem to have nothing in common, yet Beth is clearly drawn to the angry rebel Rory became. Can she reach out to her high school buddy or will their different experiences of small town life prove too big a barrier?

---------------

Most of us grow up with a sense of fear at some level. Whether it is of being rejected by our parents, being bullied at school or threatened on the street. Being 'other' as a kid is always a challenge even without rejection by our parents.

Rory and Beth have reacted in different ways to that fear. Rory has run off, become a radical gay activist and turned her fear into anger so strong it has sustained her for 10 years. Beth has hidden who she is for fear of offending those who have loved and supported her, and that has been reinforced by an 8 year relationship with a woman who is homophobic in her self loathing and paranoia about being gay.
What this story brings us is extremes; Rory and Beth are opposite ends of the scale, yet they come from the same place, have similar childhoods and families. What Ms Spangler explores is how our different perceptions of ourselves and those around us forge the people we become. Rory saw everyone as hostile, so she reacted with anger. Beth saw everyone as supportive - of a perfect image - so has tried to maintain their perception.

The characters are well drawn and thought out. They have an internal integrity that holds throughout their struggles to recognize what life has done to them, who they have become and the compromises and price they have paid. Both fluctuate quite wildly at times, one minute clinging to the safety of façade they have built, the next tearing it down. The internal battles they both fight are what makes their growth honest and realistic.

The supporting players from the midwestern town form a backdrop which is interesting. We have the stereotypical bigots, the born again town bitch, but also a couple of guys who knew Rory was gay and just accept it, but never dreamt Beth could also be that way. They are caring and supportive, but still stereotypical in their reactions to the tomboi and the femme.

In the midst of all this social comment is a charming romance. Beth, unsure of what is happening in her heart, still fights to draw Rory from Raine and ultimately has the courage to face her own demons as the "perfect" darling of the town. Rory knows from the start how much she is attracted to Beth, but rejects her attraction to the closeted woman and fights tooth and nail to hold onto her brittle persona.

Rachel Spangler bioComing home isn't about a place, it's about finding ourselves, growing out of the personas we create to shield our fears and into the power of being true to who we are.

Brilliantly written, well constructed and an emotional page-turner, this is a book which will speak to all GLBT people.

Telstar

Brilliantly written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2010

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Rory St. James left home and went to Chicago when she was seventeen after her parents ostracized her when she came out. She changed her name to Raine and became a celebrity when she spoke out about her home town. Ten years go by and no one really wants to hear Raine's tales of her youth. She's broke, gets evicted and ends up back in her home town after accepting a teaching job at the local university, where she meets Beth Devoroux.
Beth lost her parents in a car accident when she was young and is a librarian at the university. She is gay, in a relationship and deep in the closet. Beth finds herself attracted to Raine, but much prefers it when Raine loses her airs and graces and becomes the Rory of old. Can Raine/Rory sort through their differences to have a future together?
This is a brilliant book. One that I couldn't put down until I'd finished it. It's also a book that deserves to be read more than once to get the full effect of the meaning of it. I have all of Rachel's books and her writing is brilliant. This one should follow her other two and win an award.

JMB1779

Synopsis

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2010

Verified Purchase

They say you can't go home again, but Raine St. James doesn't know why anyone would want to.

Rory St. James was disowned after she came out at seventeen. She rebounded by moving to Chicago, changing her name to Raine and putting down her hometown to audiences around the country. Now, ten years later, too old to be considered a gay youth, broke, evicted, and fresh off a much needed break-up, Raine St. James is forced to accept a job teaching at Bramble University in Darlington, the town she's been publicly bashing for the last decade.

Beth Devoroux was born and raised in Darlington. Despite losing her parents at a young age, she is well loved by everyone who knows her. She leads a comfortable life with good job at Bramble University, a long-term but closeted relationship, friends that she can count on, and everything she thinks she wants, so why is she so drawn to a rabble-rouser like Raine St. James?

Can Raine and Beth face their pasts and come to terms with their differences in order to have any hope for a future together?

Light and easy comfort read

Sandra

Recommended

Reviewed in Germany on July 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

I read the first two of Rachel Spangler's novels, and while they weren't bad, this one is clearly her best work so far.

It's a good read with three-dimensional characters and a lot of layered emotions. Nothing is just black-or-white in this novel; it shows the shades of gray.

I can recommend this novel.

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