Follow the Stars Home

This was an exceptional story that attached itself to your heart and never let go until the final page. Expertly written, easy to read, definitely hard to put down. Each character drew you in and their fate became very important to you. Highly recommend.

This book will take your breath away! The characters were written so well, I felt like I knew them myself. Dianne is an incredible person, the unconditional love she gives her daughter Julia, who was born with birth defects. Her strong heart for over coming the blow of her husband Tim leaving her when Julia was born. If I could have had a word with Tim myself, I would have blown him out of this world! At first when I started reading this story, I thought, "This is so cheesy", but man, I changed tunes about half way through the book. Amy's character will warm your heart and take you by surprise as well as Lucinda. Even though the story is really about Dianne and Julia, the others fit in so well and make it seem so heart warming. I have to admit, Alan, Tims brother almost seems to good to be true. Get your tissues ready and enjoy a heart warming story. The end will simply make you cry - Julia's Story. Some how I felt so much better about how Julia felt and what she really understood after I read the ending, you will absolutely close this book and think about it for days, It is definetly a story of "Following the Stars Home",as difficult as it was, Dianne did, she followed her heart!!!

I love romance novels but I hate tear-jerkers. I won't read a story if I know it's going to make me cry. Luanne Rice's previous book, Cloud Nine, was absolutely wonderful even though I cried buckets over it. (I didn't know that it was going to be that sad.) Even though this new book, Follow the Stars Home is magical, I must warn you that it also has a few tears. The characters - Alan, Dianne, Lucinda, Amy, Julia, Tim - are all so real, you don't want to let them go when the book is finished. The plot is pure soap opera: woman marries the "wrong" brother, bears a disabled child, husband leaves, while angelic doctor-brother lovingly and patiently waits in the wings to take over from irresponsible brother. Small scenes are full of love and caring; big dramatic scenes make you catch your breath in fear and apprehension. This book is far above a standard romance. Rice is truly gifted and talented and I will continue to read her with great joy, even knowing there's bound to be some teary moments.

I have read stories of people turning a truly bad life situation into an inspiration for us all, but Luanne Rice has accomplished the ultimate with this book. This was a first Rice book for me, but I am here to purchase more. Her ability to weave the lives of her various characters and mingle their individual personalities, weaknesses, and most of all strengths is struly inspiring. Her love for her disabled child, and I question that word disabled when it comes to Julia, and her ability to include another "well in body, not spirit in child" into her life made me reevaluate what it means to be a mother. Dianne is the epitome of what I consider the word mother and also daughter to mean. Alan was what all fathers should be defined as. Rice is a genius with story and words.

Lobsterman Tim McIntosh worked the New England coast. He loved his wife Dianne, but could not deal with the sickly child that was born to them. Instead, Tim abandoned his spouse and little Julia. She sufferers from illnesses that leave her physically and mentally dying from birth. Perhaps because he loves Dianne or just feels bad by his sibling's abandonment, Tim's brother Alan constantly is there for Dianne and Julia. Alan's actions add to the guilty feelings and shame that fill Tim's heart, but his soul cannot take the steps needed to reconcile with his beloved wife nor shower his child with the love she needs.As Dianne supports herself and Julia, she meets a troubled twelve-year old Amy Brook, who becomes a little sister to her. Amy helps Dianne fully understand what love is all about, but will Tim ever learn the same lesson before it is too late?FOLLOW THE STARS HOME focuses on the meaning of love and its capacity to meliorate many human frailties. Dianne, Tim, and Amy seem very real because their characters are fully developed. The audience will dislike what Tim did, but understand his actions and frustrations. Reader's empathy towards Julia will gush throughout the novel. This emotion on the part of the audience shows how talented Luanne Rice is in sensitizing her fans, though for most of the novel the audience "sees" the ailing child through the eyes of the other characters. Using Julia's thoughts as a climax leads to a feeling that this was a contrived closing but Ms. Rice reaches inside our very hearts and souls with an inspiring novel that reflects on how precious but fleeting is life.Harriet Klausner