Homecoming of Samuel Lake (Wingfield) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
A deeply personal story, yet it has universal appeal.... Swan Lake absolutely has the same plucky spirit as Scout Finch.... Wingfield also has the same mesmerizingly graceful way with words [as Harper Lee].
Forth Worth Star-Telegram


Wingfield hooks the reader with her opening sentence.... The reader is thoroughly caught up in the family saga.
Abilene Reporter-News


A lovely debut.... A bittersweet, inspirational tale.
Dallas Morning News


It’s all here. Faith. Honesty. Sin. Redemption.... Anyone who loves Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird will delight in Swan, the Lakes' eleven-year-old daughter.
USA Today


Set in 1950s Arkansas, screenwriter Wingfield's restrained, sometimes dark debut novel tells the story of preacher Samuel Lake and his family and how they are all affected by their move back to his wife Willadee's hometown. After Willadee's father kills himself and Samuel finds out that there's no church post waiting for him in Louisiana, the Lakes' decide to stay with Willadee's mother, Calla, on the farm in Arkansas and help out with the family store. Samuel's gorgeous but delusional sister-in-law (who's also his former fiancee) Bernice, is delighted: she only meant to teach Samuel a lesson by marrying Willadee's brother, Toy, a decent guy who came home from the war and killed Bernice's lover with his bare hands. Toy fruitlessly hopes to regain his wife's affections, but he's gladdened by the presence of the three Lake children: Bienville, 9; Swan, 11; and particularly Noble, 12, whom he takes under his wing after an encounter with school bullies. Swan, meanwhile, befriends the neighbors' abused son, Blade, and the children witness a horrible scene in which Blade is disfigured by his violent father, Ras, who also reveals his sadism with the horses he trains for a living. Wingfield writes complex, believable heroes, although her villains are straight from central casting, but the writing is good and the story well done, with redemption trumping tragedy in scenes ripe with tension and dread.
Publishers Weekly


In 1950s Arkansas, 12-year-old Swan Lake does what she thinks is right—she hides an eight-year-old friend whose father has been beating him mercilessly. Alas, Swan's preacher father has different ideas. This debut from screenwriter Wingfield (e.g., The Man in the Moon, starring a young Reese Witherspoon) is getting a big push, including a nine-city tour. A good bet, especially for regional libraries.
Library Journal


Movie viewers who remember the 1991 tearjerker The Man in the Moon know what to expect from screenwriter Wingfield's first novel, a rural Christian heart-warmer set in 1956 southern Arkansas.... Wingfield's film experience shows in her flair for dialogue. But the simplistic division between good and evil characters and her apparent approval of righteous killing going unpunished may trouble some readers.... Hefty helpings of corn-pone charm become leaden with down-home sanctimony.
Kirkus Reviews