In Fairhope, Arkansas, 14-year-old Lanie has bright hopes for the future---until tragedy shatters her family. With her mother dead and her father imprisoned, she must take care of her younger siblings. But the Great Depression is ravaging America. How can a band of orphaned children survive, let alone keep their home? 352 pages, softcover from Zondervan.

Average Customer Rating:

4.4

out of

(12 Reviews) 12

Rating Snapshot (12 reviews)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

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1 star

1 out of 1100%customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Customer Reviews for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Review 1 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

This review is fromThe Homeplace - eBook.

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Formatting of the text in this series needs work

Date:December 24, 2010

Anonymous

Location:CT

Age:Over 65

Gender:male

Quality:

4 out of 5

Value:

4 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

4 out of 5

In formatting in epub some things change causing a space within a word or a hyphen.
Also words are sometimes together with no space between them.
I checked the print size from XS to XLarge and it is the same.
I have not seen this with other books
The book series as a whole is very good as Gilbert Morris is a very fine writer and always does a very good job.
Just have to get past the formatting issues and it is a good read.

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Review 2 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:March 9, 2009

Hannah

Top 1000 Contributor

This book was good.It was entertaining and kept me wondering what was going to happen next.The main character,Lanie,was developed wonderfully and the other characters were portrayed very realistically.I especially admire Lanie's courage and sacrifice while keeping the family together as the Great Depression ravages the country.And her family never lost faith in what God could do for them.I also LOVED Aunt Kezia.She was sooo funny!I was really disappointed,though,that this book contained some inappropriate descriptions and sensuality.It kind of spoiled the book.I don't plan to read the rest of the books in the series because of this,though I still enjoyed The Homeplace very much.

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Review 3 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

Date:November 24, 2007

Joanne

Today, I looked out the window and I was enthralled by the beauty of the "snowy white blanket of snow". ...Too bad my writing skills aren't quite as impressive as that snowy snow. I agree with the reviewer who described that particular phrase as "unforgivable". Let me share my opinion of this book. I think that Morris definitely does have a talent for telling a story; however, there were some definite problems with this book. Fortunately, I didn't find many more problems related to the aforementioned (though were I looking for them I might have!), but I just couldn't suspend my skepticism over his portrayal of Lanie, the main character. I dare say that Maeva, a supporting character, was more developed than our heroine herself! I like to read about a protagonist who is realistic, well-rounded, and flawed (like a REAL person would be). Instead, I found myself being introduced to a completely flat, unrealistically perfect fourteen-year-old girl who never experiences a moment of immaturity, selfishness, or any other kind of fault. It's strange how her brothers and sisters all have their moments of weakness, but Lanie always ALWAYS does the right thing. Oh, sure, she has her moments where she is distraught, downtrodden, and at a loss for what to do, but we never see her human nature show in the least. I was very disappointed in the one-dimensional way she was developed. In addition, some parts were confusing and required re-reading if they were to be understood. Aside from these flaws, I did enjoy the book, and will probably read the next ones, because the story, if not riveting, was interesting. If you think you would enjoy a book like this, you probably will - but be prepared to suffer some disappointment.

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Review 4 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:July 6, 2007

momof6boys

I stayed up until 5 a.m. reading this book! I am facing a lot of uncertainty right now and God's care of this family was inspiring to me. I love Aunt Kezia! She had me laughing more than once.

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Review 5 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:November 28, 2006

liz c.

This was an excellent story. My sister gave me this book and once I started reading it, I couldnt put it down. It goes to show us of the differences in people in this world and how some give alot without expecting much in return, just putting it all in God's hands. Thank you Gilbert Morris for such a wonderful book. Can't wait for #2.. God bless.

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Review 6 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:October 31, 2006

Margaret Edge

This one is a 5 at least, I love Gilbert Morris's writings anyway and this one is so personal it's what families use to be like. Loving one another, and looking out for one another too. I could not put it down. From the beginning you meet a family that cares for one another and it's like a well designed quilt plus a great comfort too, Like popcorn and hot chocolate, A must read that's why I'm here tonight looking to see if book 2 is out yet.

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Review 7 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:March 17, 2006

Faye

I very much enjoyed this book and looking forward to the series. I liked the multiple character development and the pace of the story was very good. There are a lot of personalities in this book that I can't wait to see developed in the future books!

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Review 8 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:December 30, 2005

Lydia

This was an awesome book!!! It was sweet and funny and so touching and inspiring! I can't wait for the next in the series!

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Review 9 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

Date:December 30, 2005

Christian Book Previews.com

Top 100 Contributor

Gilbert Morriss The Homeplace takes place over several years in the lives of the Freeman family and focuses particularly on Lanie Freeman, the eldest child. The Freemans go through a series of crises: their mother dies, their father is arrested for a fight he didnt start, and a bitter businessman continually tries to take their property. The novel is divided into 32 chapters and five parts, titled The Venture, The Accident, The Miracle, The Revenge, and The Woman. Unfortunately, not one of these sections is actually as interesting as the names imply it will be. Despite being set at the start of the Great Depression rather than the height of the pioneer days, Morriss historical fiction reads like watered-down Laura Ingalls Wilder, complete with general store, sibling rivalry, and a grizzled-but-loving Pa. Morris greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. His version of Fairhope, Arkansas is a place where things are simple, everyone knows everyone elses name, and practically everybody goes to church. It makes for a nice place to visit briefly, but its too much of a clich to want to stay for 327 pages, much less an entire series of books. There are also too many characters running across those pages, of which the heroine is certainly one of the least interesting. Also, giving characters names like Mr. Sixkiller, places names like The Dew Drop Inn, and forming phrases like the snowy white blanket of snow is unforgivable. Clich on top of clich? The high points of this book take the form of poems written by Lanie. Unfortunately, while the author excels in this poetry, he often suffers in prose. Whereas Gilbert Morris offers a few good stories about prayer, faith, and miracles, the overall journey is long, tedious, and often predictable. Theres a slim chance fans of the genre may enjoy The Homeplace, but general readers wont endure its slow pace and pedantic writing. -- Sean M. Cogan, Christian Book Previews.com

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Review 10 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:November 18, 2005

Jean Edwards

I could not put this down! There has to be more to come,there's so much more that could happen in this series.

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Review 11 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:October 21, 2005

Jan Bugg

I loved this book, and felt the ending left me with the hope of another book. Is this going to happen, and if so, when might that be?

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Review 12 for The Homeplace, Singing River Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:September 23, 2005

Beth

This was a great book, you can really connect to the characters. It had a couple of moments that you just wanted to stop and reread, it was a really sweet book. I can't wait for the next one. It really helped me pass the school day.

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