The Australian setting of Kate Morton’s Homecoming

Submitted: 29th August 2024

The Australian setting of Homecoming

Locations in Homecoming

Readers of this website and blog will know that I have a soft spot for anything that Kate Morton writes. This novel is particularly atmospheric and meaningful since the authos found herself back in Australia at the start of the pandemic and it made her think about what makes us feel at home.

“For all that “home” was considered a word of warmth and comfort, policemen knew better. Home is where the heart is, and the heart could be a dark and damaged place.”

She is from the area of the world she writes about and it shows. Tambila might be a fictional town in the book but it is based on the very real villages of Nairne, Cudlee Valley and Verdun .

What Percy sees (c) Kate Morton

Locations in Homecoming

Tambila:

The house as it is described in the novel

“As Mrs. Turner took what would be her last walk around the vegetable garden, Smarty, the ginger tabby, materialized to sit beside the flowerpot man, a position that afforded him a bird’s-eye view of the petit fishpond. There was a larger, more formal water feature on the western side of the house, a rectangular pool with a leafy canopy above it and marble tiles around the rim, well-fed goldfish gleaming beneath glistening lily pads, but this little pond was far more cheerful: small and shallow, with fallen petals floating on its surface. The cat’s focus was absolute as he watched for flickers of rose gold in the water, paw at the ready.”

The area of Tambila (c) Kate Morton

Locations in Homecoming

The novel evokes the area of the Adelaide Hills extremely well. She describes the

The small town where the house is, Tumbilla, is fictional but it is close to Nairne, Cudlee Valley and Verdun as these are mentioned as being nearby.

You can see the house and land very very clearly when reading the book. At the start, when Percy has his horse Blaze and they have stopped at the stream so the horse can drink – Oh I felt the atmosphere so strongly here:

“Looming above him was not so much a house as a castle. Two enormous floors, with mammoth rectangular windows along each face and an elaborate stone balustrade of Corinthian columns running around all four sides of its flat roof. He thought at once of Pemberley, and half expected to see Mr. Darcy come striding through the big double doors, riding crop tucked beneath his arm as he jogged down the stone steps that widened in an elegant sweep as they reached the turning circle where he stood.”

What Mrs Turner sees (C) Kate Morton

Locations in Homecoming

The scene setting in this novel is exquisite. What happens in such a peaceful and remote area makes the events of the book particularly sad and tragic somehow.

The author writes in such a way that the entire house, surrounding area, town of Tambila with its shops and dusty streets are very vivid.

Imagining Halycon (c) Kate Morton

Locations in Homecoming

“The contrast between the formal glare and the native bushland was electric. It tool Nora’s breath away to stand on the corner of the veranda just as the setting sun darkened the clipped hedges to a lush green while simultaneously bleaching the trunk of the candle barks on the ridge.”

A lovely ode to her homeland and a very nice way for readers to see it through her eyes! All photos were originally featured on Kate’s instagram.