The Homeplace

By: Gilbert Morris

Narrated by: Judith West

Lanie took out her journal and dated it April 12, 1928. She started the habit of writing down everything that happened to her when she was no more than eight years old, and now she had six journals completely full. She thought about the prize at school, almost prayed to win, but somehow she could not. “God,” she finally said, “I’ll do my best, and if you’ll help me, that’s all I ask.”Fourteen-year-old Lanie Belle Freeman of Fairhope, Arkansas, has high hopes for her future. Happy on the five-acre family homeplace, she dreams of going to college and becoming a writer. And with her father launching a new business and her mother expecting the fifth baby, the bright days of an early Southern spring seem to herald expansive new beginnings for the Freeman family.But her mother isn’t as strong as she should be, and it’s going to take time for the business to pay back the mortgage. When unexpected tragedy strikes, it is left to Lanie to keep the family together and hold on to their home. In a world shaken by the Great Depression, it is faith in God and love in a tightly knit family that will help Lanie and her siblings overcome the odds and create a future that promises the fulfillment of love.The Homeplace offers a warmhearted and inspiring saga of a courageous young woman who holds her family together through the Depression era.

Easy to Listen To

This book was easy to listen to. It had a very good storyline and kept you interested in what was going to happen next.

Slow to start. But hang in there. It’s worth it

I’m from the Deep South. The heart of Dixie guess people in Arkansas talk differently Almost quit book cause of annoying hillbilly southern
Redneck twang but so glad I didn’t. Wonderful job of character development. I laughed out loud frequently great story line. Looking forward to book 2

Hard Times, Family, Community & Faith in Arkansas

This is one of the best stories of the depression era in America that I’ve read/listened to. When Lanie Freeman’s mama gives birth to her fifth child, she doesn’t survive the birth . . . leaving 14-year-old, Lanie to care for her four younger siblings while her daddy goes off to work in the logging business he started with a loan from the bank. When the stock market fails in 1929, and he struggles to make the payments on his loan, the family fears losing their farm and home. Then her daddy is accused of a murder and put in jail. The only person who knows the truth flees the state, leaving the Forrest Freeman in prison and his daughter, Lanie to care for the farm and children. But what happens next is a GOD THING. The community, both colored and white, rally round the children, helping them in every way they can. The combined prayer meetings melted my heart. Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal, black and white, praying all night for the family until God answers. One greedy man at the bank continually tries to get the bank to foreclose on the farm, so he can buy it himself. He tries every single means he can. When social services try to split up the family, it seems hopeless. But one more prayer meeting, one more petition to God ensues. This is a tale of great hardship, such as Americans nowadays cannot fathom. One which needs to be heard by all generations, so the blessings we have in this current time will not be taken for granted, so teenagers can get an inkling that hard work and fortitude were required of the very young in the history of this great nation in order to merely survive. Bravo, to Gilbert Morris for writing a faith-based book with lessons for us all.

Fantastic story!

At the beginning of this story I really thought it was going to be to depressing to listen to. So much tragedy. But I am so glad I stayed with it. Wonderful story and I loved the language used. Fantastic narrator. I am now enjoying the second book in this series.

love Gilbert Morris books

thoroughly enjoy Gilbert Morris' books. compelling story teller. historical references really help to set the scenes.