Homecoming

Homecoming (1981), a young-adult novel by Cynthia Voigt, is the first book in a series of seven known as the Tillerman Cycle. Set in the early 1980s, the story follows four siblings, the youngest of whom is six years old and the oldest thirteen. They seem like a typical family in every sense of the word until one summer day when their mother abandons them at a Connecticut shopping center.

The story starts by describing the circumstances of the Tillerman family, made up of thirteen-year-old Dicey, her brothers, James, ten, and Sammy, six, and her sister, Maybeth, who is nine. Together, they live in a ramshackle house on the dunes in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Their father walked out just before Sammy was born, and most of the children have very little memory of him. He left, leaving the family destitute, and they have continued to struggle ever since, their mother burning herself out in her attempt to take care of her four children and make ends meet.

The children sense there is something off about their mother, especially after she wakes them up in the middle of the night, announcing an impromptu road trip and telling them to pack their things. The family sets off toward Bridgeport to visit another family member; then their mother pulls the car over into the parking lot of a mall and gets out, never to return. This event marks a turning point in the lives of the children, as they soon realize that their mother is not coming back. As their father already walked out on them years before, they have no way to get home, and, therefore, decide to travel together on foot with the goal of reaching Bridgeport.



Dicey, the eldest of the group, takes the lead, shepherding her younger siblings toward Bridgeport. The children are holding out hope that their Aunt Cilla will agree to take them in once they have arrived. They do not know the women but remember having received Christmas cards from her every year.

When the children set out on the long journey, they have just over eleven dollars and a road map that they follow to their destination. They find scraps of food and some shelter along the way, being careful to avoid drawing attention to themselves so as not to alert the authorities to the fact that they are unaccompanied minors.

When the children finally arrive in Bridgeport, they feel that the worst is behind them; however, they soon learn that their Aunt Cilla, in whom they had placed all of their hope, is dead. Their mother is nowhere to be found, and their cousin, Eunice Logan, has taken ownership of Aunt Cilla’s house. She is a nervous, middle-aged woman who tells the children that she is contemplating entering a convent and becoming a nun. However, the arrival of the children throws a wrench into these plans. Nonetheless, Eunice agrees to let them stay after seeking counsel from her local priest. Meanwhile, the local police are attempting to track down the children’s parents.



The younger children are forced to attend a Catholic summer camp, while Dicey stays home to help Eunice with the housework. Shortly thereafter, the children learn that their mother has been located and has been admitted to a Massachusetts state psychiatric hospital in a catatonic state. They are informed that there is very little chance that she will recover. At this point, their dreams of being reunited with their mother and starting a new life are shattered.

Once again, the children decide to set off in search of a more permanent residence. Dicey decides they should head towards their grandmother’s house in Crisfield, Maryland. They find that their grandmother, Abigail Tillerman, lives alone on a run-down farm. She tells Dicey that it would be impossible for the children to stay there permanently, but offers to shelter them for the night so that they may set off the next day in search of more appropriate accommodation. Dicey realizes that the farm could actually be the perfect place for her and her siblings. She and the other children try to show their grandmother that they can contribute by doing work around the farm. Dicey realizes that her grandmother is resistant because she does not want to become emotionally attached to the children, fearing that she would lose them like she did her own children.

In the end, Mrs. Tillerman comes around, realizing how much she cares for the children in spite of herself and agrees to offer them a permanent home. As the novel ends, Dicey and the children finally feel a sense of home and belonging that they have been longing for.