The Welcome Home Diner by Peggy Lampman

by Susan Roberts



Warning: Don't read this book if you are hungry or else have something close to your reading spot to snack on. Actually, even if you aren't hungry, you will be after you read about the wonderful food served at the diner. Added bonus - recipes at the end of the book on how to make some of the wonderful food from the diner!

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October 2017; Lake Union Publishing
978-1542047821; ebook, audio print (352 pages)
women's fiction

I loved this book for several reasons - first, the personal reason. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit (on the east side) and went to college in the city so Detroit is a special place to me. I want to see it come back to being the great city that it once was and the revitalization of Detroit is one of the underlying themes of this book.

Second, I love to read books that weave current issues of the day into it and this one does a great job of doing just that. Lampman writes about human trafficking, racial issues, drugs and white flight from the city to the suburbs among other topics.

Third, I loved the characters in this novel. Two cousins buy an old gutted out diner in the city and try to become part of the neighborhood. They are met with resistance from the old time residents, no matter how hard they try but they keep trying. Not only are Addie and Samantha fantastic main characters but they are surrounded by great secondary characters who also work at the diner.

And lastly, as mentioned earlier, the descriptions of the food served at the diner are awesome.

This is a fantastic well-written book about two women who are trying to do their part to make not only their neighborhood but also a beautiful city come back to life again. It's a story about love and friendship, loyalty, hope and faith.

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Also available at Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Other books by Peggy Lampman

The Promise Kitchen

 About the Author 

Peggy Lampman was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. After earning a bachelor’s degree in communications—summa cum laude—from the University of Michigan, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a copywriter and photographer for a public-relations firm. When she returned to Ann Arbor, her college town, she opened a specialty foods store, the Back Alley Gourmet. Years later, she sold the store and started writing a weekly food column for the Ann Arbor News and MLive. Lampman’s first novel, The Promise Kitchen, published in 2016, garnered several awards and accolades. She is married and has two children. She also writes the popular blog www.dinnerfeed.com.

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling.  She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends.  She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads or Twitter.

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