| Plot Summary of No Place Like Home |
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"Alex Nolan seems like the perfect husband. He recently purchased a home for his wife's birthday in Mendham, New Jersey. Wanting to surprise her he had balloons waiting and roses in every room. He also got her son Jack a pony housed in the backyard stable. Celia Nolan is shocked. She could not tell Alex that this was the home she lived in as a little girl until the age of ten. Celia's father had died and it was just her and her mother, Audrey Barton. Celia woke up one night to find her mother in a confrontation with Ted Cartwright, a former boyfriend. Celia tried to rescue her mother, and took a gun she knew of in a bedroom drawer. Ted pushed her mother into Celia and the gun went off. Her mother died, and Ted
was seriously wounded. In a state of shock, Liza Barton, as she was known back then, could hardly say a word during her trial. She was acquitted and adopted by distant relatives and relocated to California.
She came back to New York in her early twenties to enter the Fashion Institute. Celia Kellogg as she was now known, became a very successful interior designer. She met her first husband Laurence Foster, a philanthropist. They had one son named Jack. Larry died leaving her a young widow. He made her promise that she would never reHe made her promise that she would never reveal her former identity to save their son Jack from such notoriety. Soon after his death, Celia was courted by Alex Nolan, a successful attorney. He was there for her and her son, when she was involved in an accident and ended up in the hospital.They very quickly got married after she recovered.
Alex wanted them to start fresh, and not continue living in the same apartment that Celia lived in with her first husband. Georgette Grove, a realtor tried to tell Alex of the house's notoriety. Around town it was known as “Little Lizzie's place”. It was horribly vandalized on the day they were to move in. Georgette becomes extremely worried about the legal technicalities since the house was put in Celia's name only and no disclosure was made to her. Georgette tries to make it up to Celia and show her another house. Georgette ends up murdered and Celia quickly becomes a suspect. When Charley Hatch, a local landscaper is murdered as well, the police began to focus harder on Celia. Celia is tempted multiple times to tell Alex the truth but never finds the right time. Also, she has been harassed by phone calls calling her Little
Liza. Someone knows who she is.
The District Attorney disagrees with his detectives beliefs, and continues to believe that Celia is innocent. His department does discover that she is indeed Liza Barton. Dru Perry, a reporter, is hot on the case as well, tracking down her relatives in Florida. An unexpected twist towards the end with one of the main characters keeps you guessing, as all the loose ends are nicely tied together. Things are very different for Celia and her son once the case is solved.
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Nancy Larrabee, Resident Scholar
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"Celia Nolan's past comes back to haunt her in a most terrifying fashion when her doting new husband, Alex, surprises her by buying a house for her on the occassion of her birthday. What she cannot reveal to Alex is that this was the very home she lived in as a child named Liza Barton, and that she accidentally shot her mother, Audrey, to death while trying to protect her from her abusive ex-stepfather, Ted. As Liza Barton, Celia earned mean-spirited comparisons to Lizzie Borden, and the house has since been known as 'Little Lizzie's House'.
Compounding Celia's troubles, a vandal intent on dredging up the past strikes, defacing the lawn, the door and masonry of the house.
Then, the real estate agent who sold the house to Alex is murdered, and Celia becomes the prime suspect, hounded by an obsessed, over-zealous detective.
Never fully vindicated and cleared in her mother's death and the (justified) shooting of her stepfather, Celia decides to find out why Ted was in the house the night of the tragedy before she can come clean to Alex.
When two more members of the community linked to the vandalism and to Celia's past turn up dead, it becomes clear that the danger is much closer to home than she ever realized."
tesubcalle, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of No Place Like Home |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 35%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- depressing/sad
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Challenging
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- solving long-past murder
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
- Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, American
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings of fear/loss/inadequacy
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- small businessman
- wealthy
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
- jealousy
The antagonists are:
- big business leader(s)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Small town?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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