From: Kaysi Peister
When I picked up Welcome Home and started reading, I instantly felt as if I was visiting with an old friend, someone beloved, that I'd known for years. The way Glenda wrote with such details in both her characters as well as setting drew me right into the heart of the story and wouldn't let me go. I experienced every moment and emotion the characters went through as they did. I felt punched in the gut and stabbed in the heart at times...the more raw emotion I feel the better…Glenda really 'gets' how people feel and are.

From: Jean
Wow! I loved this book. I laughed, I cried. I haven't read a book for a while and this just captured my heart. I found myself up til late at night "just reading 1 more page"! Well done and anticipating your next book.

From: DJ Messier
I couldn't put this book down. The characters are all so lovable, even as they make some bad choices. They stuck with me long after I finished reading. This book is sure be to scooped up by a movie producer. It is right up there with stories like The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, Now and Then with Demi Moore and Rosie O'Donnell, and Little Women. I highly recommend it.

From: Amos Lassen
When Shelby Livingstone left home some thirty years ago, she swore she would never go back for more than a visit. However she soon became out-of-sorts with her life as a photojournalist and decides that the time has come to be at home. She learns of a job opening on a magazine staff near her hometown so she applies and goes back for an interview and her high school reunion. As we all do at these reunions, her mind begins to drift and she remembers how she felt when she and her five best friends were torn apart by betrayal and then distance. She realizes that the time has come to make peace with her past and that is what we see here.
Friends can hurt us and often do and it feels so much worse because it is a friend that does so. Because of this there is much in this book that we can identify with. Glenda Poulter takes us into Shelby's life first through her experiences at high school and then through her return thirty years later. We see the power of forgiveness and what it means to forgive and how hard it is to do so, sometimes. Shelby and her five friends were known as the Six and they were close and true friends until Naomi, one of the girls, learns something about two others and walks away from them and tells everyone what she learned. What ensues is tragedy and this is what caused Shelby to leave. We are able to see the value of friendship and what happens when there is betrayal and how this betrayal affects the lives of those involved
Glenda Poulter knows how to tell a story and how to develop characters that we come to know. She writes well and I found this to be the kind of book that you want to finish in one sitting. I was pulled in from the first page--not just by the plot but by the characters and this is the kind of book that will make a wonderful movie.

See my Review from Lesfic Underbelly!

From: Kathy
I thought this book was a good book about friendship, hurts beyond measure and the amazing power of forgiveness and compassion. I also took it as a reminder that we often never know why people do the horrible things that they do, but there are always reasons for the things that we think of as unforgiveable at the time. One character commits suicide and a mother hurts her daughter terribly both through betraying her and never showing her the love that one expects from a parent. Why do these characters do the things they do? We never really know. But, we do learn about why one character commits horrible acts that lead to other horrible acts. We see the anguish that is felt by the character who does act in what seems an unforgiveable way and how those actions impacted her and others for the rest of their lives.

The book was an easy, enjoyable read. There were periods of anguish and tears as I read it, as well as a feeling of great love, laughter and peace.

See my Review from Three Dollar Bill Reviews!

See my Review from Rainbow Review!

From: Svetla
Sad topic of solving in present betrayal of one of the group of best friends in high school years, influencing lives of all of them. Sad, but not written as ‘tears jerker’. I liked it.

From: Terry
Six best friends in high school, secrets, lies and homophobia. Shelby leaves town after graduating and returns thirty years later, hoping to be able to settle down in the town she grew up in. But first she needs to resolve the past issues and lay some ghosts. This book is wonderful. From the first page I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. The characters came to life on the page, the story was so real, I felt like I was a part of it all. I really hope there is another book from Glenda soon.

From: Tikki
Welcome Home was beautifully written. Glenda wears her heart on her sleeve for this one. The way she brings the six together, making their friendships and betrayals so believable and heartbreaking and yet so warm, just about brought tears to my eyes. Glenda makes you want to take the teenage Shelby up into big bear hug and whisper to her "it will all be alright". And sometimes yell at the adult Shelby to just go ahead and f--k Valerie already, even while admiring her strength. Over all I loved the book. Oh and I really want that dock on the marsh for myself! I will definitely read this again!

From: Pali
There are books you read and there are books you devour. I wasn't sure what to expect from Glenda Poulter, but only a few pages into her work I had my answer. She's above and beyond. The best compliment I can pay a writer is that they're a bathroom reader. After all, once you're in there, you're stuck so whatever you take in with you had better be good. She's one that you not only take in with you, you wind up stretching out your time because you don't want to stop reading long enough to get up and exit the room. So overall, I'd have to rate what I've read of her book so far worthy of the deep red ring on my lily white tush. - Pali

From: Anonymous
The only print book in my new year reading fest and a great book at any rate and esp. as a first novel.
The friendship of 6 friends is torn apart in their last year at school. 30 yrs. later Shelby is coming back home to find her place.
Was thoroughly impressed by its warmth, depth and strength. I very much liked the two story lines - past & present. It touched on many vital topics and provided food for thought without being oppressive or depressing. I liked the strong undercurrant of love, survival and hope.

From: Lynne Pierce

Welcome Home is about going home and confronting the past. It's about learning that things are not always the way we perceived or remember them and the power of forgiveness.

Shelby Livingston has led a very successful life as a photojournalist, but traveling isn't as interesting now and she feels like it's time to settle down. It happens that she has an interview for a position with a magazine near her hometown at the same time that her high school class is having its thirtieth reunion, so she decides to attend. A chance encounter opens up memories of the past when she was one of the Six, including her friends Howie, Carolyn, Melissa, Kara, and Naomi. Shelby is forced to confront some of the things that happened to them, especially the betrayal by of one of the group that destroyed their senior year. When that same person asks Shelby to help her atone for what she did, Shelby learns that some of the things she has believed for years are not correct and that forgiving the past can open up the future. She also learns that the love she's been looking for all of her life has been waiting for her at home the whole time.

Welcome Home is a quick to read book that explores friendship and what it can mean in a person's life, especially when you discover that you don't know your friends as well as you think you do. It deals with how friends can be supportive and devastating and how sometimes you fail each other. The one drawback to the book is that it could have been longer to give a fuller understanding of what happened between these people. The reader is asked to accept a lot on face value instead of being able to develop an understanding of the characters. There are holes that needed to be filled, especially involving one of the characters who commits suicide. On the whole though, it's an interesting story, especially the interaction between Shelby and Naomi and the self-examination that Shelby has to go through about a number of issues. The book delivers a message without hammering it in. The reader absorbs the story and then wonders what she would have done under similar circumstances.

This is Glenda Poulter's first book and shows promise for any future work she may produce. This one is good reading for a few hours of relaxation.

From: Kaycee Hawn
I just finished this book. It is a very well written and excellent book. I didn't stop reading it until I finished it. Some parts are very difficult to read, and some left me in tears, but it shows a great deal of emotion, as well as reminding you just how important friends and family are. I found myself laughing at the number of places and things I recognized from living out in the South Carolina Low Country as a teen. I loved the book, and highly recommend it to anyone. Lesbian fiction it may be, but the focus is more on acceptance and simply loving someone for who they are, not what they are. It is a very, very good book.

From: H Y
I received my copy of Welcome Home from Amazon.com today and read it in one sitting. I enjoyed the book very much. One reason I decided to purchase it was the Low Country setting - you are right about the area being magical. Best wishes on your continued writing career. I look forward to reading more novels from you. H Y