The Templeton family has sociopathic tendencies, but not in the quirky, humorous way you might expect in a popular novel. There is neither edge-of-the-seat suspense nor unstoppable action in McInerny's latest. Instead the reader is treated to a complexly woven tapestry of relationships, family secrets, deceit, betrayal, and denial. If At Home with the Templetons were made into a movie it could go in many different directions depending on the whim of the director or screenwriters.
Templeton Hall is a family estate in Australia that has been turned into a living history museum by English heir Henry Templeton. Henry's four children serve as weekend docents, guiding tourists and treating them to stories about the family's checkered history and possessions. Wife Eleanor homeschools the Templeton children, Charlotte, Audrey, Gracie, and Spencer and Aunt Hope, Eleanor's sister, spends most of her time belligerently drunk. Nina Donovan, a widow, and her son Tom visit Templeton House during an open house for the locals and vow never to return after an altercation with Hope, but as time passes Tom and young Spenser become close friends, as do Nina and Gracie. Eventually Nina moves into an apartment on the estate grounds and, when Henry and family are mysteriously called back to England, she remains as caretaker of the estate until an unexpected tragedy tears the familes apart.
The novel spans almost twenty years and is filled with unexpected twists and turns and shifting of relationships. The children grow up and establish themselves in various careers, developing along the way personalities and attitudes that both grate and fascinate. Everyone, in fact, evolves. Most readers will enjoy the revelations and surprises as the story progresses through the years. I know I did!
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