Homecoming

Louise E. Allin, a poet and short-story writer, is also an English instructor at Cambrian College.

Homecoming is a strange blend of religious, children’s, local-color,
and adventure stories that are filled with simplistic dialogue,
far-fetched plots, stereotypes, and offensive concepts. The wartime tale
“A Promise Made” contains this exchange: “‘Whores!’ yelled the
Japanese commander. ...‘You tyrannical bastard!’ Major Dolan
shouted. ‘Australians will never bow down to you!’ ... The Commander
strutted over to her and brought his baton down across her breasts.
‘Respect Japanese Commander!’ he screamed hysterically.”
Throughout the collection, characters are besieged by such natural
disasters as

a flash flood, a blizzard, a ravenous polar bear, and even a meteorite.
In “Merry-Go-Round” where the main character has already survived a
barnyard machinery disaster, another looms around the corner: “The
five years with Elsie were the best five years of his life—the five
years which would have stretched into a lifetime if it hadn’t been for
the polio. It was all over in a week.” Earnestness cannot replace
narrative skill.