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 An Unassuming Jewel! Mar 06, 2010
After years of putting their blood, sweat, and tears into renovating a Victorian era home in small town Iowa, Joe and Linda Murphy, along with their two children, celebrate the final touch of their restoration - hanging the original front door. Kept for years in the basement, the door needs professional help to bring it back to it's former glory. Fortunately, Joe finds a local craftsman able to complete the work. The same night the door is hung, a thunderstorm moves through the area. The next morning, when the Murphys awaken, they find themselves transported back in time to the year 1909.
Robert Kerr's Completely Restored, starts as a very unassuming book. I read the opening pages and was immediately engaged by the characters but was unprepared for how engrossed and special the story would be for me. I suppose what appealed to me was how the story enfolded so effortlessly and the magic of going to what would have initial appeared to be a simpler time and less complicated life.
After multiple failed attempts to return to their own time, the Murphys resign themselves to finding ways to adapt to life in 1909. Because very little technology such as televisions and such do not yet exist, the sense of community and family really starts to grow for the Murphys. They spend time with their neighbors sharing lemonade and cookies on the front porch; they spend time with the kids playing family games and sharing their days experiences; they make friends with locals and find hard but rewarding work; they become a closer and loving family.
But Kerr is careful not to turn this into a simple romantic view of the past by interjecting a number of plot arcs which also convey how different the rule of law, child protection, and the limitations of medicine were one hundred years ago. I encourage readers to pick a copy. The book evokes a feeling of nostalgia and desire for simpler times while at the same time making one appreciate the things they have today.
Time Travel...Historical Fiction...Iowa & Mystery, that's all I need! Mar 02, 2010
I buy & read a lot of books, some I start reading & it takes me a month to get through it and then there are those books that I can't put down, Completely Restored is one of those books. Honestly, I bought the book then saved it for a few weeks while I waited to go on a cruise, thinking I would read it next to the pool while sipping on one of those RCCL "Drinks of the Day", but that's not what happened. I made the mistake of starting the book on the plane from Dallas to Miami, I don't remember much about the two hour flight but I do remember the book. I love time travel, I have books on the subject and just about every sci-fi movie there is on it. Completely Restored is going to be a movie someday, I just know it. Every chapter that went by I was thinking about how great a movie this would be. A very well written book that made me feel like this could really happen. You could just hear Billy Sunday giving one of his electric sermons during a summer's night revival under a massive tent full of town folks. The great T. Nelson Downs was also included in the book & in the world of magicians, T. Nelson was the King of Coins much more so in Europe than in his native land, so it was interesting to read a little bit about him. The Green Mountain Train Wreck is the main focus in the latter chapters of this story and for those of you who have never heard of Green Mountain, Iowa, check out the history on this train disaster that actually occured on March 21 of 1910. Completely Restored may be historical fiction, but the events that occured in the book aren't. Mr. Kerr has proven that you can take actual historical events and write a book that is not only enjoyable to read but also leaves you with some actual brain food! Here is one reviewer who is looking forward to Completely Restored...The Movie! By the way, I completed the book about a day into the cruise!
 Less HG Wells, More Richard Paul Evans Feb 18, 2010
This is a time travel story, but a heart-warming one at that. So expect the standard conventions of both a Back to the Future movie, and a Richard Paul Evans book. Keep in mind that this book is heart-warming, not mind-bending, so the paradoxes are kept to a minimum. Enjoy the ride, without a headache.
As I read, I fell in love with Kerr's symbols. The Grand Central Symbol is the Completely Restored house. This enchanted house parallels the re-enchantment that the aged and weathered family undergoes as they travel back 100 years. Again, families do not need to go back 100 years to experience the good things that 100 year old principles and practices do for families.
For me, the key scene was Christmas 1909, sans tinsel and Gold Cards. Our little trinkets and baubles are as out-of-date as the living antiques the family bought one another in their temporal flashback.
So expect a book with a healthy message about families, and what we need to to to save society and the world.
There are two things that kept this book back. The first was that the ending was rushed. We get this rapid-fire ticking time-bomb scenario, and then the story is resolved in a flashback. It didn't work for Harry Potter, and it doesn't work here.
The second is the language. Here and there words creep up that might offend my grandmother's soul. The editrix should have caught these and been hard-line.
This book is worth a revised edition to iron out these two flaws. It would make a great holiday Movie of the Week, and could spawn several squeals.
Blast from the past Feb 16, 2010
As a Marshalltown native, I was transported to memories of my own and memories from my Dad. Kerr's writing is so rich and colorful that I could see and feel myself walking the old streets. However, anyone will enjoy this book as it paints such a vivid picture of life in the early 1900s through the eyes of a modern family. Please write more, Bob!
Completely satisfied! Feb 09, 2010
When I finished the last chapter, my immediate thought was of a Snickers....it really satisfies! It was a great story with historical detail, family insight, suspense, horror (who knew what they did with child abusers back then?)and humor. A lovely combination!
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