When we lived in suburban Detroit, I organized an annual service day for my alma mater. One year we joined an organization that planted trees in the inner city. As we dug holes and planted new trees to replace those dead from disease, several people came out of their homes and questioned us about what we were doing. Most were suspicious of our motives and some wanted us to stop, at least until we mentioned that the minister of a local church had volunteered to water all the trees in hopes of helping them root and survive. It was a reaction I'd never expected to encounter. After all, we were just trying to help make their neighborhood more beautiful and replace what they had lost long ago. Trees couldn't possibly be political, could they? We moved away from Detroit in 2008 as the housing bubble was bursting in a spectacular way all across the US and so I don't know whether our trees survived or even whether the inhabitants of the neighborhood itself are still there or if they were among those so hard hit that their homes were torn down and they were displaced. What wasn't lost on me though was the idea that what one person sees as a gift of good can be seen otherwise by the people on the receiving end. This is just one of the issues addressed in Peggy Lampman's newest novel, The Welcome Home Diner but one that resonated with me for sure.

Addie and Sam Jaworski are cousins who have bought both a home and a diner in a depressed area of Detroit. They've realized their dream of refurbishing the diner and opening a restaurant focused on the cuisine that means the most to them, the foods they learned to make in childhood with their Polish Babcia and the comforting soul food of their diverse, local staff. They have a kitchen garden behind the diner to supply many of their vegetables and they use local artisans and purveyors for the rest of their supplies. Despite their outreach to the neighborhood and even as they become more successful professionally, they are avoided by the neighbors and patronized mainly by suburban hipsters, a point which continually nags at them, and which runs counter to their vision. Initially things seem to be mostly going well personally and improving professionally for the two women but there start to be cracks in their lives. Addie's boyfriend can't commit to marriage and family, two things she wants more than anything, and Sam's boyfriend has plans that could change everything for the two cousins. A troll has started posting negative and untrue comments about the diner and they are faced with threats by a shady linen company. And the cousins, who not only work together but have bought a fixer upper home together, have a relationship damaging fight. Only the community they have created around them can buoy them up and get them through all of these difficulties and more.

The narrative flips from Addie to Sam so that each woman has a voice for the reader and so that her internal thoughts and pressures can help explain all of the decisions, good and bad that she makes. Occasionally it is difficult to determine who the focus is on, especially when the character in question is ruminating over a problem both women share. Sam and Addie, although growing up under very different circumstances, both need to discover their own self-worth over the course of the novel. They are so focused on the stresses of running the diner and of their respective love lives that they either don't know or they lose sight of their own identity and truth. Their fumbling makes them feel terribly real and familiar. The secondary characters are generally a delightful bunch (although there are one or two who are more irritating and problematic than delightful). Like the city itself resurfacing from the economic disasters of the past, the secondary characters, and in many ways, Sam and Addie too, are looking for a second chance, a personal revitalization if you will. The stresses of owning a small restaurant and the difficulty of having it truly be a welcome home in the midst of a neighborhood that views them with suspicion is very well depicted here. Addie and Sam do want to be good community partners but it's not as easy and immediately appreciated as they had assumed. The novel is full of weighty plot lines, many of which are quite secondary. Lampman takes on a veritable cornucopia of issues in this novel: gentrification, sex trafficking, family, both created and chosen, race, the farm to table movement, rehabilitating convicts, second chances, and forgiveness. There is a clear love of food here with delectable passages about cooking and ingredients that will make any reader's mouth water and there are recipes at the end for any cooks looking to make their own Polish soul food fusions. There's a lot to think about in the pages of the novel and readers of women's fiction as well as foodies and those interested in the rebirth of Detroit will certainly enjoy the book.

I didn't connect with this book and gave up early on.

Addie and her cousin Sam have opened the Welcome Home Diner in a rougher area of Detroit. They were drawn to this area for its history and need for love and rejuvenation. Cooking homemade, fresh foods, their diner becomes popular. That is until their neighbor voices his unhappiness and an Internet poster continuously posts horrible things about the diner. All the stress causes issues in many parts of the cousins’ lives.
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I liked this book. I didn’t love it. I felt some of the dialogue was awkward and there was so much happening. It was not hard to keep track of, but I just felt it made the book longer than it needed to be. I feel others would probably love this book. It was just was not for me.

FirstLine ~ If you're the last oerson to leave Detroit, don't forget to turn off the light.

Food, love and pride in the city The Welcome Home Diner will leave the reader feeling hungry for more...literally. I adored this book and all the ways it was unfolded for the reader. It was one of those reads that both inspires and delights. It will be a great read to snuggle up with this fall or winter.

This book was such a surprise! I loved the cover and the title made me think I was going to get a heart-warming story (set in the South or Midwest) that would be easy to read and a delight.
In the end, this is a heart-warming story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. What surprised me was that this wasn't just a bit of fluff story about cousins and food and relationships. It was that but had such depth and emotion that really drew me in.
The story follows two cousins: Sam and Addie and is told in alternating points of view. They are the best of friends who face a crisis; Lampman wrote them both so well that you love them both and can't possibly take sides. They both must look at who they are, what in their past has shaped them into who they are and what they will retain to take into the future and become.
I also loved the setting: broken down Detroit that these girls and those in their sphere see as a beloved town on the brink of greatness. They are committed to rebuilding the city and building solid foundations of relationships that tear down barriers such as race, ethnicity and economics. To top it all off, food is woven throughout this book in delectable, mouth-watering ways. Recipes included at the end. If only The Welcome Home Diner were real.....

I have mixed feelings about this book. Where I loved all the food descriptions in this book Sam and Addie sometimes made me want to scream just a little, especially with their romantic lives. Addie in particular drove me crazy. Her four year relationship seemed so unrealistic, not to mention the house. I can't imagine how a house that seems so dilapidated could be inhabitable and that code enforcement wouldn't be on their case. Then there's her relationship with David. I really hated them together especially their love life. They were a bit nauseating at times with their love.

The story is told from Sam and Addie's point of view and in first person, which occasionally made it hard to deal with, especially at the beginning when they were in the same moment.

Of the two characters, I have to say I liked Sam the best. She was more real. I wanted good things for her. I really hated the way her relationship with Uriah turned out. I wanted better for her. She deserved it.

This book is about love and relationships and food. All of these are complex and fabulous, and they are full of emotion. There's a lot of drama going on in this story, as the girls have definitely ruffled some feathers in opening the diner. Addie is definitely the type of person you expect to find on Pantsuit Nation. Both girls have a "I must save the world attitude" which is good but at times downright annoying in others.

Part of the drama involves a troll that is trying to damage the reputation of the restaurant. When this troll goes on to attempting to hurt a child, things get ugly.

Oh and did I mention the food and the wonderful descriptions? Oh and there are great recipes at the end. I really want to try the cabbage roll and the tzatziki recipes.

This was an enjoyable read. Great for a weekend afternoon.

Sam and Addie Jaworski are just two people struggling to make their diner a success. They were raised with the idea that those who can do and those who have give. And that's exactly what they're trying to do in The Welcome Home Diner by Peggy Lampman.

Sam and Addie Jaworski are cousins. Sam studied to be a chef and helps manage their restaurant's kitchen. Addie manages the restaurant and the staff. Both Sam and Addie have issues from their past that they are working through, but they are happy to be in Detroit and struggling to make a go at their business. Success seems to be difficult to attain for the cousins for a while, but they gradually begin to make a name for themselves and their business. Just when it seems as if all is bright and wonderful, Sam and Addie begin to deal with blow after blow. Their diner is trolled on the internet and an employee's daughter is part of an attempted kidnapping scheme. How much should they have to suffer in their efforts to give to a city they've come to love? When will the city begin to show them some love in return for their efforts?

I struggled to read The Welcome Home Diner, not because it wasn't a good read, it is, but because I've been dealing with severe migraine headaches and other family medical emergencies over the past few days. Being able to escape into a good book was my respite from these issues, and yes, The Welcome Home Diner was a good book to read. It was easy to become invested in Sam and Addie's lives and the lives of their friends and coworkers. I wanted them all to have success and was wishing I could sample one of their lamb burgers and Heartbreaker cookies last night. The Welcome Home Diner incorporates the basic angst of any small business owner along with the desire to give back in a meaningful way to a city that's on the edge of rising like a phoenix. The story also has family drama, interpersonal and intrapersonal drama, envy, enmity, revenge, and more. At its heart, this is a story of a hope and love. Sam and Addie love what they do and just want to share that love and joy via food. Ms. Lampman has crafted a great feel-good story with colorful characters, amazing settings, and believable action. I strongly encourage you to grab a copy of The Welcome Home Diner to read for a variety of reasons but primarily because it is a delightful feel-good story about family, friends, food, and love.

This is a really well-written book although it was really slow at the start, this book is about two cousins Addie and Sam who are trying to be included and a part of the community while running The Welcome Home diner.I enjoyed this book it was a perfect read for a lazy day and I would try more from this author.

Addie and Samantha are two cousins, descendants of a wonderful Polish family, who open a diner in the inner city of Detroit in hopes of being part of a rebuilding effort in Detroit. Along the way instead of being welcomed as they envisioned, they encounter severe prejudice, even hate. They preserver throughout to win over their neighborhood and make friends along the way. Each of them finds the work and the struggle fulfilling as they are determined to win over those that work against their success.
This book was beautifully written... It is substantial, outstanding writing and very reveling to today. I enjoyed it and highly recommend this book. This is a excellent author who has her finger on the pulse of social issues that affect all of us.

I love the idea of how living in the same house and running a diner in the bowels of Detroit help 2 cousins learn more about themselves and their relationships. This novel also highlights a few of the issues that plague many cities across the United States.

The 2 cousins are of Polish descent (therefore white), yet want to create a haven in the city for all people with no prejudice. However, that's not the reception they receive from the locals. While a few people embrace their desire to provide good, quality food, most of their customers come from outside the city for the dining experience.

The issue of sex trafficking is also included as one of their employees was formerly enslaved in a sex ring. Now at the Welcome Home diner she is finding her way and beginning to thrive.

This was a very interesting read.

This fictional story is about Samantha (Sam) and Addie, who are cousins that buy, renovate and run a restaurant in Detroit, called Welcome Home.

My husband used to live just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan and I would travel to Windsor to meet him (I live in Toronto). We would drive through Detroit to get to his place. We have, on occasion stopped off for some food there. Having spent some time in and around the area, you can’t help but be aware of the issues the city is having. When I saw this was a story about a start-up restaurant in the city it piqued my interest.

The author did a really good job of being descriptive of not only Detroit, but the surrounding area. She mentions many points of interest around the area to make it real. She mentions University of Michigan and Zingerman’s Roadhouse (which we have eaten at many times. If you go get the mac and cheese! You will not be disappointed).

The story is not only about the restaurant, it is about the two main characters and their lives and their (sometimes fraught) relationship with each other. As they are building up the business, they each have their own struggles. There is also a cast of characters that work at or pass through the restaurant that have their own stories to tell. Each character seems to represent a point-of-view or struggle. The characters seemed real. I cared about them, and I wanted to know more about them.

There are some hard hitting issues that are addressed in this book (sex slavery, racism, violence) and it fits. It not only makes for an interesting story, but helps to expose some of the important issues that Detroit is facing.

Food features heavily in the story (obviously, it’s about a restaurant). Specifically it is about how food can bring people together, can link us to our past and to our family (or not). As a bonus, there are recipes in the back of the book. I am definitely going to try the diner’s signature Heartbreaker cookies!!!

This is more than a light beach read. However, it was interesting from the start and kept me engaged throughout the story.

I rated this 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

Full disclosure: I received this eARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)

When I began reading this book, I soon thought it to be a travel book for the state of Michigan. The author talks about beautiful areas of Michigan and the fact that Detroit is a city on the verge of a comeback. It did make me want to visit Michigan next summer, but not much more. I, obviously, was missing the point!

Addie and Samantha are two cousins, descendants of a wonderful Polish woman, who open a diner in the inner city of Detroit in hopes of being part of a rebuilding and rebranding effort in Detroit. Along the way they encounter prejudice, even hatred. But through it all they find love in both their personal lives and in their surroundings.

This book was beautifully written. I loved the characters, especially Angus, an elderly curmudgeon, who had seen it all in his city!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

4+ Stars

A compelling & rewarding book with an interesting, substantial plot, memorable characters and scrumptious, irresistible food.

Cousin Addie & Sam Jaworski -with Polish roots- were both born and raised in Michigan. For them moving to Detroit to open their Welcome Home Diner in one of the more desolate parts of town seems the most natural thing in the world, while their families & friends are mostly horrified. But Addie and Sam believe in each other, their Polish heritage from their beloved grandmother Babcia as well as in giving "The D" a chance. They hope that the establishment of their Diner will boost the renovation and revitalisation of their neighborhood.

But while their restaurant seems to go from strength to strength & is immensely popular among "outsiders", the local Afro-American community -apart from the co-workers of the Diner- are conspicuous by their absence, no matter how hard Addie and Sam are trying to reach out. There is also an enemy lurking behind the anonymity of cyberspace: trying to undermine the good reputation of the place through various social media attacks.

And the time comes when both Addie and Sam are put to some the test and have to face their fears & past mistakes if they want to go on.

I have to admit that in the beginning I struggled to get into the book. I could not relate either to Addie or to Sam through whose alternating POV the story unfolded. They both appeared to self-absorbed and not very understanding towards each other, though we were told they were close like sisters. But slowly they started to grow on me. Their compassion towards their employees, their willingness to give both Detroit and its inhabitants a second chance was very appealing.

The atmosphere of the Diner was very alluring and the food described just made me drool over my kindle.

The writing is lovely, there is depth to the narrative and the end, though satisfying, is realistic.

Highly recommended.

Strong 3 rating - more like 3.75. This was a charming book, with a really wonderful premise. I liked one of the restaurant owner/cousins better than the other, loved the urban renewal setting, and appreciated the author touching on a sensitive subject like human trafficking in a readable way. Relationship drama is somewhat beyond the scope of my life right now, and would have dragged down my rating, but the recipes included in the back of the book made it all worthwhile.

I did not finish this book at 30%. I could not get into the storyline at all.

Favorite Quotes:

She’s also known for her outrageous wardrobe and is proud to proclaim she’s growing old disgracefully.

The staff is coming up with a language of its own. In a couple of years, we’ll be the only ones who understand one another. “A gastronoid,” Lella continues, “is a human subspecies that only lives to eat and complain.”

Your silence is becoming too loud in my head.

Yoga, Pilates, sashimi, and salads. Believe me, there’s nothing graceful about aging. It’s a full-time job.

And there were two brave women, Addie and Sam, who made a family from scratch, using what others left behind.

My Review:

While an entertaining and engaging read, The Welcome Home Diner was hazardous to my diet as each plate of food was lovingly and sensuously described in lip-smacking detail. In one instance, Ms. Lampman eloquently waxed on for a full page about a juicy and succulent heirloom tomato, which had my mouth watering and resulted in my increasingly frequent foraging for sustenance and nibbles. Not to diminish her humorous and colorful descriptions of the numerous quirky characters who also inhabited the pages and frequently had me smirking. Two female cousins with an impressive mission statement and admirable ideals established the diner in a derelict area of Detroit and featured farm-to-table heartland fare with the unique fusion of Southern soul food and Polish dishes. I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around that combination for quite some time. The cousins’ behaviors were not always admirable and were actually often annoying, yet I came to care about them and wanted all their dreams to come to fruition. However, their neighbors did not sure in those hopes for their success and the cousins found themselves being shunned, threatened, trolled, and traumatized. The storyline was slowly developed yet intriguing, enlightening, thoughtfully well-crafted, and quite tasty.

A delightful feel good read with lovely well rounded characters and a sense of nostalgia.

The concept of family is made up of people you want to surround yourself with I love and this feeling of warmth enveloped me throughout the book.

A fab read!

The interesting, complex, quirky characters with their real life problems and idiosyncrasies make The Welcome Home Diner! It is a story of growth and discovery, of romance and working hard to make dreams come true, and of learning to understand both yourself and others. I think it would be an interesting book club selection.

(4.5) This was a very enjoyable book which is filled with some wonderful descriptions of the delicious food being served up at The Welcome Home Diner. I loved the characters of cousins Addie and Sam, as well as the many other diverse characters in the book. This is not only a story about delicious food in a vintage diner but it's also about the love that goes into creating that food, romantic love, and love for friends and neighbors. It deals with some very current issues: human trafficking, racism and the revitalization and rebuilding of neighborhoods in some depressed areas of Detroit, one of those neighborhoods is the setting of The Welcome Home Diner. I thought this was very well done and found it as satisfying as one of those Heartbreaker Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yes, there are recipes included at the end of the book. A very big bonus!!

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Welcome Home Diner. The books is well written and has a great plot as well as characters. I had not read this author before but see myself reading more of her books in the future.