Not Quite Home: A Novel

When compassion meets conviction, community is born.

Claire, wealthy and recently widowed, is adrift. She has access to tools to make a real difference but can’t figure out where to apply them. Erica, a young outreach worker to the homeless, has grown so cynical about the broken system that she’s breaking rules herself—and for that, she’s about to get fired. One day, Erica finds Claire giving away gourmet sandwiches and twenty-dollar bills at a homeless encampment, and yanks her out of there with a lecture about systemic problems and feel-good solutions. Their conflict soon becomes a partnership, and they craft a plan to help ten unhoused women get off the streets and build a community of their own. Together, they navigate nasty neighbors and difficult politicians. And just when it seems like they’re going to pull it off, a shadow from one woman’s past jeopardizes the entire project.

About the Author

Temple Lentz is a nonprofit CEO and former elected official. She has lived mostly in central Ohio, Chicago, and Vancouver, Washington. This is her first book.

Praise for Not Quite Home

“[A] novel of powerful literary skill, compassion, and purposeful insight.” —Jenny Forrester, author of Narrow River, Wide A Memoir and The Art of Cherishing the World

“How can a book about homelessness, substance addiction and domestic violence be a page turner and life affirming and informative? Yet that is exactly what Not Quite Home is. It has a suspenseful plot with characters you care deeply about. …[F]rankly, everyone in America should read this book.” -Denny Heck, Lieutenant Governor of Washington State and former Member of Congress

“Temple Lentz has crafted characters so authentically flawed and familiar that we can’t help but see ourselves in them, regardless of where we come from.” -Alexia Vernon, author and CEO, Step into Your Moxie