Turner has gained a reputation in the field of children's literature for her accurate depiction of historical information. She has demonstrated a talent for creating a vivid sense of time and place, an ability strikingly displayed in The Way Home. One sees clearly the village of Foxleigh, with its rutted road that loops through cottages so crowded together that one can spit from the front steps and hit another's door. The inhabitants speak in an earthy manner, jocularly discussing subjects such as breeding, whether among animals or people, and there are myriad details that bring into sharp focus the mores, value systems, and social customs of the day. Anne can count but cannot read; the ale house is the gathering place of men; herbs are the only medicines available to fight sickness; and the floor of Anne's cottage is dirt and the family's beds are wooden...