Bridgers's novels share some similarities. None of them, for example, is concerned only with the young people in the book; all of them explore the problems and feelings, as well, of the older people. Music is another thread in most of her stories. Bridgers's characters are people who love music, and both the songs and their singing contribute to the theme and characterization of the books.

Home Before Dark is a novel about a family that moves from an isolated migrant existence to form bonds with the relatives that the prodigal father left behind and with the village friends of his youth. His fourteen-year-old daughter, Stella, is the main character.

At the beginning of her own experience of romance and courtship, she feels the bond with the family land more deeply than the rest of her family and has the most to learn about the intricacies...