Not Quite Home: A Novel

by Temple Lentz

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 local elected official. She has lived mostly in central Ohio, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest. This is her first book.

Praise for Not Quite Home“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

“[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

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2025

About the author

Temple Lentz is a nonprofit CEO and local elected official. She has lived mostly in central Ohio, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest.

Reviews

[Tyler Chavers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story will help you realize how precious each life is and how wildly blessed we are, no matter how little or how much we may possess. This little book will help you learn again it is people who matter most. No one is beyond the grace we may extend. Reading this story may cause us to understand how much grace we need ourselves. This book is gritty, witty, high spirited and full of wisdom nuggets.

Bravo to Lentz for humanizing the crisis of unsheltered homelessness, and sharing how together we CAN make a difference. We CAN bring people back home and build amazing communities!

[Avira N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wealthy widow and a weary outreach worker build a partnership neither of them expected in Lentz's compelling debut. Claire has money, connections, and a growing sense that writing checks isn’t enough. Erica has experience, exhaustion, and a job hanging by a thread. When their worlds collide at a homeless encampment, they clash hard. But soon, confrontation turns to collaboration, and the two women launch a daring plan to house ten unhoused women in a community of their own.

Lentz’s writing is sharp, brisk, and funny without undercutting the emotional weight. She writes with clarity and bite about structural inequity and the fraught nature of “helping.” Supporting characters, from a savvy single mom caught between systems, a streetwise woman with a knife and a code to a cop who walks the line between ally and enabler, add depth and complexity. But it’s Claire and Erica who carry the novel’s emotional weight, offering two radically different but equally compelling lenses on what it means to build something real, one imperfect step at a time. A piercing and hopeful novel about second chances, uneasy alliances, and the work of becoming useful again.

[Lyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written and great story. It serves as a great reminder of the role each of us can play in making meaningful change in our community, especially in addressing houselessness, and the importance of challenging our biases toward others. I appreciated the development of relationships among the characters, including the rocky moments that felt relatable and realistic. A good story, but also an opportunity for self-reflection.

[Ilana Cour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic novel. The ending had me in tears. While the novels centers on homelessness, it’s a wonderful story about grief, identity, friendship, and motherhood, and family.
“The problem of homelessness, and all of the contributing factors that lead people into homelessness, isn’t something any one person, government agency, or group can solve. We all need to do our part, because it affects all of us”

[Suzanne Uttaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart, compassionate, and deeply human. This novel tackles homelessness and privilege without sentimentality, showing how unlikely alliances can lead to real change. A thoughtful, engaging read that balances social insight with genuine heart.