At the age of twenty-four, Barkley Thompson left Arkansas to sojourn across the country and world. A quarter century later, amid life changes and health challenges, he began to ache for home, saying, "I suddenly realized I had been holding my breath for twenty-five years, and I desperately needed to exhale. Whenever I imagined the setting in which I could breathe anew, it was Arkansas." Upon his ultimate return, Thompson found an Arkansas that "blazes with beauty, abounds with graciousness, and embraces me like...the Prodigal Son." An Episcopal priest noted for his preaching, Thompson discovered that the people and places among which he was raised provide endless access to the heart of the Gospel.

Theologian and author Fleming Rutledge says of Barkley Thompson's writing that he "is remarkably good at evoking people, places, and histories." In The Ache for Home, Thompson shares stories of rivers and streams, weeping willows, laughing nuns, and World War II vets. As a theme running through them all, Thompson commends a transfigured vision that sees the Divine Love that embraces all things.