Calling Me Home (Wheeler Publishing Large Print Hardcover)

by Julie Kibler

A moving love story inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of The Help

In a time of hate, would you stand up for love?

Shalerville, Kentucky, 1939. A world where black maids and handymen are trusted to raise white children and tend to white houses, but from which they are banished after dark.

Sixteen-year-old Isabelle McAllister, born into wealth and privilege, finds her ordered life turned upside down when she becomes attracted to Robert, the ambitious black son of her family's housekeeper. Before long Isabelle and Robert are crossing extraordinary, dangerous boundaries and falling deeply in love.

Many years later, eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle will travel from her home in Arlington, Texas, to Ohio for a funeral. With Isabelle is her hairstylist and friend, Dorrie Curtis - a black single mother with her own problems. Along the way, Isabelle will finally reveal to Dorrie the truth of her painful past: a tale of forbidden love, the consequences of which will resound for decades . . .

`If Julie Kibler's novel Calling Me Home were a young woman, her grandmother would be To Kill a Mockingbird, her sister would be The Help and her cousin would be The Notebook. But even with such iconic relatives, Calling Me Home stands on her own' Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home

`Julie Kibler's writing is so wise and assured. I laughed out loud in places and had tears in my eyes as I turned the last page' Diane Chamberlain

'If you liked The Help by Kathryn Stockett, you'll absolutely love Calling Me Home' Red magazine

• ISBN10: 1250020433
• ISBN13: 9781250020437
• Publish Date: 7 January 2014 (first published 12 February 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St. Martin's Griffin
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Heather]

Dorrie is a 30 something African-American hairdresser in Texas. One of her favorite clients is Isabelle, a 90 year old white woman. Dorrie considers them to be close but it is quite unexpected when Isabelle asks her if she can drive her to a funeral in Ohio – tomorrow.

Dorrie is having problems of her own with her family and decides that a few days away might be good for everyone. Once on the road Isabelle shocks Dorrie by starting to tell a story about her romantic relationship with a black man in Kentucky in 1939.

I listened to this on audio (partially during a road trip through Kentucky) and it was very well done. There were two narrators; one for each character. The production was great. That being said -

For the love of all that is holy, don’t listen to this book on audio!

Seriously, you’ll thank me for that advice. Here’s the problem. If I had been reading this book I probably wouldn’t have put it down. It would have been a page turner for me. But when you listen to it on audio you can’t go any faster. It is going to take 13 hours no matter how much you want to know what happens.

The book is suspenseful. You know any book talking about a relationship between a white woman and a black man in Kentucky in 1939 isn’t going to be all sunshine and roses. I found myself saying “Oh, this is bad” a lot. I also found myself driving through Kentucky yelling into my voice search on my phone trying to find out how this books ends. I was still going to listen to it anyway but I wanted to know a few things because my nerves were about shot. There are no spoilers for this on the internet that I found. I’ve very annoyed about that. Sometimes you need spoilers for your own peace of mind so I’m putting a minor one here. If you are looking for spoilers in a panic because you need to know if it is going to be slightly ok before your next stop – you’re welcome.

Robert does not get murdered because of his relationship with Isabelle.

I liked Dorrie and her story. I liked her reactions to thinking that she was doing a favor for a nice old lady and suddenly finding herself swept up in this secret from Isabelle’s past. I wouldn’t have been as patient as this character was in finding out what happened. (See “yelling into voice search in Kentucky”).

I found the young Isabelle to be very naive and because of that she was annoying at times. A lot of what happened might have been lessened had she made more of an effort to stand up for herself instead of passively going along once things got rough.

Overall it is a sad book because of the damage that was done to everyone involved with Isabelle because of the tension between black and whites in Kentucky. I highly recommend it.