A National Best Seller Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendshipEighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It’s a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her thirties, to drop everything to drive her from her home … everything to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow.
Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle’s guarded past, scarcely hesitates before agreeing, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.
Over the years, Dorrie and Isabelle have developed more than just a business relationship. They are friends. But Dorrie, fretting over the new man in her life and her teenage son’s irresponsible choices, still wonders why Isabelle chose her.
Isabelle confesses that, as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her family’s housekeeper in a town where blacks weren’t allowed after dark. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the utmost importance and that the history of Isabelle’s first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way.
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This book spoke to me because I grew up in the deep South. The book is both romantic and tragic. I would give it 5 stars.
What a hard story, but at the same time so sweet and thoughtful. This story took me a bit to get into, some of that is because I’m not necessarily one that gets pulled in by a romance. Once I really let the story pull me in, I realized it was more than a romance. So much heartache and loss and confusion. The main character at first made me so …
I read “Calling Me Home” because I had read Julie Kibler’s second book, “Home for Erring and Outcast Girls”. Hopefully, there will be a third novel soon. Julie is an excellent author who draws one into the narrative by making her characters so very real and emotionally vulnerable. She writes of the historical times with authority showing the …
I absolutely loved this book about Isabelle – a nearly 90 year old white woman – and her friend, Dorrie – a 36 year old black woman, making a trip from Texas to Ohio for a funeral. Along the way, Isabelle tells Dorrie the story of the love of her life, Robert Prewitt, and Dorrie shares her life issues with Isabelle. Sadly, because Isabelle was …
There is a reason I don’t often gravitate towards books of this nature. The cover alone had me nervous. I knew that the societal norms of the historical setting and self-righteousness of the narrow-minded were bound to cause a simmering rage, as well extreme sadness. I was not wrong. Calling Me Home was a hard read for me, but so well-written that …
A tad improbable against staggering odds. But a good read.
One of the best books I’ve read in years! Loved every page!
This book is poignant and well written! Keeps your attention. Very good read!! MUCH recommended.
Calling Me Home is both a sweet and anxious book about two friends road trip. The senior passenger, Isabelle McAlester, 89, asks her friend and hairdresser and her hairdresser friend to drive her to a funeral near the where she was born. It changes both their lives as the older woman tells Dora the story of her life. I was anxious as I waited for …
This is an amazing read. It takes place in the late 1930s to early 1940s. A young teenager falls in love with their maid’s son. It was a time of racial segregation, where a mixed racial relationship was taboo in many parts of the country. Their relationship is discovered and heartache ensues. Fast forward many years , this teenager is now an …
I loved this book! It really is a sad story that evolves as elderly Isabell tells her story to her black hairdresser, Dorrie. The story begins when Isabell is young and falls in love with her family maids son. 1930 in Kentucky, their relationship was threatened by the racism of the era. I laughed and cried as I read this great book!
Stories within the main story. Story gets you involved that you are right there with them in the car.
I loved this book. Loved it. I do not say that easily but this book is amazing. The characters are unforgettable, their stories are vivid and real. The unfolding of two (or three) stories at the same time is illuminating, heart breaking and uplifting. This is a brilliant book about the past, the present and the future. I didn’t want this book to …
This was great read and very telling of the time. Wonderful characters that you grow to love and your heart breaks for them.
Loved the characters, sweet but tragic love story with a twist at the end
Very enjoyable.
One of the very best books I have ever read! Can’t wait for her next book but know it won’t be out for close to a year.
Loved it, A love story, but a different kind of love.
One of my all time favorites.
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The characters were deep and well developed. The subject matter was deeply moving. I will not soon forget this book!
This book was captivating! Ms. Isabelle takes you on a very unexpected journey back in time. You can feel her pain and her joy. It has lots of twists and turns that take you by surprise. It is very heart-warming.