Today my book club was lucky enough to have author Julie Kibler visit and talk about her book, Calling Me Home.  Overall everyone in our group loved the book and was bawling at the end.  There are so many issues discussed her and it is hard to believe how citizens acted just 70 years ago towards people of other races.   Julie told us about how she came to write this book (loosely based on a true story) and what she went through to research the things she needed to authenticate the story.  I think one of the most interesting things I learned was about “Sundown” town – where African Americans could not be within the city limits after sundown.  James W. Loewen wrote a book about it and you can also find information on this website.

Julie kindly posed for a photo with our group too!

Synopsis

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 friendship

Eighty-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 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.

My Review

Oh my….this book definitely tugged at my heartstrings especially at the end. The book is very powerful with the subject matter – interracial relationships – that were forbidden in the early 1900’s, mostly because of the small mindedness of people that didn’t want to accept something that they did not consider normal. But two people did not let that rule their lives despite what their family wanted.

Dorrie is a strong character but needs to learn to trust again. Isabelle has gone through a lot in her 90 years and I couldn’t believe the things she found out near the end of her life. Dorrie learned a lot from Isabelle on that journey and I think Isabelle found peace.

Definitely have tissues handy near the end of the book, the things that are revealed will touch your heart and soul. Love, Relationships, Trust and Faith – you will find it all here