Review: Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

When ninety-something Miss Isabelle gets a phone call to return to her hometown area to attend a funeral, she asks her friend Dorrie to drive her from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area to Cincinnati. Dorrie is the closest thing the older woman has to family, never mind that Dorrie is also her hairdresser.

Although the two women feel close, once in the car, they realize they don't really know all that much about each other. Over the course of the long drive they share their stories. But it's Isabelle's tale and the revelation of who died that forms the core of Julie Kibler's debut novel, Calling Me Home.

In the 1930s, northern Kentucky was still very much segregated, and the town of Shalerville was particularly strict in keeping black and white apart. Young Isabelle McAllister considered the housekeeper she grew up with to be part of the family, but clearly her mother had different ideas. When she finds herself falling in love with the housekeeper's son, Robert, the headstrong teenager doesn't foresee the chain of events she sets off.

The novel is told in alternating chapters from Dorrie's and Isabelle's viewpoints, with Dorrie focusing on the present, and Isabelle talking about the past. Their lives have been very different, yet they both have had to deal with racial prejudices and heartbreak that neither finds easy to vocalize. By the time their road trip has ended, the two women have learned from each other, gaining a fresh perspective.

Julie Kibler's strongest talent is creating believable characters that readers almost immediately identify with. Isabelle is willful and knows her own mind, and I liked seeing how those traits were different in the elderly Isabelle from the way they were manifest in her teenage years. Breaking racial barriers was never easy, but for Isabelle and Robert, it seemed almost impossible. The feelings of both their families, the sociocultural consequences, and how their relationship shaped their futures seemed true to the late 1930s and early 1940s. My heart went out to them and their inevitable troubles.

I also liked Dorrie, but I found it a little harder to connect to her, although I'm closer to her age than to Isabelle's. I think perhaps that's because I always have trouble with characters in their 30s who can't seem to recognize a good relationship when it hits them over the head. That, however, is just me, and I know other, perhaps younger, readers will be strongly drawn to Dorrie's plight.

Calling Me Home was chosen as the She Reads book club selection for February. This was a wise pick because there's quite a bit to discuss, and I predict that readers of different ages will react in different ways, which always makes for good conversation. Some of the major discussion points are racism in the past and present, women's rights, how the institution of marriage has changed over the years, the strength (or not) of families, and parenting styles and how they affect the lives of their children.

To see what other She Reads Book Club members thought of the book, to enter a great giveaway, and to join the conversation, visit the She Reads website.

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Macmillan / St. Martin's Press, 2013
ISBN-13: 9781250014528
Rating: B
Source: Bought (see review policy)
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