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Calling Me Home  By  cover art

Calling Me Home

By: Julie Kibler
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Lorna Raver
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Publisher's summary

Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a big favor to ask her hairdresser, Dorrie. She wants the black single mother to drop everything and drive her from Texas to a funeral in Ohio - tomorrow. Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious about Isabelle’s past, agrees, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.

Isabelle confesses that, as a teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell 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 just might help Dorrie find her own way.

©2013 Julie Kibler (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc

What listeners say about Calling Me Home

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Recommending to my book club! I will read again!

If you could sum up Calling Me Home in three words, what would they be?

Poignant, well-written, engaging

What was one of the most memorable moments of Calling Me Home?

*Spoiler alert* When Miss Isabelle arrives at the funeral home & for whom she is there to see.

What about Bahni Turpin and Lorna Raver ’s performance did you like?

Everything!!! They are great performers!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The story was so well-written, the characters so full & vibrant, that I could see them, feel their pain, their joys, and their sorrow - all characteristics of a GOOD book!

Any additional comments?

This book was a pleasant surprise. I had no recommendations for it & just listened on a guess that it would suit me - I'm so glad I did!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Must Read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I loved this book. Long after I finished it I thought about this book often. The story is just excellent. This book makes you laugh and cry.

What did you like best about this story?

Everything, but especially the friendship that developed between Isabelle and Dorrie.

Which character – as performed by Bahni Turpin and Lorna Raver – was your favorite?

I loved them both, but I found myself wanting to hear the parts with Isabelle's story the most.

Who was the most memorable character of Calling Me Home and why?

Isabelle was the most memorable. Her story is one that everyone can relate to one way or another.

Any additional comments?

My sister and I both listened to this book and we both were so affected by it. It was truly a great book. I'll listen again.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreakingly Amazing

What did you love best about Calling Me Home?

This is the best book I've listened to in a LONG time. I bawled my eyes out, the sign of a good book to me! I enjoyed the readers, and absolutely LOVED the story. Amazing.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful book - great writing - excellent ending

This is a well written book. The performance by the readers was excellent. This was a challenge because each reader had to read some dialog by the other character and come close to matching the voice so it is not jarring when the next chapter starts read by the other character. The ending was excellent.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Honest and beautiful

I loved the little uncomfortable truths that are difficult or impossible for most to discuss. Very raw in that way. Then there are the not so subtle truths that are easier to address because they’re in the past, but painful still. The story pulls you along seamlessly between past and present

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful heart breaker

Isabelle’s story broke my heart. I listened to this on audiobook while commuting and it made me cry 😢. I’ll never understand human cruelty. Beautifully written, the author lets the story unfold perfectly. I wasn’t completely crazy about the narration but the story was so good it didn’t really matter.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

heart wrenching

slightly formulaic, but extremely enjoyable all the same. would highly recommend to anyone who wants a story about love and friendship.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Poignant story

Loved the back and fort banter of the main characters as well as their first person narrative of their respective lives.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

History, Mystery, Black and White

Young Isabelle McCallister didn't set out to fall in love with the son of her family's housekeeper in 1930s Kentucky . . . after all, the girl had grown up with Robert, played with him and his sister . . . studied along side him as her father, the town's physician, taught Robert from textbooks that the "colored school" didn't have access to . . . what she saw in Robert went much deeper than the color of his skin . . . the story is about young Isabelle and old Isabelle, now almost 90 years old, and traveling from Texas, back to Cincinnati (just over the river from Kentucky) for a funeral . . . driven by her good friend, Dorrie (a forty-something, black woman) . . . her hair dresser of many years . . . really her best friend and confidant . . . her only friend now. And the long journey by car begins the telling of a lifetime of joy, pain, prejudice and healing that changes both women . . . I appreciated very much the examination of long held ideas from both perspectives . . . black and white . . . that have been ingrained into people and society, which Dorrie and Isabelle encountered and fought back personally. Because until we, as individuals, do exactly what these two women did, deal with one another honestly, up front and personal, confronting our own feelings and long held . . . wrong held . . . anger and blame . . . our society cannot change. This isn't an activist story . . . it's a story of love . . . which is the only way wrongs can ever be righted. I had no idea, when the audio book began (it started a little slow) how it would grow on me,and wrap itself around me. It's no simple story, no simple answers. And until you reach the end, you will not know the full story of Ms. Isabelle McCallister . . . well done, Julie Kibler, well done . . .

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • CJ
  • 02-28-15

It was an emotional read

What made the experience of listening to Calling Me Home the most enjoyable?

The narrators did an amazing job.

Any additional comments?

The narration was good. The middle of the book...I felt could have moved along faster. However, the last 5 hours of audio, I could not stop listening and my heart was breaking. The tears were coming down while I was doing errands and listening to the audio. Even though I figured out the ending, it was still gut-wrenching.

What an amazing love story.

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