Calling Me Home

A Novel

By: Julie Kibler

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Lorna Raver

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

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

Go in blind!!!!

So. I started this book with no knowledge what so ever of its contents besides the fist few pages that I listened to. I decided the narrator sounded good and a hairdresser was one of the characters Ok I'm in. Sooo so glad that is all I had. I would so not have gave it a chance if I knew the summary let me tell you that. This book was so good I can not recommend it enough. Blind is the best way though for sure!!!!

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.

quality historical fiction

Calling me Home is the touching story of an elderly white woman as she journeys into her past, growing up in 1930s Kentucky and falling in love with a young black man. As she recalls these memories some 70 years later, the reader is reminded of the continuing struggles for civil rights, not only in the early 20th century, but today as well.

The story is told through the perspectives of two women--Miss Isabelle, the aging white woman, and Dorrie, the middle-aged black woman who aids Miss Isabelle on her journey. In the audio version two different narrators are used to voice these women.

ENJOYED THE PACE

Would you consider the audio edition of Calling Me Home to be better than the print version?

Did not read the print version.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think they were all good, especially the two main characters.

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

Bahni Turpin

If you could rename Calling Me Home, what would you call it?

Would not change

Any additional comments?

I think the times have not changed much. Yes, by-racial marriages are here to stay but still frown by family members.

Sad but very hard to stop listening to

I would recommend this book, but I was hoping for a much happier ending. The author builds all relationships incredibly well, making it very difficult to stop listening.

Wow!! Relationship story on so many levels.

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

Love comes from many directions. Life and society always pulling us one way and then (the never ending rollercoaster we all live). Loss hurts no matter how it comes about. Love lives on maybe not how we want, but inside us it lives forever.

What other book might you compare Calling Me Home to and why?

Pecan Man, would be a close story. The characters in the stories love and loss, with a little fun in the middle. Another great book.

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

Like no, I loved them. The book had to have that balance to make it real. It made the story come to life.

If you could take any character from Calling Me Home out to dinner, who would it be and why?

All of them.

Any additional comments?

You should not miss this book. AUDIO is the way to enjoy this book. I had it in paper but the cast needed the voices to bring it to life. Laugh, cry, think oh my, want to take a few punches at a few cast members. I am using the word cast because it is a movie going on in your mind as you listen.

Beautiful yet sad

Brought me to tears so many times but I enjoyed every minute. What a beautifully written love story with such pain and perseverance. I've recommended this book to everyone that would listen.

Heart breaking!

I love this book! It's the first to make me feel so strongly and passionately about two love birds. By the time I neared the end of this book my heart was aching for a happier ending. I was wretched in tears multiple times because I knew how her story ended but didn't want to believe it.

This was a powerful read and it is a story that you will leave both loving and hating.

Excellent story

I loved this book. Both readers were very animated and I could "see" them .

Very much worth your time.

I loved everything about this audiobook. The story was great, and I loved the two different voices.