Home for Erring and Outcast Girls

A Novel

By: Julie Kibler

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

An emotionally raw and resonant story of love, loss, and the enduring power of friendship, following the lives of two young women connected by a home for “fallen girls,” and inspired by historical events.

“Home for Erring and Outcast Girls deftly reimagines the wounded women who came seeking a second chance and a sustaining hope.”—Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours

In turn-of-the-20th century Texas, the Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls is an unprecedented beacon of hope for young women consigned to the dangerous poverty of the streets by birth, circumstance, or personal tragedy. Built in 1903 on the dusty outskirts of Arlington, a remote dot between Dallas and Fort Worth’s red-light districts, the progressive home bucks public opinion by offering faith, training, and rehabilitation to prostitutes, addicts, unwed mothers, and “ruined” girls without forcibly separating mothers from children. When Lizzie Bates and Mattie McBride meet there—one sick and abused, but desperately clinging to her young daughter, the other jilted by the beau who fathered her ailing son—they form a friendship that will see them through unbearable loss, heartbreak, difficult choices, and ultimately, diverging paths.

A century later, Cate Sutton, a reclusive university librarian, uncovers the hidden histories of the two troubled women as she stumbles upon the cemetery on the home’s former grounds and begins to comb through its archives in her library. Pulled by an indescribable connection, what Cate discovers about their stories leads her to confront her own heartbreaking past, and to reclaim the life she thought she'd let go forever. With great pathos and powerful emotional resonance, Home for Erring and Outcast Girls explores the dark roads that lead us to ruin, and the paths we take to return to ourselves.

Critic reviews

Advance praise for Home for Erring and Outcast Girls:

“A world in which young, single mothers had few options—and even fewer advocates—comes to life in Julie Kibler’s skilled hands. Based on the history of the Berachah Industrial Home in Arlington, Texas, Home for Erring and Outcast Girls deftly reimagines the wounded women who came seeking a second chance and a sustaining hope. Their lives are raw and heartbreaking, their struggles an answer to a timeless question: Can friendship heal us after the world has broken us?”—Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours

“Home for Erring and Outcast Girls is a moving tale of friendship and resilience. It is the story of three different women, each of them betrayed and abandoned, and the ways in which they find their way home. Emotional. Raw. Compelling. Julie Kibler writes with skill, compassion, and grace.”—Ariel Lawhon, author of I Was Anastasia

“Julie Kibler explores with splendid insight what it’s like to feel exiled from the very people you thought would stand by you and for you no matter what, and that sometimes home is not the place where you were raised but rather the place where you found the strength to rise up out of despair. Memorable and surprising and hopeful.”—Susan Meissner, bestselling author of The Last Year of the War

Excellent history - well written and real.

This book relays a true story about a home, for young women and their unplanned babies. Unlike many places for mothers and babies depicted in literature, there are no evil people who work there - just evil and neglectful families who put them there. Parts are overshadowed b today’s cultural issues but that seems to be the case in all new books.

So FULL of Heart!

Heart breaking, heart rendering, heart hopeful, heart stopping, heart loving; all the feelings the heart can have. I can't say enough about how much I loved this book; every character took me through the full gamete of emotions! My only wish is that each of these courageous, strong, smart, beautiful women could know what paths they cleared for all women; that all their entire lives made a difference. Cannot more highly recommend this book.....a complete must read; this IS a historical fiction lovers DREAM COME TRUE! Being fortunate to work in the DFW metroplex, I couldn't get to UT-Arlington fast enough. Walking where these women lived, walking the cemetery, reading the markers......I cried all the way through. So honored to have the chance to stop for a moment and honor each of them, their journeys, their sacrifices, their lives. Soooo many thanks Julie Kibler for writing and Karissa Vacker for the wonderful telling of these amazing ladies lives.

Historical timeline is beautiful

but the contemporary timeline was a bit "meh" :(

The historical timeline is done beautifully. It is so well-researched and so rich in details and emotions, I loved these chapters.

*however*, the other timeline that takes place in 2017, wasn't really working for me. It was very slow and predictable even. I honestly did not find much interest in the story (I mean, it was a nice story but I wasn't "hooked"). And the ending was very hollywood like.

Very good story

Taking place in different time spans makes this story more interesting. A good time capsule in both eras. Good story.

A wonderful book with many layers!

I've lived in Arlington, Texas for 34 years and had never heard of the Berachah Home until I read this book. It's well written and has so many layers that are uncovered as you read. I've recently read several other historical fiction books and this one did not disappoint! I'm anxious to take a walk now into the park near UTA that surrounds the old Berachah cemetery to find the little cemetery that is there, to complete this story experience. I loved Julie Kibler's first book, "Calling Me Home", and was not disappointed in this her second novel.
Julie, if you're reading this, I look forward to your next book!