BookBrowse
Calling Me Home is an outstanding debut novel! Alternating between the present and 1930/40s, the author draws you into the lives and conversations between an elderly white woman and a young black hairdresser as they drive from Texas to Ohio. Both women have secrets that they have guarded but end up sharing with each other. In reading the novel, issues such as race, love, family, and segregation are dealt with in a sensitive manner. (Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
Full Review
(1167 words).
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated 
of 5
by Louise J
Calling Me Home
I really enjoyed the way this story was told in alternating voices between Dorrie and Isabelle. Isabelle’s chapters are told in the first person with memories of her childhood whereas Dorrie’s chapters deal with present day occurrences.... Read More
Rated 
of 5
by Jean N. (New Richmond, OH)
Journey of the Heart
I am glad that I read this book. For me, it was slow getting started, but I soon became hooked by the story of these two unlikely friends.
The relationships and memories of Miss Isabelle brought this painful period to life in a very heartfelt... Read More
Rated of 5
by Mary Q. (Greeley, CO)
Calling Me Home
This is a book with two distinct story lines. Its chapters flip back and forth between present time and 70 years ago, but there is no confusion or difficulty in following the time line. The entire book is engaging and very well written, and I was... Read More
Rated of 5
by Sarah N. (Corte Madera, CA)
Julie Kibler called me home!
Everytime I had to care for my family and set the book down, I was sad. I kept returning to the book as quickly as I could. I really liked the character development as well as the characters themselves. I was intrigued by the mystery and feeling... Read More
Rated of 5
by Sandra S. (Charlotte, NC)
A moving story
A cross country car ride brings two unlikely friends closer than they thought possible. The story Miss Isabelle shares is a bittersweet tale that will move anyone who picks up the book. It's a great read and I recommend it.
Rated of 5
by Vivian T. (Charleston, WV)
A stirring read
Very rarely does a book touch me so much that I wind up in tears at the end, but Calling Me Home was just such a book. Isabelle and Robert's story, although in the past, was presented as if actually happening. The young Isabelle was easy to... Read More
...22 More Reader Reviews
New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain
Write your own review!
This is typical wording on a sign at the edge of what was called a "sundown town", which gained its name because these towns required people of color to leave their perimeters – not surprisingly – by sundown. These towns, found throughout the USA not just in the South, were explicitly all-white towns. Sometimes the segregation was created by actual town policy, sometimes through restrictive covenants created and maintained by real estate brokers, and sometimes by sheer intimidation from local town employees like police officers and even regular citizens. It is not clear how many of these towns existed but one estimation cites that at one point there were several thousand across the United States, and the state of Illinois had the most within its borders.
