Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera – 352 pages
ARC provided by Park Row and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Book Blurb:
It’s 1924 South Carolina and the region is still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family. Annie is the matriarch of the Coles family and must come to terms with the terrible truth that has ripped her family apart.These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to the terrible injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in the bond that ties women together.
My Review: 5 stars
Call Your Daughter Home is a ballad for mothers and their children and the friends that make life complete. This somehow got lost in the shuffle of my summer TBR list and when I realized it had been skipped over, I dropped all other books to dig into this one. The title and cover spoke to me and they led me right into this beautiful story.
It’s unbelievable that this is a debut novel. This author has such a keen eye for expressing and developing her characters. She has created three completely different women that have distinct voices and circumstances, yet manage to come together in this tightly knitted story. I loved them all and felt their stories come alive as they all connected.
In my opinion, this is a mother’s journey at its heart, yet this book covers a large breadth of themes: marriage, murder, abuse, lies, slavery, hunger, poverty, sisterhood, race, appearances, parenting, loss and finding your pack in the most unlikely of places. Although many of these topics sound heavy, Spera masterfully speaks volumes, while saying very little. I really appreciated her filtering and sensitivity.
All of three protagonists have suffered in their own ways, and through excellent storytelling, the author shows that no one is exempt from heartache and impossible challenges. White, black, poor or rich, anybody’s heart can break and finding others to have your back, is where healing can start. I’m already anxious for her next book and obviously, highly recommend this one!
Quotes I liked:
Mama used to say if you don’t ask for help, nobody will know to give it.”
“If we don’t celebrate the small movements forward, we forget they existed at all.”
“Worry is something I’ve never understood. What good does it do, except drain possibility from the day?”
“Your mama knew you ‘fore you knew yourself. Mothers don’t leave. She’ll be back.”
“Children can’t see that for every day they are on this earth, they are changing. I suppose God Designed it that way to sp are us the fear of what change means.”
“Better to live to work than work to death.”
“It is difficult to fathom how the body continues despite the heart’s condition, for if the broken heart ruled the physical body, I would have been dead long ago.”
“Polite make-believe is weary business, and there is no one better at than Southerners.”
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