Deb Shera
Released: June 11, 2019 by Park Row
352 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There is something absolutely irresistible about historical books that span generations. Typically I find them as novels that follow a woman, her daughter, then her daughter... but what was even more interesting is that, Call Your Daughter Home is a novel that follows three generations of woman all at the same time... Great Depression, South Carolina. Their lives intersect as they fight their own personal injustices in a small town setting.
The three women are about as different as different can be. There’s Annie, the matriarch of the Cole family who owns her own sewing business with employees sewing grain sack dresses and later, fancy men’s shirts. Annie struggles with empty nest syndrome, her children all grown, and her estrangement from her daughters. Can she find the strength to connect with them and heal? Or is she destined to end her days on her once-plantation, never understanding the real (and awful) reason her beloved family splintered.
Then there’s Retta, a first generation freed slave who still works for the Coles on the kitchen. With the heartache that comes with never completing her family, Retta has a kind, maternal heart and takes several under her wing throughout the book. Retta knows the awful truth about the Coles and uses her maternal instinct to shelter others, both figuratively and literally. I think Retta was the most admirable character in the whole book.
Finally, we meet Gertrude, a poor white mother of four children living in the swamp, whose maternal instinct is also strong. She knows she must fight for her family and she goes about it with the strength of ten women. She’s admirable in her own right. I found the swampy setting of her story to be a mucky representation of her struggles.
Call Your Daughter Home is relatively short novel at 352 pages, but one could almost write a whole dissertation analyzing the title and comparing the lives of the three main characters. What could these women of different ages, backgrounds, and color have in common? As turns out, surprisingly a lot... I recommend this book highly for readers who love historical fiction and rich family narratives. I also want to mention how gorgeous the cover is... is simply screams epic southern story, and I love it.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me a review copy via NetGalley.
