Calling Me Home

this is a gripping story but shocking in some of its characters' narrow-mindedness and treatment of each other

Many previous reviews of the synopsis so I will stick with my views. Some reviewers have said "Calling me Home" is a predictable read, given the place and time that Isabelle's part of the story is set in, Kentucky, 1939. I'm not sure that "predictable" is the right word, possibly "inevitable" is better, especially given that, even today, there is still so much bigotry in some parts of the US (and worldwide). Some questioned why Isabelle didn't stand up to her parents, her mother especially, but the reality is, girls just didn't back then. Even considering Isabelle wanted to go to university but her mother has other plans for her future - marriage and babies with a suitable boy from the same (or preferably better, well-off) white class background - defines what life was like and girls did what they were told.The premise of an inter-racial relationship was, I thought, handled really well and didn't fall into the schmaltzy traps of almost-unbelievable "happy ever after" or the more vicious (and probably far more common reality) of "death at the end of a rope" outcome. Isabelle and Robert's relationship walked a fine line between the two and despite understanding the outcome, I found myself, like Dorrie, wishing, hoping for it all to be different.I liked the telling of the two stories, Dorrie's in modern day and Isabelle's, just as WWII was beginning. I also liked the way Dorrie was unsure of her standing, her relationship with Isabelle who, although she had known her for 10 years as her customer, wasn't sure how this translated into friendship beyond those boundaries. We've all had friendships that are limited to a certain area in our lives and some adjustment is necessary to be with and view a person differently out of the familiar confines. Dorrie dealt with this and all that was asked of her as she listened to Isabelle's story and began to understand the love, loss and pain that she had suffered as a consequence of having fallen in love with Robert.There were several moments when I was moved to tears, the ending being one of them and I always think that its the mark of a good read to provoke a response like that.

I enjoyed this book because it dealt with the thorny issue of relationships between people of different ethnicity. Some of my best friends are dark skinned, but once they become friends you realize how irrelevant skin colour is.

This is a gripping book, which tells the story of Dorrie and Isabelle. Dorrie is 92 year old Isabelle's black hair dresser, who is driving Isabelle across America to a funeral.Throughout the book, the story flits between past and present, as Isabelle tells Dorrie her life story, and her reasons for attending this funeral.I was itching to know what happened in Isabelle's past, and the story easily flowed between past and present. The writer has a great historical knowledge, and what made the book even more enthralling is that it is based on her Grandmother's own life story.It is desperately sad, from the beginning you can tell it is not going to be a happy ending, but the ending is not at all predictable. I was surprised and saddened. What a tear jerker!The author is a beautiful story teller, I feel that she is going to be a future star. My only reason for not giving the full five stars, is that I found the first half of the book a bit slow, and it was only throughout the second half that I become well and truly absorbed.

I bought this some time ago and, when I started to read it recently, I wondered why on earth I'd bought it. A quick glance at the reviews of others liken it to The Help, a book that I couldn't get my nose out of, even though I was on a short break in Paris at the time. This would have been the reason.It is absolutely nothing like The Help, except that it explores American racism. It has no humour. The story isn't gripping. The characters aren't particularly likeable or believable. In fact, the whole novel is depressing and at times downright unpleasant. I avoid miserable books, because I read for enjoyment. I know weepies are popular, but this didn't make me cry. The young Isabelle is a privileged, self-centred, white girl who, at the age of 16, decides she has fallen in love with a young black man, and pursues him relentlessly, despite knowing that this puts his life in danger. And the older Isabelle persuades her only friend, her black hairdresser, Dorrie, to drive her 1,000 miles to Cincinatti, but without giving her any details. And Dorrie, bless her, agrees, although this means shutting up her shop for a few days and leaving her family. Hmm, not really believable. Driving 1,000 miles may not seem that much to an American, but I'm English, and from the southern tip of England to the northern tip of Scotland is less than 900 miles, so to me this seems a very long distance, and certainly not a trip I'd want to make.To keep them amused on the journey, Isabelle buys a crossword book and, throughout the novel, repeated references are made to words that come up in the crossword puzzles. The first time this happened, I could accept it, but when it continued throughout the book, I found it distracting and irritating and I would pause in my reading to try to fathom its relevance. Later in the book, there is a scene of great cruelty towards the young black man, followed by an uncomfortably full account of their intimacy, which I skipped. Would this old lady tell her much younger companion all this?Yet for the most part I actually read, and finally finished the book, although I was tempted many times to give up, and when I got to the end I wished I hadn't wasted good reading time on it. It gave me no pleasure at all and I would only recommend it if you like to be miserable. To be fair, the writing in itself wasn't bad.