My Reading Spot

From the Publisher:
In Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler, eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It’s a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her thirties, to drop everything to drive Isabelle from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow.

Curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle’s guarded past, she agrees, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.

Over the years, Dorrie and Isabelle have developed more than just a business relationship. They are friends. But Dorrie, fretting over the new man in her life and her teenage son’s irresponsible choices, still wonders why Isabelle chose her.

Isabelle confesses that, as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her family’s housekeeper–in a town where blacks weren’t allowed after dark. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the utmost importance and that the history of Isabelle’s first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way.

Review:
Wow.  I am not even sure were to start with this book.  I like a lot of the books that I read and write about, but this one I loved.  Really loved.  I cannot stop thinking about it. Usually I can go from one book to the next, but I can’t get this story out of my head.  It really captivated me.  I’ve talked about before how I am really not a night time reader, I hardly ever stay up late reading a book because I fall asleep.  Not the problem with this book.  I finally had to make myself put this book down because I knew I would be getting up early to run the next day.  I then woke up even earlier so I could read the book before I ran!

I spent most of my life growing up in small southern towns.  I could see this book really happening as I read it. It was so real to me. These characters came alive in my mind. I thought the characters were developed well and really believable.  I really felt for them and wanted their stories to end well.

There were parts of the book that I really laughed at.  But the ending really got me.  I was crying. Happy and sad tears.  It was an ending that I didn’t want to end, but I didn’t want to put down either.  I read this book on my kindle, but it’s a book I wouldn’t mind buying a hard copy and adding to my library.

I will give you a fair warning, there are a couple graphic scenes in this book.  I’ve decided it is so hard to decide if a book is clean or not, because that is so personal.  I think this is a pretty clean book.  But there are a few scenes and there is some adultery.  Not much language at all.

I’ve been trying to think about what this book is similar to…maybe a little bit like The Help, but I also think if you like Kate Morton you would enjoy this book too. It has a little bit of mystery and love story to it.  Other books that you might like, if you liked this one are Warriors Don’t Cry and The Lions of Little Rock.  The Lions of Little Rock was one of my favorite picks from my 100 books last year. (If you haven’t read either of those books, you totally should!)

I don’t belong to any book clubs, but I think it could make a great book club book.  It has so much you could discuss. 

I would love to hear if you have read this book and your thoughts.  
Final Score: (I would give it more if I could)