Wow this book really hit me. These women are strong and radical and support each other through this very tough time. I was drawn into this story from the beginning. The writing is beautiful and was hard for me to put this one down. I loved how these women came together and helped one another. I loved the way the author laid out the setting and brought it to life too.
It is hard to describe all the things this book made me feel, but I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I just could not get into this book. I had trouble following the characters and the story. I will try at another time to read it and see if my rating improves.

Call Your Daughter Home tells about the lives of Gertrude, Retta, and Annie. Three women from three very different walks of life. All trying to find peace. A victim of domestic violence, Gertrude is poor, so poor she can barely keep her daughters alive. Annie is a wealthy, southern wife trying to reassemble her family torn apart after a suicide. Retta, an African American housekeeper, works for Annie and is looking to walk the path God has given her. All three women will face tragedy and find hope.

This book is excellent A must read. I hated to spend any time away from it. Each character is so different. Each facing such difficult life choices. All hoping for guidance. The story telling reminds me of great southern novels. I can hear the voices from the past. I can see through their eyes. The author doesn't spend time with lengthy descriptions, she lets your imagination fill in the gaps. Although I would not call the book religious fiction, it does have a spiritual undertone. Retta especially is character connected to God and looking for His hand in her life. Although these women have faults, each is strong in her way. I like to see women who find their inner strength.

”It’s easier to kill a man than a gator, but it takes the same kind of wait.”

Set in the 1924, in Branchville, South Carolina, the voices of three women share their stories, their struggles, and their pain, while at the same time holding their own secrets close.

”Sometimes the years go by so fast it’s like flipping pages in a book, but a day can take so long a whole life’s gone by before the sun sets down.”

Gertrude Pardee, a young white woman who is escaping her abusive husband, leaving with her four daughters in search of a home away from so many years of pain, hoping to shield her daughters from the same treatment by their father that she endured. Her daughters are Edna, fifteen, Lily, thirteen, Alma and Mary are ten and six.

”Somewhere nearby, a screen door slams and a child laughs. A whistled tune is carried through the air to my ear as clear as a songbird, though I don’t know the melody. I have neighbors near enough for me to hear them and them to hear me. I am all at once reminded of other lives beyond the one I have lived.”

Annie Coles, who comes to employ Gertie, lives on her family plantation, in a house that is ”pure white and grand as the entrance to heaven” along with her husband, and has been estranged from her two adult daughters for some time. Her youngest son died very young, and tragically. She also has two adult sons.

Oretta Bootles - Retta – is Annie Coles black housekeeper, the first generation of free blacks in her family, who frequently thinks of, speaks to, her daughter who died at the age of eight. Retta is married to Odell, whose health is poor following a major work related injury. Their love is sweet and strong. Retta’s chapters are gently infused with a strong spiritual sense, as she shares her feelings with God about Odell, a bargaining for his safe keeping.

”…no matter how much we look at what happened, no matter how many times we think back to what might have been if we could’ve done one thing different, no matter what, we always come up the same. We live over and over in the happening only to be left with what’s already done.”

Set in an era where this area was still recovering from a boll weevil infection that affected the economy, and a few away from the Great Depression which would hit this area harder than most, this history plays out, showing the devastating effect it had on this area, and the people who lived there. At its heart, though, this is a lovely portrait of the friendship of these three women, the desperately hard times they endured, and the strength they gained through their bonds of loyalty and friendship that allowed them to endure.

”’Between us we got all the talent in the world, but we got to use every bit to pull ourselves up. We been down,’ I told them. ‘but we ain’t down no more. We got to look at this chance like we’re being born all over again.’”

Originally titled ”Alligator,” the author, Deb Spera, is also a veteran of television, having been a TV producer for Criminal Minds,Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Reaper as well as the Lifetime series Army Wives Close to two years ago, she closed a two-year first-look deal with AMC.




Pub Date: 11 Jun 2019


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Harlequin – Trade Publishing (US & Canada) Park Row

Woman's fiction at its finest. A look at Southern women's lives; those in poverty, those of color, and those in a "privileged class". In the end the lives of women aren't much different by class or color and generations of daughters are raised in the same manner in which their mothers live. Highly recommend for historical women's fiction readers.

I may try this again, but the first pass just didn't grab me. Not enough depth, or compelling character development.

Set in the small town of Branchville, South Carolina, this novel covers the interlocked lives of women who are stronger than they think they ever can be.

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera is an excellent novel about several families who live in the South. I felt a real connection with the unique characters that were in this story. Gertrude is one of the characters that I loved. Here is a hard working mother who is abused my her husband and is trying to find a way to escape the abuse her husband deals to both her and one of her daughters. Not only does Gertrude have to deal with this abuse but she also has to find a way to feed her children while living in poverty. This is just one of the story lines in this novel. Another memorable character named Retta is a black woman who works for a supposedly wealthy family. I cannot begin to tell you about all the memorable characters you will encounter in this novel. There are many surprises in the storyline and although I felt the ending was a bit rushed this was still an great read. You will not be disappointed!,

I loved this so much I went to the library to read about Boll Weevils. Definitely going to be handing this one to all of my customers. I loved each of the three women we get to experience in this novel - and when the twist was revealed (a twist that normally turns me off of a book) i thought it was done so tastefully. Nothing graphic (as the mother of young children, I can’t handle this particular kind of graphic). Loved it!

Beautiful story about three women whose lives become interwoven through lives circumstances.
I really enjoyed the tale of the three women and how the author tied the story together with all the different perspectives.
The ending was very good.

Call Your Daughter Home is sure to become a classic in Southern literature. It is a book that I didn’t just read – I lived it and felt it. And even though it was heart wrenching in parts it was also uplifting with a beautiful message of strength, perseverance, a mother's love and the power of women. It is a beautifully written story of three women whose lives intersect in a small South Carolina town in the 1920s. Gertrude is a poor white woman with 4 daughters who has endured hardships that defy belief and yet finds the strength to do what she must to ensure that her children survive. Oretta is a first generation freed black woman who works for the same family who owned her mother. She too has suffered from loss and pain, the least of which is not being able to do what she knows is right because she must remember her place. Annie Cole is the mistress of the plantation where Retta lives and works and even though she is white and supposedly rich and privileged she too has suffered great loss and pain. Though from totally different backgrounds it is evident that these three women are more alike than they are different as they fight misogyny, poverty, and racism and try to save their families and those they love.

1924 S. Carolina after boll weevil infestation...

story rotates between several characters/
all different lives, same town- all needing strength to get through their trials

I had difficulty following all of the stories; there were too many and then going between their pasts and present troubles and life history it got to hard to follow the actual story line.

Rural South Carolina in the early 1920’s. The story revolves around three women, one a poor woman escaping an abusive husband with her daughters, one a first generation free person of color who has lost her daughter, and the matriarch of a wealthy family in which the daughters have escaped their fathers secrets and abuse. Well written with rich characters drawn from Spera’s family roots.

This stellar debut from Deb Spera is rich, atmospheric and oh-so-haunting. It tells the story of three women living very separate lives in a coastal South Carolina town during the 1920s. Their fates become inextricably entwined as the novel progresses and as secrets are revealed. Her prose is absolutely gorgeous and I cannot wait to read her next book. This is going to be a big one!! For fans of Where the Crawdads Sing.

This is a powerful and well-written story. I could not put this down. How wonderful to read about three very strong women who do whatever they must for their families. The descriptive writing about post Civil War conditions is outstanding. This is a story that stays with one.

This was a well written book and one I could not put down. We meet 3 women who’s lives are intertwined. These women are different in so many ways, yet are the same. The story is told precisely and answers any questions that you may have. This is a must read. This book will stay with me for a long time. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in manner had no bearing on my review.

The south after the civil war was decimated and could not recover before the boll weevil took out agriculture and the stock market crash took out everything else. With the backdrop of this tumultuous time for the south are three women who are strong but facing their own demons. Annie is the matriarch of the richest family in Bankersville, SC but her family holds old, dark secrets that finally come to light. Retta is Mrs. Annie's cook, who is trying to hold her family and community together. Gertrude is running from her choices and trying to give her daughters a good life.
"Call Your Daughter Home" isn't a southern gothic tale in the sense of Faulkner or McCullars, but it does show the dark side of the south that no one wants to talk about. Racism and abuse at the hands of husbands young wives didn't ask for. This was one of those stories that stays with you after you finish it, wanting to know more about the characters you left behind when you closed the book.

I LOVED this book! I read a lot of historical fiction, and this one is now in my top five. I was hooked from the opening lines, "It's easier to kill a man than a gator, but it takes the same kind of wait. You got to watch for the weakness, and take your shot to the back of the head." I haven't read many stories from the time period - 1924, South Carolina - so I learned a bit about the history, especially about the boll weevil infestation, which was new to me. Farmers had lost their crops and the economy was depressed. Our three protagonists are each struggling in their own way: Gertrude, a white woman struggling to raise her daughters with an abusive husband; Retta, a first-generation freed slave trying to find her place in the world after her young daughter's death; and Annie, married to a plantation owner and trying to hold her troubled family together after their young son committed suicide. Their stories become more entwined throughout the story, culminating in a breathtaking climax that I did not quite predict. Action, suspense, compelling dialogue, a strong sense of place, inspiring characters - this book has it all. And it tackles some heavy issues, including sexual abuse, domestic abuse, racism and poverty with grace and dignity.

I especially loved the strong women characters and how their relationships lifted each other up; they were their own champions with no need of men swooping to their rescue. The writing was excellent. Here is another great quote: "Men can't bear what women must. They jump to cry insanity as cause for a woman's unhappiness; the utterance of the unutterable must be dementia. it's just too much to consider otherwise."

I highly recommend this title.

Thanks for NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my review.

This was such a wonderful book! Very well written, set in the south with strong and courageous women featured. The writing is beautiful! I will definitely find author's other books.

This is a beautiful historical novel set in South Carolina in the early 1920’s. Slavery is abolished, the heat is unbearable and the boll weevil in infestation contributes to the economic woes, a situation exacerbated by the Great Depression to come a decade later. Three women narrate this novel; despite their differences in social class, race and stature, their lives intercept in heartbreaking and beautiful ways. If Southern Historical Fiction is a genre, count me as one of its biggest fans!