I was able to read this through NetGalley. In her debut novel Call the Canaries Home, former teacher turned novelist Laura Barrow, tells a heart wrenching story of a family and the struggles they faced over a lifetime. It is a little hard to follow at first, however it’s a wonderful book. Trigger warning: it deals with the disappearance of a young child!

Call the Canaries Home by Laura Barrow. How do you explain that one of your four year twins just vanished on an outing to a lake.

I absolutely loved the book, the 3 sisters reminded me of my sisters & I. It was wonderfully written to keep you entertained and wanting to finish it. I will definitely be reading more of Laura Barrow’s books.

This book made me laugh out loud and I genuinely enjoyed it. I did have trouble keeping the sisters' story lines straight at times but that might have just been my attention span. I often finish books and feel that I would have appreciated a few more details about the characters or certain scenarios and this book was no different. I do appreciate the resolutions at the end of the book but I just felt like a couple of things throughout could have had more back story.

I’m so glad that I chose to read this book – it was amazing. I’m not from the south but the atmosphere and the culture are described beautifully and make you feel as if it is home. It’s an emotional family drama about 3 sisters who have dealt with so much loss in their lives and their grandmother, Meemaw, who has suffered even more.

At first, the sisters come back to town to dig up a time capsule they buried, but they end up doing so much more. Their sister Georgia, Savannah’s twin, went missing from a beach trip almost three decades ago, and Savannah is convinced that she wasn’t taken by the killer who confessed to abducting her. She convinces her sisters to take another look and delve further into the past to see if they can discover anything new. But will their family survive together or fracture apart?

It's not your typical melodramatic tale of family loss, it’s so much more. The characters are all likable and relatable and that’s a rarity. They each have their issues, but it just makes them more real. And MeeMaw is a force to be reckoned with. I could totally envision a prequel featuring her and Charlie, (her husband that passed away too young), detailing how they met and their relationship through the years.

The story is bittersweet, never overly sappy, and the ending is pleasantly non-climactic. I’m already anticipating this author’s next book and I hope I don’t have to wait too long!

4.25⭐️

Call the Canaries home is a beautiful and heart-rending tale about sisters, complicated families, the grief of loss, the things that tear us apart, and the things that can bring us back together again.

I thought I knew for sure where the mystery at the heart of the story was leading, but I was wrong, and, without adding spoilers, I’ll say that I’m still processing the direction it ended up taking, and the myriad emotions thus conjured. What a story.

Thank you Laura Barrow, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is essentially a story about family dynamics and the secrets that often lie beneath the surface of complicated relationships. It works best when viewed as a family drama rather than as a mystery regarding what happened to one missing family member, although that is one of the story arcs covered here.

Three sisters are raised by their grandmother after their mother's death. Meemaw, as she is known to Savannah, Rayanne and Sue Ellen, is one of the central characters in this narrative, and her presence lends it a depth and richness that is undeniable. Anyone who has grown up with a grandmother who is something of a character - whether from the American South, or from South Asia, like me - will recognise the formidable personality that is Meemaw!

In the story, the trio of sisters reunite for a weekend at Meemaw's to open a time capsule that they buried long ago. Savannah, the youngest, still yearns for closure regarding what happened to her twin sister Georgia, who disappeared when they were just 4 years old. The other two seem less invested in exploring the past, and more keen to put it behind them.

Barrow's portrayal of sisterly dynamics has the ring of truth, and despite the old photograph they rediscover in the time capsule - which may or may not hold a clue as to Georgia's fate - the real closure in this story probably lies in the realisations the characters reach about the importance and tenacity of family ties...

Call the Canaries Home is Laura Barrow’s debut novel and it is a must read. This is a beautifully written story that will pull tight on your heartstrings. It is fast paced and told in multiple point of views. The characters are well developed and very real. A story of a family that suffers a tragic loss yet finds their way back to each other. It is a heartbreaking story that Ms. Barrow’s handles extremely well. There are secrets….many secrets, grief, tension, love and forgiveness. It is hard to believe this is Ms. Barrow’s first book. She brings a highly emotional story that should be read by all. I hope there are many novels coming from this author, because I will be first in line to read them.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Laura Barrow for this fantastic book to read and review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
#netgalley. #lakeunionpublishing. #laurabarrow
#callthecanarieshome. #arc. #debutnovel

Thanks to the publisher, Lake Union, I enjoyed reading this advanced reader copy. Laura Barrow’s Call the Canaries Home carries the sorrow of three sisters who have lost a part of themselves with the disappearance of their precious fourth sister, Georgia, after a fun day at the lake. Told by the sisters as well as their peculiar Meemaw in alternating chapters and spanning decades, Barrow’s tacit ability to shift time and point-of-view is remarkable. She moves the story forward with the long-planned reunion of the sisters to open a time capsule of childhood memories. Guilt, grief, heartache, and loss is examined through each character’s eyes. Is it possible to revisit the past without stirring their pain, especially when spending time with Georgia’s identical twin? There is a gentleness to Barrow’s writing that makes her an easy guide as the reader is brought through the possibilities surrounding four-year-old Georgia’s disappearance. But the book is about how this family, each member torn apart by grief, works through their differences and resolve their rivalries, and find a way to be whole again.