CALL YOUR DAUGHTER HOME

CALL YOUR DAUGHTER HOME

By Deb Spera

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long ways from home
A long ways from home
True believer
A long ways from home
A long ways from home
Sometimes I feel like I’m almos’ gone
Sometimes I feel like I’m almos’ gone
Sometimes I feel like I’m almos’ gone
Way up in de heab’nly land
Way up in de heab’nly land
True believer
Way up in de heab’nly land
Way up in de heab’nly land
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long ways from home
There’s praying everywhere – African American Spiritual

This was not a pretty book. It was depressing, raw, gritty, and ugly. Much as the truth often is. I’m not sure there was even one page that was pleasing in regard to the storyline itself or the lives of the characters. This is not to say that it wasn’t a pleasure to read such a wonderfully written book. It certainly was, and it was obvious that the author did her research and knew her topic well.

This is a fictional story told by three women in pre-depression South Carolina. They are Gertrude, Oretta and Annie. Their lives, while vastly different, are entwined and much the same in many ways. They are wives and mothers; they are products of the era and the places in which they lived, they are shaped by the actions of men who figure prominently in their lives. Each of these women meet death on an intimate level, through family members and friends. Sometimes they met death head-on and deliberately, and sometimes they try to hide from it. But they all know it well.

There is almost every kind of monster you can imagine in this book – murder, physical abuse, emotional abuse, bigotry, poverty, suicide, pedophilia. There is also a strong spiritual cover that lays over it all. I am not a religious person; however, this book would not be accurate in an historical sense or for the setting if religion was not included here. Not only that, the mysticism and beliefs among the main characters are critical to their actions throughout the story. Because of these reasons, I found the spirituality described as fascinating and compelling.

I appreciated very much the voices of the three women and the vernacular of the times and locale. There were many expressions that I highlighted in the book due to their beauty or uniqueness or even the fact that they resonate still today, so many decades later.

The book was originally entitled “Alligator,” for reasons that are clear as the story is read. I received this as an e-book galley from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing and Park Row in exchange for my review. I thank them for this opportunity.

Reviewed October 2018