(Something I shouldn’t have had to remind myself, considering how much history and historical fiction I read. I had to remind myself that things were very different for women in 1924, and even wealthy women like Annie were often powerless when it came to certain difficulties in life. There were times when I caught myself viewing their reactions to problems with a 21st century mindset, feeling incredulous that that was the way they chose to deal with it. That’s not to say the others were distinctly unlikable, just that I liked her the most. Not to mention, she was easily the most likable character of the three. She was a steadying presence throughout, and there were many times that I doubted Gertrude or Annie would make it through a difficult situation, were it not for Retta being there. She is the rock that holds everything together when things go bad. If I had to pick a favorite character in this novel, it would definitely be Retta.

Despite being vastly different in personality (and their places within the community), a bond is formed between when the unthinkable happens. The story focuses on three women who take turns narrating the story: Gertrude Pardee (impoverished mother of four, is driven to an act of desperation to get away from her violent husband), Annie Coles (matriarch of a prominent family, she mourns her son and is estranged from her daughters), and Retta Bootles (first-generation freed slave and housekeeper for the Coles family, who still grieves for her long-dead daughter).

The year is 1924, and times are hard for everyone following multiple years of boll weevil infestations that destroyed both the cotton crops and the local economy. Mystery solved, I decided to go ahead and knock this review out, lest I forget about it all over again.Ĭall Your Daughter Home take place in the small rural community of Branchville, South Carolina. Knowing both that I’d read it, and that it wasn’t in my review drafts, I checked Goodreads and found it was still listed in my TBR as unread. Wanting to open another book I recently read (to refer to as I wrote its review) I spotted this title.

Deb spera author