McMahan, Janna. Calling Home. This was an ARC, and I hope to hear more from this author as she has the rare ability to bring a setting to life.Set in rural Kentucky during the late 1970's, the novel examines the lives of the various members of the Lemmon family after the father abandons them and moves in with another woman. Virginia, the mother, and Shannon, the daughter, dominate the book, but the other characters are deftly drawn.
Decisions are made and secrets revealed, and for everything there is a consequence. Virginia is trapped by circumstances and culture, but Shannon hopes to move beyond those proscriptions and into a world with fewer restrictions on women.
For the most part, this book felt real. Difficult situations dealt with by imperfect people to the best of their ability. Are the decisions right or wrong? For whom? And isn't that always the case?
Fiction. 2008. 307 pages.
That sounds wonderful, Jenclair. I'm going to go add it to the wish list, right now. Thanks!
ReplyDeletebookfool - I liked the Kentucky setting -- not our particular area of the South, but recognizable elements of small Southern towns.
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