Isabelle, Isabelle.
I'll be honest, this book started out with low expectation from me. A bratty rich girl who skips her church's young people party in order to go out to a dancing club in another city? This is not the sort of protagonist that I look for. But the events that occur at the club force Isabelle to mature, and the story quickly took hold of my attention.
Things I liked:
*Sadness, sadness. Isabelle's life is one of three big sorrows.
*There are three characters who are very honorable, and I loved their contributions.
*Dorrie as a narrator.
*Robert. You'll see!
Things I didn't like so much:
*I found parts of Dorrie's story tedious.
*Isabelle never completely loses her brattiness.
*I believe that Isabelle loved Robert, but it was harder for me to understand why Robert loved Isabelle.
So, while reading Calling Me Home, I was also reading [b:The Movement of Stars|15815363|The Movement of Stars|Amy Brill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350922610s/15815363.jpg|21541859] and [b:Flight Behavior|13438524|Flight Behavior|Barbara Kingsolver|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352212134s/13438524.jpg|18945788]. It was odd, because there were quite a few similarities in these three books:
*All three dealt with racial tensions, TMOTS and CMH were both in a romantic context.
*All three dealt with breaking free from families and expectations placed upon women. (Not that I'm surprised, a lot of good 'chick lit' has this theme)
*None of the love stories worked out.
*FP and TMOTS both entail a woman making a contribution to science.
*All three have at least one scene in a church (although the difference between the churches is stark)
Out of the three, I would recommend Calling Me Home the most.