Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Julie Kibler employed a tried and true story builder in her novel, Calling Me Home.  "Forbidden Love" is a constant in literature, but in this case, Kibler added a twist.  The love story took place in 1939 but the story line is contemporary.  The main character, Isabelle, is a 96 year old woman who tells us over time about how she fell in love when she was 17 years old with a black man in her southern home town.  The love of her life,Robert, married Isa secretly but their joy was short-lived.  They were torn apart both literally and figuratively by Isabelle's family.  The southern hatred of their black citizens was difficult to understand, but the resulting carnage was understandable.  Secrets, fears, prejudices and mistrust worked to tear the families apart. The interesting twist that Kibler employed was in juxtaposing Isabelle's story in flashback style between chapters set in the current time.  Near the beginning of the story we are introduced to Dorrie, Miss Isabelle's hairdresser, but we quickly see she is so much more than that.  Little by little we see that Dorrie is more like a daughter to this older woman and because of this connection she is the one to help Isabelle find closure with her long lost love, Robert.  This is a story that forced self reflection.  It is impossible to read the novel without feeling the injustice of prejudice.  Kibler explained that she had learned that her own grandmother had had a romance with a black man many years ago.  The implications were clear when she heard her grandmother's story.  Love was not enough.  Society would not allow such a romance and it was just too impossible for two people to stand against the status quo.  Kibler created her narrative, perhaps, so that we have the opportunity to learn and to change.

The Whip by Karen Kondazian

Anyone who has heard the expression "I am woman; hear me roar" has to admit that the 20th century part of this chapter of history is not really the whole story.  We of the 20th/21st centuries know that women have been fighting for equality in the work arena, in political situations and in relationships for a long, long time.  We have only to look back in history to see the underpinnings of these cultural problem.  Women have for all time, it seems, been fighting for freedom and recognition.  We have luckily always had historical figures, who have been immortalized and regaled, to study as forerunners of the liberation movement.  One fascinating era that produced many memorable women who we all heard about was the "Wild West."  Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane are two of the more colorful women who made a name for themselves in a predominately male environment.  They thrived where many failed.  In the book, The Whip, Kondazian uncovers a story based on historical fact about Charlotte Parkhurst the first woman to drive a stagecoach during the California Gold Rush era and the first woman to ever vote in national elections in the United States.  Kondazian embellished and added to the true story of  Charlotte "Charlie" Parkhurst with a details about her life as an orphan, raised in the cold reality of the 18th century charity home.  Characters were added to the life of this woman that were amalgams of real people who could have played a part in the life of Charlie.  The tragedies of her life were true however to those that many women faced during this era.  The important difference was that Charlie chose to heed the advice of her one true parental figure, Jonas, who said, "Life's going to ... upset your wagon, not just once but many times.  And you got to choose (what are you going to do)..."  Charlie chose to make a life of her own.  She chose to be true to her own nature and not cower to the norms of society.  It was not an easy life she chose to be sure, but she was free and independent and able to make a difference in the lives around her without betraying her true self.  This was a really interesting story and knowing that it is based on a factual character only added to the impact.  The Whip is a wonderful historical fiction novel and this lead character deserves some of the adulation that is bestowed on the more famous Wild West women. History teaches us much and this story is a piece of history we can all learn from and use as a lesson of survival and growth.