Allen, Jr., founder and artistic director of Freedom Theatre, the oldest African American theater in Pennsylvania, is no stranger to the stage. She has also performed extensively with the Philadelphia Dance Company. She made her on-screen debut in My Little Girl, starring Jennifer Lopez, and has since starred in several other films. Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling authorĪdenrele Ojo is an actress, dancer, and audiobook narrator, winner of over a dozen Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2018. This book kept me up late and stayed with me long after I closed the final page.” Authentic, gripping, a page-turner, yet also a novel filled with language that begs to be savored. “A mesmerizing Southern tale, Call Your Daughter Home follows three women intertwined in struggle, unlikely friendship, and ultimately, redemption. Told in the pitch-perfect voices of Gertrude, Retta and Annie, Call Your Daughter Home is an audacious, timeless story about the power of family, deep-buried secrets and the ferocity of motherhood. These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to the terrible injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in the bond that ties women together. Annie is the matriarch of the Coles family and must come to terms with the terrible truth that has ripped her family apart. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. It’s 1924 South Carolina and the region is still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. A stunning tour de force following three fierce, unforgettable Southern women in the years leading up to the Great Depression

Deb spera