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Calling Home
From an extraordinary new voice in fiction comes a haunting, powerful novel about mothers and daughters, choice and regret, the mistakes we make and the ones we hope we can correct before it's too late. Nothing much ever happens in Falling Rock, Kentucky. So when Virginia Lemmons' husband takes off in his Trans Am to take up with a beautician, there's not much to do but what people in rural Kentucky have always done--get on with it. Now, overwhelmed and unsure, Virginia's got her hands full trying to keep it together, body and soul, while raising her two teenage kids--eighteen-year-old son, Will, and her spirited fourteen-year-old daughter, Shannon. But Shannon has her own ideas for breaking free of Falling Rock, and in her reckless, wild-child daughter, Virginia sees echoes of herself and her own painful past. She'll do whatever it takes to keep her daughter from making the same tragic mistakes, and saving what's left of her fragile family just may be the biggest fight of Virginia's life. In this compelling, heartbreaking first novel, Janna McMahan brings to authentic life the dreams, passions, and troubles of one southern town, where choice isn't always easy to come by, and living the hand you're dealt with is a grace all its own. "A beautifully wrought novel populated by a vivid cast of characters. . .Janna McMahan takes us completely into the lives of these people and their small town, presenting this world with authenticity and dignity. I absolutely loved this book and will carry it with me for a long time." --Silas House
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
28 people are currently reading
651 people want to read
About the author
Janna McMahan
8 books38 followersNational bestselling author, Janna McMahan, is known for gritty truth telling and storylines filled with moral complexities. Often set in lush Southern landscapes, her prickly domestic dramas read like thrillers populated with messy and complicated characters.
“I've always written about touchy parts of life, experiences painfully close to the bone. People have a need to relate to a character's psychological imperative," McMahan said. "Nobody wants to read about perfect people without problems. Readers want failures, challenges, suffering, bravery and sacrifice. Story lies in the sore spots.”
McMahan’s novels have been chosen as a “Need to Read” selection for Target stores nationwide and nominated for the SIBA book award and the Kentucky Literary Award. Her short story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Fiction Award and her novella was part of an anthology selected for the New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today’s bestseller lists. She’s won a number of short fiction awards and her stories and personal essays have been widely published.
Instagram: @jannamcmahan
www.facebook.com/jannamcmahan
Twitter: @jannamcmahan
www.JannaMcMahan.com
“I've always written about touchy parts of life, experiences painfully close to the bone. People have a need to relate to a character's psychological imperative," McMahan said. "Nobody wants to read about perfect people without problems. Readers want failures, challenges, suffering, bravery and sacrifice. Story lies in the sore spots.”
McMahan’s novels have been chosen as a “Need to Read” selection for Target stores nationwide and nominated for the SIBA book award and the Kentucky Literary Award. Her short story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Fiction Award and her novella was part of an anthology selected for the New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today’s bestseller lists. She’s won a number of short fiction awards and her stories and personal essays have been widely published.
Instagram: @jannamcmahan
www.facebook.com/jannamcmahan
Twitter: @jannamcmahan
www.JannaMcMahan.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
September 6, 2016
This book contains some of the most vividly-drawn real characters I've ever seen in fiction, small-town working-class factory laborers and farmers in 1980 small town Kentucky, too injured by the hard knocks of life to love without barbed wire fences built around their hearts and souls but nevertheless trying to do the best they can in spite of the damage. These are people with few resources beyond their own grit, for whom there are no magic rescues and every misstep in life seems to land them on a hidden mine--heck, sometimes the landmines just blow up even without the missteps. Not a book about happy endings, just a slice of life, but a life that demands the utmost in flexablility and resilience to just keep going on. The story takes place 30 years ago, so I couldn't help getting depressed over what has since happened to the Lemmons and Ruckers of small town America, now that agribusiness has wiped out their family farms, the underwear factories have moved to China, and the few remaining laboring jobs have been taken over by illegal aliens willing to work off the books for less than minimum wage. There has to be a limit to resilience when there's no where to land no matter where you bounce? Haunting, vivid, and compelling don't even begin to describe the characters in this novel--not for the emotionally squeamish.
August 3, 2011
Every once in a while—about once a year if you're really lucky—you read a novel that is written so well written and with such care that it feels like the book is not about fictional characters but about people you know. This is not only because the characterization is outstanding and believable, but also because the characters seem to have so much in common with you and the people you know. And this is the case with Janna McMahan's CALLING HOME.
At times while reading McMahan's breathtaking novel, I felt as if the author must know all of the same people I do because her characters and their experiences were that familiar to me. Reading this book was like meeting a person who has so much in common with you that you feel like you've known her all your life—you feel immediately connected.
On a personal note, I also loved the mentions of my hometown, Bowling Green, Kentucky, where McMahan's characters go when they want to hit the big city—I loved that!—and Western Kentucky University, where I teach. But even though CALLING HOME is set in Kentucky, its story is universal, and the book could have taken place anywhere from Portland, Maine to Phoenix, Arizona.
Not only did I feel connected to these characters, I also felt completely moved by their stories. The things that happen to Virginia Lemmons—a woman you both admire and want to shake at the same time (which I also love)—and her family are both believable and shocking. At times, it's hard to watch their world disintegrate, but no matter how rough it gets for them, you can't stop turning the page, craving more of their lives even when they are at their most difficult.
The story of Virginia's daughter, Shannon, is especially heartbreaking, and anyone who has been through adolescence—in other words, all of us—will relate to her struggle to assert her independence without hurting herself.
Another aspect of the book I appreciated is that not all the characters' lives are wrapped up in a neat, tidy bow at the end of the book, and their happiness is more subdued and honest than it is in lesser novels. In some ways, it's hard to read a book that gets your hopes so high for such interesting characters and then completely dashes them, but in many ways, that's what life is really like, which is another reason why this gripping novel is so lifelike.
On top of all that, McMahan gives us a turn so shocking that I still get goose bumps thinking about it. I wish I could convey to you some of my feelings when, much to my surprise, I came upon that turn, but giving you those kinds of details would be doing the book (and you, the reader) a disservice, so you'll just have to read it for yourself and find out.
Pick up this book as soon as you can. I promise you'll thank me later.
At times while reading McMahan's breathtaking novel, I felt as if the author must know all of the same people I do because her characters and their experiences were that familiar to me. Reading this book was like meeting a person who has so much in common with you that you feel like you've known her all your life—you feel immediately connected.
On a personal note, I also loved the mentions of my hometown, Bowling Green, Kentucky, where McMahan's characters go when they want to hit the big city—I loved that!—and Western Kentucky University, where I teach. But even though CALLING HOME is set in Kentucky, its story is universal, and the book could have taken place anywhere from Portland, Maine to Phoenix, Arizona.
Not only did I feel connected to these characters, I also felt completely moved by their stories. The things that happen to Virginia Lemmons—a woman you both admire and want to shake at the same time (which I also love)—and her family are both believable and shocking. At times, it's hard to watch their world disintegrate, but no matter how rough it gets for them, you can't stop turning the page, craving more of their lives even when they are at their most difficult.
The story of Virginia's daughter, Shannon, is especially heartbreaking, and anyone who has been through adolescence—in other words, all of us—will relate to her struggle to assert her independence without hurting herself.
Another aspect of the book I appreciated is that not all the characters' lives are wrapped up in a neat, tidy bow at the end of the book, and their happiness is more subdued and honest than it is in lesser novels. In some ways, it's hard to read a book that gets your hopes so high for such interesting characters and then completely dashes them, but in many ways, that's what life is really like, which is another reason why this gripping novel is so lifelike.
On top of all that, McMahan gives us a turn so shocking that I still get goose bumps thinking about it. I wish I could convey to you some of my feelings when, much to my surprise, I came upon that turn, but giving you those kinds of details would be doing the book (and you, the reader) a disservice, so you'll just have to read it for yourself and find out.
Pick up this book as soon as you can. I promise you'll thank me later.
July 23, 2013
"This author's writing is very easy to read. I lived in a small TN town for high school, during the same time period. I guess the nicest thing that I can say is that I feel sorry for the author that she perceived her world as such. If you see men as uncontrollable animals and women as desperate without options, then this is the book for you.
As the mother to six sons, I felt so sorry for the teenage boys in this book and really disliked the daughter as much as the mom, by the end of the book. We lived in a town that would have made this one look like a metropolis, when my oldest was in her teens. I raised her to believe that the world is her oyster. This book is depressing and defeatist, what a downer
As the mother to six sons, I felt so sorry for the teenage boys in this book and really disliked the daughter as much as the mom, by the end of the book. We lived in a town that would have made this one look like a metropolis, when my oldest was in her teens. I raised her to believe that the world is her oyster. This book is depressing and defeatist, what a downer
January 5, 2015
I recommend this book as a beach read. It is gotta be warm somewhere right?
October 15, 2021
I very much enjoyed Janna McMahan's, "Calling Home." It is set in and around a small Kentucky town in the early '80s. There are an assortment of fictional, yet quite realistic characters, who rapidly come to life soon after being introduced. You, the reader, feel included as the intricacies of the well written plot are revealed from several points of view. You feel like you are there with them experiencing the breath-taking beauty of the countryside, but also learn just how quickly complete chaos could change lives as well as landscape. Like me, you may need to have tissues near-by when unexpected tragedy happens, and also when happy tears may fall, when some situations work out so much better than anticipated. The more pages you turn the faster you'll read it. This book is a most welcome change from the boredom and isolation that has been imposed on us by the pandemic.
August 31, 2018
It's very slow to start, not at all engrossing, and the characters and plot are far from developed. I kept waiting for this book to take off. It never did. But I did finish it by skipping some pages. OK
March 24, 2025
July 2013
August 15, 2008
First of all, I have to admit that my reasons for choosing this book are VERY lame.
1) this chick and I have the same last name.
2) she is from Kentucky
3) the book takes place here...
Late '70's rural Kentucky. There were many parts of this book that were not so different from my own growing up here in the late 80's alot can change in 10 years...alot stays the same.
It was a nice easy read-nothing to deep to think about, probably great for sitting on the beach. I tend to be really hard on authors/books and even though this one was delightful-i knew where it was going...it didn't stop me from reading it, but dang predictible.
The interview in the back talked about the author creating characters from her own hometown and experiences. For me, it seemed VERY autobiographical.
1) this chick and I have the same last name.
2) she is from Kentucky
3) the book takes place here...
Late '70's rural Kentucky. There were many parts of this book that were not so different from my own growing up here in the late 80's alot can change in 10 years...alot stays the same.
It was a nice easy read-nothing to deep to think about, probably great for sitting on the beach. I tend to be really hard on authors/books and even though this one was delightful-i knew where it was going...it didn't stop me from reading it, but dang predictible.
The interview in the back talked about the author creating characters from her own hometown and experiences. For me, it seemed VERY autobiographical.
December 8, 2012
I'm surprised people didn't like the ending, since I thought that that was the only part that felt natural, not forced or clichéd. It was sappy, I suppose, and more than a little trite, but a fine ending overall.
It was the rest of the story that I had a problem with. Right from the beginning the story was obvious and laid out for all to see. You knew exactly what was going to happen, because those things are exactly what happens to the people described. Now all you have to do is add in a few lines from a "legalize pot" pamphlet and you have this book.
It was the rest of the story that I had a problem with. Right from the beginning the story was obvious and laid out for all to see. You knew exactly what was going to happen, because those things are exactly what happens to the people described. Now all you have to do is add in a few lines from a "legalize pot" pamphlet and you have this book.
January 19, 2011
I know some have said they didn't like the ending - I liked it a lot. I thought it was far more believable than the alternative, really. And throughout the book, I kept thinking about Shannon - she wants out of this town, she wants to get a scholarship, go to college - and yet she keeps making all these really bad choices like doing drugs, drinking and driving and generally being reckless. But then I thought - of course she does, she's a teenager, and teenagers can't see consequences more than 10 minutes ahead of them. Overall, well written, believable characters. I enjoyed how Roger developed from a not very sympathetic character to a very understandable one. This was my first time reading Janna McMahan - I'll definitely read more.
June 5, 2011
Shannon is a teenager growing up in the small town of Falling Rock, Kentucky in the early 1980s. Her father has just left her mother to take up with the town’s beautician and her older brother Will is about to go away to college. Shannon is determined that she is not going to be stuck in the dead-end town after high school, working in the underwear factory like her mother.
This book was definitely not a “feel-good” book – the mood was melancholy throughout and the characters, especially Shannon, faced some difficult situations and decisions. It was ultimately about Shannon’s struggle to be her own person and break free of the hold her family and the town had over her. Even though it was kind of depressing, it had a good story that took some surprising turns.
This book was definitely not a “feel-good” book – the mood was melancholy throughout and the characters, especially Shannon, faced some difficult situations and decisions. It was ultimately about Shannon’s struggle to be her own person and break free of the hold her family and the town had over her. Even though it was kind of depressing, it had a good story that took some surprising turns.
January 23, 2009
I was hoping to review this one in my column this month, but alas, a few too many words and sticky situations. I will probably finish it before The Godmother though! Interesting sibling friendship & difficult family relationships. Set in rural KY. The author already has me twanging in my head! Great writing, but an annoying voice to have to read with!!!
Finished it, good story about people trying to do the right thing and failing as often as they succeed. And just as often they don't try at all. Set in the late 70s/ early 80s, and if the main characters smoked any more pot, I think their brains would have shriveled up. Again, not my typical read.
Finished it, good story about people trying to do the right thing and failing as often as they succeed. And just as often they don't try at all. Set in the late 70s/ early 80s, and if the main characters smoked any more pot, I think their brains would have shriveled up. Again, not my typical read.
August 21, 2011
I loved it. It definitely kept me interested to the last page. I had read some of the other reviews & I was intrigued by the reviews that said there were some interesting twists & a great twist at the end. Well, I don't agree with those because there wasn't any great twist at the end. But anyway ... even with me being from Oklahoma, and the book being set in Kentucky, I could identify with so many of the descriptions in the book - the descriptions of the family Thanksgiving, life on the farm, etc. - I just loved it. And the absolute realism that no matter how many secrets a family holds, the bonds of family never die. Awesome book!
November 9, 2008
This was an amazing book of what true love can conquer. This mother and daughter have to deal with so much heartache but in the end love always shines through. I loved the fact that this book took place in a small southern town and the characters are really easy to relate to even though you may not have ever been in that kind of situation. For me this was a story of love, second chances, and never giving up.
July 24, 2009
A great story of the ways our lives can change in an instant because of the decisions others make. The theme of redemption played nicely into the ending and brought the main characters full circle. I would have been a couple of years behind the main character in high school, so it was fun to read from this time period. I was surprised by how much I take for granted in the areas of gender equality, since I wasn't so far removed in age or region from the main character.
November 28, 2010
I enjoyed this book - it was a simple story about a typical family in the 1980's. They certainly had their up's and down's - real life. I would have thought I'd get bored but instead I found I was interested page after page. The saying "If only I were a fly on the wall" - that's what you were in a sense - standing back observing this family, wondering what the day would bring for each of them and how they would cope with life's challenges.
August 12, 2010
I thought this book was going to be your typical girl trying so hard not to do what her mother did and get out of her little town that she ends up exactly where her mother was. There was some of that, but there is so much more. This book is about holding on too tightly to the ones you love and never explaining why. This is about grief and and loss and keeping it all inside. This book is about love and redemption. This book is about being who you are, no matter the cost. It's a must read.
February 7, 2017
3 1/2 stars
May 20, 2011
A story about an average family-aren't we all disfunctional in some ways? I could have done without the oral sex description and the rape scene was intense. For the rest of it, it shows that we all do the best we can with what's given us and we need to try and be kind in our thinking about others.
July 29, 2012
This was a good read: believably flawed people and interesting journeys for each of them over the course of a year in Kentucky. I thought the author did a great job of capturing small-town 1980s life in the state. I wish Jake had got what he deserved, but I suppose it's in the nature of life that people don't always get what they should.
February 5, 2013
A fairly common theme....a woman whose husband left her for a flashy newcomer. A rebellious teenager trying to deal with the drama in her life in her own way, and making very typical mistakes. It's written fairly well, but did not have new insights into familiar situations.
August 20, 2008
I learned from this book (in a redneck sort of way) that alot of people feel that keeping a secret and bearing the burden is something that should be done, but we learn that facing up and being honest can set you free.
August 29, 2010
Perhaps I'm biased by the action books I've been reading lately, but it seems like not much happened in this book. Then again, it was a nice calm story, with a good deal of tragedy and hope, and a slice of 1980s Americana.
November 28, 2010
This book surprised me. I enjoyed it as a whole but for a story with such tramatizing subject matter I was strangely unaffected by it. I did not get emotional at all. And there were plenty of times when I should have. But overall I did enjoy this book.
July 23, 2012
The end of this book just floored me. I can't believe that's how it ended. I was thrown in the middle by a huge turn of events I didn't see coming so was looking forward to the last half but was disappointed.
April 27, 2008
Excellent read! I picked this book up yesterday and finished it today (after doing some baby shower shopping).
October 29, 2008
this was a very good book. It was emotional in some chapters...but sometimes you need a good emotional book. You could relate to the charecters even if you've never been in there shoes.
November 23, 2008
A difficult coming of age book, small town girl wanting to get out with major growing pain issues. Well written, not totally predictable. Teen years are tough and this is no exception.
January 22, 2009
Surprisingly good...I picked it up at the library and was pleased. The end ticked me off a little, but overall it was a good story.
July 22, 2009
pretty good, just really sad. there are so many intense topics in this book - death, divorce, rape, pregnancy... - its just crazy. but still good
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews