What a lovely though sad story of jealousy and how hate can ruin what could have been a beautiful. love filled relationship.

Leah Payne, is the young fourteen year old protagonist who lives in a small town in the Carolinas. She loves everything about her town, the water, the simple life, her beloved father, and her very good friend, Jesse. Leah's life changes when her dead is killed by a freak accident and being that Leah's mother died giving birth t her, Leah is now an orphan. For a time she is taken in by Jesse's family, and life goes on. However, Leah is being ado[ted by a well off family with children of their own. The children are kind to Leah, but the mother of the family is beastly using Leah as a helpmate (aka slave) and treated her with disdain. Poor Leah would love to go back home and dreams of that as her future. She arranges to see Jesse when a fair comes to town and the two of them make plans. It does for a time come to nought, and the mother afraid of Leah's inferiority pursues the topic of eugenics, and poor Leah is made to suffer more.

This poor girl longs for the simple life with Jesse by her side, but the days seem dark ahead for Leah. She needs a miracle of sorts and as that book continues that is what the reader will wish for her.

Thank you to Megan Church, RB Media, Narrated by Susan Bennett. and NetGalley for the ability to listen to this story.

This is a debut novel by Meagan Church. Outstanding!

UPDATE: Finished. Sometimes I can't help but rave about a book before I finish. And then the ending is lackluster. The Last Carolia Girl did NOT disappoint. Excellent. Following the author and even signed up for her newsletter.

The main character is a girl 13-14 named Leah. Just a gem of a child!

The narrator Susan Bennett is doing a fabulous job and was perfectly cast for the role!

Thank you to NetGalley … for yet again introducing me to a “new to me” author. Thank you to NetGalley, the author Meagan Church and publisher RB Media, Recorded Books for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback. Publication date is mar 28 2023.

Hope I like the ending as much as I’ve loved the first 80+%; YES! Definitely!

3.5

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this audiobook 

Set in 1935 North Carolina, for fourteen-year-old Leah Payne, life in her beloved coastal Carolina town is as simple as it is free. Devoted to her lumberjack father and running through the wilds where the forest meets the shore, Leah's country life is as natural as the Loblolly pines that rise to greet the Southern sky.

When an accident takes her father's life, Leah is wrenched from her small community and cast into a family of strangers with a terrible secret. Separated from her only home, Leah is kept apart from the family and forced to act as a helpmate for the well-to-do household. When a moment of violence and prejudice thrusts Leah into the center of the state's shameful darkness, she must fight for her own future against a world that doesn't always value the wild spirit of a Carolina girl.

This book took a long time to build and usually this would frustrate me but it worked quite well. This story is less about eugenics than I expected and more about class. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was perfect for this story.

I finished this captivating audiobook in 24 hours thanks to NetGalley and RBMedia for my arc. This is the type of story I finish and instantly wish I had a reading or listening buddy. This would make an excellent book club read. I have so much to say about the themes of the novel and especially the supporting cast.
This is the first historical fiction work that I have listened to on audiobook and it kept my interest and attention from the beginning. My favorite aspect of this story was the vivid description of Leah’s life with her father before everything changed. I could just picture Leah and Harvey snuggled together by the light of the fire in their little cabin, connected by love and also grief from the loss of Leah’s mom. I couldn’t control my sobs when the tragedy takes place and Leah is torn from her place in the world. This audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Susan Bennett whose southern accents gave the story that in-depth feel. This is a story for lovers of Where The Crawdads Sing, but it’s also an original tale with a major twist to rival that in Crawdad’s. I thought this was such a beautifully written and narrated book. I will recommend this story to a lot of people. Fans of historical fiction should definitely check out The Last Carolina Girl on March 28th 2023.

The Last Carolina Girl is a beautiful, but tragic and heartrending story. In a tale almost as old as time, an orphan girl must learn to make her way in a harsh world while dreaming of home and wishing for a better life. Set in North Carolina in 1935, during a time of forced sterilizations and the creation of eugenics programs, this book demonstrates how detrimental and wrong a civilized society can be. I think that the character development in this book was very well done. I felt so sad for 14-year-old Leah and how her life was affected by the lack of love and guidance she needed so much and how her entire future was directed by people who considered themselves to be well-meaning and doing the "right" thing. Though this book is unlike "Where the Crawdads Sing" in many ways, I believe that fans of this type of southern fiction will enjoy this book immensely.

Thank you to RB Media, Recorded Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book

At the start of this book, I thought it might be too similar to Where the Crawdads Sing, but it is definitely it’s own story and deals with some very different topics.

The book follows Leah, a girl living with her dad in a coastal North Carolina town. The live very close to the land together and have a deep connection to their environment. After her father dies, she gets moved to a suburban town to live with a family as their “help maid.” She is forced to take care of the family and has to deal with their temperamental matriarch who seems to have an unfounded hatred of Leah.

While I loved the beginning and the end of this book, the middle dragged a little bit and seemed a bit repetitive as Leah was taking care of the family. I also would have liked a bit more closure on the three kids. All in all though it was a really solid story and explored some different topics which I had not heard as much about.

Such a beautiful, heartbreaking story! Leah had to go through so much before she was old enough to be able to properly comprehend any of it. I appreciated how the author showed her growth and maturity as she aged, while still keeping her youth and naïveté present.

I loved Jesse and the way he spoke to Leah and treats her; he was so gentle and kind. MaryAnne was such a gift to this novel and to Leah. Her carefree spirit I believe helped keep Leah’s alive.

This novel shows perfectly how family and love comes in many different forms. The author has a way of making some of the most simplistic thoughts, said in the right moments, seem so profound and heart wrenching.

While I don’t think that this book would be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s one I will recommend to everyone and feel like it deserves everyone to read it. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to listen to it on audiobook and Meagan Church for writing it. I’m sorry my words don’t do your work enough justice.

"Sometimes tears are the only words worth sharing."

THE LAST CAROLINA GIRL by Meagan Church is narrated by Susan Bennett and was an incredibly moving story.

14 year old Leah has just lost everything when her daddy is killed in a logging accident in 1935. It had been a simple but loving home with just the two of them, her momma having died in childbirth.

When Leah is sent to live with strangers, she soon realizes her new life as a "helpmate" is even lower than before, not even allowed to attend school. Soon yet another threat to her comes and with it, her past and future are forever altered.

This is a family drama / coming-of-age story with so much heartbreak, yet hope reigns in the end. It is based on real issues that include possible spoilers! This is a historical fiction, but this issue is still persistent even today, which is the truly heartbreaking truth. There were some revelations at the end that I thought I had figured out, but I wasn't quite right!

While the overarching plot is very upsetting, there were so many small moments of sweetness and love that kept this tale from becoming too heavy. Those were the best parts that made me really enjoy this novel.

The narration added the light accents that felt well done and very clear. I felt all of Leah's emotions through the telling, as well as her strength. I could also hear the vitriol from Leah's caretaker, making the narration well rounded.

Thank you to @netgalley and @recordedbooks for the opportunity to listen to this ALC, for my thoughts. I would definitely recommend this to fans of moving historical fiction dramas with a heroine who finds her strength. This will be available on March 27, so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

This is a book that will stay with you for a very long time. It’s a blend of Where the Crawdads Sing and Necessary Lies. Family secrets. Family lies. A young girl just trying to keep herself together with adversity after adversity. Plus the vindictive and selfish choices that people can make for, and inflict on, others. The narration was great as well. Definitely recommend!

THE LAST CAROLINA GIRL by Meagan Church is set in 1935 in North Carolina, at a time when the state eugenics board was formed. Leah is 14 and newly orphaned, she is yanked from the only home she knows and sent to a foster home where she is not to go to school and instead be a maid for the household. The mistress of the house seems to hate her, and even worse when she discovers Leah's absence seizures. Without spoiling the story, Leah's story is one of profound loss: her parents, her home, her education and her autonomy. Great great story for fans of Southern stories, historical fiction and people that want to learn about medical violence. Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you [partner] @bookmarked for this gifted ebook.
And thank you to RB Media for the complimentary audiobook.

This debut is southern fiction, family drama, and historical fiction all wrapped up into a heartbreaking but poignant story.

Leah’s mother died in childbirth, yet she loves her father and their little shack on the Barna family’s rural property in North Carolina. Leah's closest friends are Mr. Barna’s son Jesse and their maid Tullah.

At age 14, Leah’s father is killed in a logging accident. Leah is sent away to the Griffin family: forced to leave the Barna family and the only home she has ever known. The Griffins are a well-to-do family who treat Leah as a servant. Mrs. Griffin is especially cruel to Leah, no matter how hard she tries to do all that is asked of her.

When Mrs. Griffin discovers that Leah suffers from “spells,” she sees it as an opportunity to seek her secret revenge on poor Leah, altering Leah’s body and life forever.

Set in the 1930s South, this starts at an unhurried pace, describing the naivete and delight of growing up with nature and simple things surrounding you. But then it quickly escalates into a heartwrenching read as the story delves into family secrets, abuse and the atrocity of eugenics.

**Don’t skip the Author’s Notes!

𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵.

Set in Holden Beach, North Carolina in the 1930s, 14 year old Leah Payne endures a tough childhood. After the loss of her father and home life, she’s forced to live without autonomy of her body, or livelihood, which leads to devastating consequences.

Learning to navigate her new life, while trying to keep her past in her present, will resonate with readers.

I loved the descriptive writing and beautiful imagery in this slower paced novel.

Susan Bennett was the perfect choice for narrating the audiobook version.

Thanks Netgalley for the audio version of this book. I love that this narrator was chosen as she portrays the southern voice very well. This book was heartbreaking on so many levels! You will feel every emotion while reading this book.

This was a very sad story about a 14 year old girl who lost her whole world when her father passed away in a tragic accident. She is sent away to a family who she thinks are going to adopt her. When she gets there she realizes that she was to be there house girl. She is treated poorly by the mother but her children treat her like part of the family. Misunderstandings happen and the guardian does the UNSPEAKBLE thing to Leah that made me cry for her. This does have Where the Crawdad's Sing vibes but it is VERY different. I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Meagan Church & RB Media for an audio arc of The Last Carolina Girl in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own & may not be reproduced.

I am not usually a historical fiction person, but I do seem to like the dust bowl novel. The Last Carolina Girl was suggested for readers who enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing and Crawdads might possibly be my favorite book ever, so I was totally on board with giving The Last Carolina Girl a shot. I was NOT disappointed. Meagan Church absolutely knocked it out of the park with her debut novel.

This story centers around Leah whose mother died shortly after childbirth and has been raised to the age of 14 by her father. When her father tragically dies (this is not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis), Leah is forced to leave her best friend Jesse and the only home she has ever known to go and live with a foster family only to discovery that the mother doesn't really want her to be a part of the family. She has agreed to take her on as a "helpmate." Basically, a servant. While the other children are very kind and welcoming to Leah, Mrs. Griffin (the mother) is anything but. Leah is forced to endure so much ill-will by the hands of Mrs. Griffin that by the end you will be enraged with fury and bawling your eyes out at the same time, so get ready.

This book was a spectacular debut and I am so happy to have had to opportunity to get an advance audio version to review.

This is not a spoiler AT ALL, but I literally started crying in my car at one point of the story because it hit home for me. When I was a little girl, my dad (who is now deceased) used to smoke tobacco in a pipe and one time he showed me how he could quickly puff out perfect little rings of smoke. I absolutely loved it and every time I saw him smoking his pipe, I'd ask him to "do it." At one point in the story, while the children are asking Mr. Griffin's permission to go to the drugstore so they could get a soda from the soda jerk, the eldest daughter says "do it." At that point, I didn't know what she was referring to. After a little more dialogue, the father agreed and it was then revealed that he was smoking a pipe and what they wanted him to do was to puff out those perfect little smoke rings. With my own father now gone, that just hit me hard with nostalgia. Don't get me wrong, it's a happy memory, but it just got me.

I thought all of the characters were wonderfully written for their intended roles and the plot and pacing were perfect. My only additional "want" would have been maybe a tiny bit more in the epilogue, but that was just because I wanted more. The ending was perfect.

You don't have to wait long for this one as it releases on March 28, 2023 and if you are a fan of Where the Crawdads Sing or Dust Bowl novels in general, I highly recommend you give this one a shot.

5/5 Stars

I really, thoroughly enjoyed this story! The character development for Leah was so strong, and I really felt for her throughout the story-- what a difficult life for someone so young! I didn't see the twist coming at all, and was truly shocked when things came to a climax during the story. I would have loved a bit more information about Leah's life at the end of the story, but overall, I really enjoyed this!

Great for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing who want to return to the Carolinas!

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook to review. All views are my own.

I adored this audio book and getting to follow Leah through her story, even with the heartbreaking pieces along the way. Church brings to life Leah's world with her father, growing up financially poor but with a wealth of love for her dad, nature, a foundling cat, and possibly even the boy next door with whom she's grown up. When circumstances tear her away from all that she's ever known and she's moved to what she thinks is a foster home, Leah's world goes off track in a number of ways that I won't ruin for you. I thought I had figured out the secret that the new family was keeping, but was a bit surprised at the end for a small twist. Susan Bennett was a great narrator as Leah and made the audio go by so quickly and enjoyably. A big thank you to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the early listen in return for my honest opinion. I look forward to recommending this title! 4.5 stars

Leah Payne lives in coastal Carolina along Holden Beach with her father in the early 1930s. Leah and her father don’t have much but she has her daddy, until a tragic lumberjack accident takes him away forever. Leah’s world is shifted upside down when she is sent to a family in another town, one that she doesn't know but has a good reputation. Leah is not happy about being sent away to a stranger but is optimistic that it will be okay, however when she arrives her new home is nothing like she imagined. Leah is a helpmate and must do all of the chores around the home, many she has never done before.. There is no time for mistakes though, there are eyes on her and deep consequences when mistakes are made.

The way this story unfolds was excellent. Church gave just enough detail to set the mood and the scenery in every chapter. The story covers extremely heavy topics and will pull at your heart strings. The characters were developed so well it felt like you personally knew them.

If you are a fan of, Where the Crawdads Sing or The Scent Keeper then you may enjoy this book.


Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy to review. All opinions are my own.

So, while I’m very thankful to both NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me advanced access via audiobook and a physical copy, this wasn’t really my cup of tea. I was drawn in from the start after mention of Holden Beach, due to my in-laws’ connection to that special place, but all-in-all this was a terribly saddening story.

Fourteen-year-old Leah Payne has had a rough go after the death of her father, and is cast away to work for a snooty family in the mainland region of North Carolina. As she’s given nearly no time to grieve, she’s thrust into a world of torture and hate, without a sense of human decency. Leah cares for the children that are under her guise, via cooking them meals and looking after their every move to ensure they are well, and the matriarchy of this family stays relentless.

This book takes place in 1935 North Carolina, and eugenics and prejudice are fully practiced strategies by the hate-fueled white people of these coastal people. It’s scary to know that in this historically fictional narrative, there were clusters of people in the states that fell into such neo-fascist social views about the treatment and care of human beings.

I wish there was more plot progression for the characters, and even further background into how this area became so prejudiced in the time of mass genocide across the sea. Overall, it was just an okay book for me. The Last Carolina Girl is set to hit shelves on March 28, 2023.

The Last Carolina Girl had a lot of strong pulls for me:
1. My local bookstore is hosting this author next week
2."Carolina"-Well I am from NC so thats obvious
3.The Tag "Similar to Crawdads"
4.Eugenics (I have read some historical fiction books with this in it :Diane Chamberlain (fabulous book about a very tragic piece of our history)

The skeleton of this book was solid, but I really feel like the author fell short of something that could have been magnificent. Immediately I was drawn to poor Leah and her love of her simple life her daddy, their shack and meet ups with Jesse and Tullah. (The southerner in me had my lips licking for a fluffy biscuit and grits--Bojangles is as close as I could get for a biscuit home mades ones are not in my repetoire and grits--well the instant quaker ones are the best-salt only you northerners, no sugar)
I wish Church had spent more time developing the Barnna family and Leah's relationship initially. It would have made the separation more painful/tragic. When Leah arrived at the Millers I really did not have that deep emotion I should have, it was like more of a shifting of grief from one type to the other.
As her days unfolded at the Millers and innocent Leah realizes she has not come to the Millers to be their foster child (tragic enough) but a "help-mate". Seeing this playout and with the grace Leah handled herself was noteworthy and made me love her more. But once again, I feel as though Church could have expounded on this. She could have dug her heels in and created more chapters diving deeper into Who the Millers were and Leah's place.
The topic of Eugenics
I don't want to give you the impression that I love reading about this topic, but it is an area the author could have developed so much more. She lightly skimmed the surface, yet plunged us deep into it (Sorry, can't spoil anything here). There was so much that could have been woven into the plot and in the epilougue. It left me with so many questions, how did this affect Leah? Jesse? What about the Miller children? Surely their mother's involvement had to impact their lives....
The similarities to Crawdads:
Yes....they both take place in NC, involve a "loner" nature girl. grits and biscuits are mentioned.......I really do not feel it is fair for either book to be compared to one another.

So to sum up, I really think Church should have taken the "risk" and extended this book. I am usually not a fan of "long" books, but Church has a great writing flow and had a great thing going....
I will read more of her! Thank you for introducing me to this author!
Thanks NetGalley for supplying me with an ARC of “The Last Carolina Girl” for an honest review of this novel which is available on shelves everywhere starting Thursday, March 28, 2023.