This was a very good book about one girl's determination in spite of what life threw at her. I liked the story, setting, and main character. Very reminiscent of other book set in this area/young girl in turmoil.

I devoured this book! Heartbreaking story about Leah, and you just keep waiting for something good to happen for her. I was afraid this was going to be too much like Where the Crawdads Sing at first, but once you get into it, it’s not at all. It kind of gave me Cinderella vibes. I really enjoyed this story.

Thanks to NetGally and RB Media for the free e-audio book in exchange for an honest review.

It intrigued me that this book was compared to the book, Where the Crawdads Sing, and I was excited to read this. The comparison is true as the books are similar but very different.

Its 1935 and Leah Payne is 14 years old. She lives in a coastal town of North Carolina with her father who is a logger. She has a small school she attends (begrudgingly), and a best friend who lives next door. Her mama died in childbirth. She and her dad live a simple life in a shanty. But soon, life as Leah knows it will change.

Due to an accident, Leah is forced to move in with a family of 5 and become not a foster child but an abused servant/slave. She is subjected to hatred from a bitter, controlling woman who heads up the household but finds solstice in her new foster siblings. Due to hatred and the growing eugenics trend of the white supremist, Leah is subjected to horrible cruelty and finally finds her way home.

This is a heart wrenching, coming of age, tale told through the eyes of Leah, who was a well developed character that I loved. In fact all of the characters were very vibrant. I really loved Leah and hated the nasty Mrs Griffin.

Highly recommend!!!

Pub date: 2/28/23
Genre: coming of age, historical fiction
Quick summary: In 1935 North Carolina, Leah's life is turned upside down by the death of her father. When she's forced to become a housemaid, she'll come face to face with the ugliness of the eugenics movement.

This book is quiet but powerful. I loved getting to know Leah - the descriptions of her wild and free childhood were lyrical and lovely. Author Meagan Church did a great job setting a sense of place in Holden Beach, and Leah and her father's relationship was a highlight. When Leah moved inland to Mecklenburg County, she was stuck in a terrible situation as a "helpmate" - even though she was still a child. It was hard to read about the events that happened to her, but I admired her inner strength. Susan Bennett brought Leah and both North Carolina settings to life.

If you enjoy character-driven historical fiction, give this one a try! Fans of Diane Chamberlain's NECESSARY LIES and Dolen Perkins-Valdez's TAKE MY HAND will find similar themes explored here. Be sure to read Church's author's note - this book is inspired by her great-aunt's life, and she does a wonderful job linking it to reproductive justice in the past and present.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for my e-ARC and Recorded Books for my ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I started listening to this story and immediately got involved in Leah's family and her life by the sea in North Carolina, 1935. My heart started racing and my anxiety level rose in anticipation of what was coming for Leah who is fourteen. As the days and months progressed, my heart hurt, this story is just brutal. It's not the story of out and out physical abuse as much as it is emotionally draining when you think about the darkness in some people's hearts and how their personal sadness affects innocent people and alters the course of their lives. The narration is well done and it's hard to take breaks while listening to Leah's story.

1935 North Carolina 14-year-old Leah lives life in a small coastal town going to school and hanging out with her friend Jessie. Leah has episodes where she blacks out for a very short period of time. Both her dad and Jessie make sure nothing happens to her when it happens. One day Leah’s world turns upside down where her dad dies and she eventually ends up living with a family serving as a help mate, aka maid. Leah is trying to fit in with the family all the while missing her home and Jessie. Leah overcomes so many obstacles but without realizing it she also has much taken from her.

My heart was breaking for Leah and wanted to scoop her up and tell her she is strong, determined, and enough as she is for anyone to want her in their family. I knew before reading the book that I was probably going to get emotional, and I did, it was the doctor’s office visit that did me in. The Last Carolina Girl is a great read about a young lady that reminds us of our humanity. The book was intense and poignant but not so intense that you don’t want to finish it. I really would like to know what happened to Mary Ann.

I started listening to the book at normal speed to get a sense of the narrator’s style, then I increased to 2.5 speed. The narrator fit the book well, they didn’t have an over-the-top accent and they just told the story.

I wish the blurb head not mentioned eugenics. I love historical fiction. It is my favorite. I love, love, loved [book:Necessary Lies|17286747], which is also set in the eugenics era. The problem is that I could not help comparing this to [book:Necessary Lies|17286747] at every turn.

While eugenics are a fairly large component in the story, it is not the focus. But due to the blurb, it is the only thing I could think about. My head was so focused on a different kind of book, that I didn't enjoy the story that it was.

The blurb also compares this to [book:Where the Crawdads Sing|36809135]. I think that is more of an apt comparison, as The Last Carolina Girl is far more of a story about an orphan overcoming adversity.

I think people will like it. I did not enjoy it as much as I would have had my brain not zeroed in on one single fact in the blurb.

The epilogue is the only section where I felt emotional. Maybe it is me, maybe it is the epilogue, but part of me suspects that I could let things sink in once my expectations of the book changed.

Susan Bennett narrates the audiobook. I typically enjoy her narrations. She does typically have a slower delivery, but this book took it to excruciating levels. It isn't her speech that was slow, but the pauses. Which is the most frustrating, because if you speed it up to overcome that, the actual words are too fast. I listened at 1.5 speed. The app I listened on is limited to what you can increase and the intervals are quite large. Had I listened on an app like Audible where I have complete control of the speed, I'd have played with it more.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook will certainly appeal to fans on Where The Crawdads Sing. It's well written, and compelling. I enjoyed getting to know and care about the main character, who acts as the books narrator. I only wish that we got to spend a few more years with our main character so we knew more about how she dealt with the aftermath of what she went through. The narrator was great, although in the beginning it was hard for me to adjust to hearing her as a 14 year old. I adjusted to this by the end. I would be interested in reading more from this author. :)

I love historical fiction based on real events and this isn't the first I've listened to about North Carolina Eugenics but this was a much more personal story about it than the others. This story broke my heart but it also highlights the strength some women have even from such a very young age. I thought the writing was great, the story sad but thought provoking and overall this was a great book.

I don't normal compare books but with this one I have to say listeners who loves Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain will love this one because it felt a LITTLE like both of those combined.

The narration was Perfect! Susan Bennett is a great narrator and was a really good choice for this book.

The narrator has to be one of the best ever. She was so good in this performance! I was sucked in and felt every emotion. I had to take a few breaks because it was too emotional.
I loved it.

This would be the perfect book club book!
The eugenics stuff was too much. I don't know why it surprised me, it fit the time period.

When Leah’s father dies in an accident she is sent to live with a family determined to hide their secrets. Leah is hopeful that she will become part of the family but she is kept separate and forced to become a servant. Leah must learn to navigate her new life and deal with the whims of Mrs. Griffin, her cruel new guardian. Things take a turn for the worst when Mrs. Griffin learns about the newly formed state eugenics board. Secrets will be revealed and Leah’s life will never be the same as things come to a head in this story about a young girl desperate to be loved and return to the only home she has ever known.

The Last Carolina Girl is a powerful and heart wrenching story about a girl who falls victim to the people who should love and protect her. The story is told from the point of view of fourteen-year-old Leah Payne. Leah is an endearing strong female lead that the reader can’t help but root for. The supporting characters range from endearing to repulsive. The author does an amazing job of bringing the characters and small town southern setting to life. This novel explores the ideas of bodily autonomy, found family, and finding a place to call home.

The ending of the story felt a bit rushed. There is very little falling action after the story reaches its climax. The epilogue fills in any gaps in the story but I just would have liked more time with Leah.

I enjoyed the narration by Susan Bennett. Her voice is perfect for the southern setting of this book!

I would recommend this novel to fans of Where the Crawdads Sing. Leah reminds me of Kya but the story is completely original.

This novel is as affecting as it is thought provoking!

This is a beautifully told, heartfelt and poignant story of family and betrayal. Some of the characters I loved and some I hated. There are a few twists along the way that garner increased interest. The narrator was excellent and deftly delivered an interesting, well-paced story. This would be ideal for book clubs.

The Last Carolina Girl is a moving story of a young girl, Leah, living with her beloved father near Holden Beach, NC. They are quite poor and their home is a one-room shack, but they are very happy. Leah has a dream of living in a house right on the water in Holden Beach, which her teacher says is “not realistic.” She also has what she calls “flashes,” which are short periods of time when she freezes almost like a statue before coming back to reality. But she lives a beautiful life with her father and cherished friends. When tragedy suddenly strikes, she finds herself serving a coldhearted family as a “helpmate,” or basically a maid.

This is a well-written novel, which at the core of it exposes the way the poor were exploited and used by the rich back in the early 20th Century. The rich have always had power, but back then they could pretty much do whatever they wanted, body and soul, to a person. As Leah says, “…the ghosts of the real world were scarier than the imagined ones.” Based on a true story from within the author’s own family, this novel will shock, anger, and break the heart. But the beautiful imagery of the North Carolina coast and the love of true family also shines through.

I read both the ebook and audiobook versions. The audiobook is narrated by Susan Bennett, who does a great job. The Southern accents are true to the area and not overdone. The emotion of the book is well conveyed.

I received a free ebook from Sourcebooks and a free audiobook from RB Media. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

My rating is 4.5 stars, rounded to 5 on sites with no half-star option.

The Last Carolina Girl will be released on March 28, 2023.

This book is so tragic and so wonderful at the same time. I can’t get over the childhood and the pain that this girl had to endure but I’m so thankful she found such a pure love through all of that. It goes to show that people are placed in our life for a reason because I truly believe he kept her going.

🌀Synopsis
Leah and her lumberjack father live a simple life. They sometimes struggle for food and always struggle for money but they believe they have a good life. All Leah wants is to live on the beach.
Everything changes when her father dies in an accident. Now Leah has no relatives left and the house they lived in also has a tree on it. With nowhere to go, she moves in with their neighbor. Her best friend is their son Jesse and together the two fall into a regular rhythm.
When Jesse’s parents get a letter it is determined that Leah will leave for a new house. She thinks it’s a foster home but it turns out they want her as a help-mate in the house. She no longer goes to school and only helps with the work around the house.
Mrs. Griffin is the worst kind of woman. She’s mean to both the kids and Leah. Unfortunate incidents lead to her cutting all Leah’s hair off and eventually submitting her to a procedure that sterilized her without letting her know. That’s also when Leah finds out Mrs.Griffin is actually her aunt. Her own relation, treating her so terribly.
When Leah finds out that she is sterilized she knows she must leave and go back to the beach. Jesse’s family agrees to take her back and she and Jesse continue their relationship into marriage and a future together.

Format: Audiobook from NetGalley but views are my own.

Plot:

For Leah Payne, her life is simple, free and loved. With a close relationship with her doting father, and surrounded by nature, she has all she wants.

When tragedy strikes, Leah’s world is turned upside down and she needs to learn a whole new set of rules and carve a new role for herself.


Pros:

The audiobook narrator is really great. I don’t know if the accent she uses is her own, but it certainly made the experience more immersive. (I say that as a native Brit who does not know the nuances of Southern American accents, so take what I say with a pinch of salt).

The relationship between Leah and her father is really beautiful. I adored the present giving scene, and how deep and meaningful that felt as an ongoing depiction of grief.

I think this is a really marketable novel - I think a lot of people will covet the tender moments, and feel enraged with the treatment of certain characters.

Not-so-pros: (Potential spoilers coming if you haven’t read other synopsis of the book)

I think the second half of the novel is a bit weak. After the initial tragedy, I think we lose a bit of grounding. This could be attributed to Leah feeling a little lost, but I don’t think it feels purposeful enough. If anything because the author had done such a good job of building the father/daughter relationship (something I will personally always find really compelling) that it’s missing some of that interest in the latter half.

I also think the handling of the eugenics topic is pretty weak. It isn’t as entrenched in the narrative before it is directly inferred, so it feels a little off kilter. However, the scene in which it is inferred is a pretty harrowing read, and really well done by the author.


Final:

This is a really accessible novel, which tackles some subjects we don’t often see paired with such tenderness. I think for readers who like these kind of stories, they’ll really love the main character. For me, it’s just not my preferred read.

I want to start by saying thanks to RB Media and 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.

Now, moving onto the nitty-gritty of the book: It was giving… a lot of things. It was giving… “Where the Crawdads Sing”. It was giving… southern historical fiction. It was giving… the impression that I would be drawn into a story that would make me cry, and fall in love with our character. But despite all it was giving… it wasn’t giving enough for me.

The Plot: I am not going to lie I was really drawn into this novel because of the plot. In the novel: “The Last Carolina Girl” we follow the tragic events of 14-year-old Leah as she is torn from her simple dedicated life in her beloved coastal Carolina bungalow after a tragedy strikes during a storm and kills her father. From there, Leah is kept apart from the only other people she has ever considered family and forced to act as a helpmate for the well-to-do household. As Leah strives to adjust nicely to her new life, accept who she truly is, and find out more about her unknown past we are watching as she slowly comes to age.

What I Loved: The one thing that I felt that this book did AMAZINGLY had to be creating and showing what felt like such a genuine friendship between our main character Leah and her dearest childhood friend: Jesse. I wish that there was more in this story about their relationship to some degree. I would also like to add that as an audio edition, the narrator was delightful and added a truly delightful “southernness” to the story as it was being told.

What I Wish was Different: Honestly, I wish that there were a lot of things that were different about this book. The book was slow to get into, which I can get over, and the middle definitely speeds up but I really expected to connect and care about our devastated Leah but I just never found her interesting enough to deeply feel emotions alongside her as the story progressed. The eugenics subplot was interesting but like the rest of the book, it was once again not enough. It felt like there should have been a deeper commitment to exploiting that devastating part of history. Then, the ending - it wrapped up so fast? I felt like there were just continued missed opportunities around every corner.

Overall, I give it 3 stars for the sheer quality of the writing and the beauty of the narration itself. I would love to read more by this author but this book just seems to have a few too many “misses” in the plot for me to fall truly in love with it.

Leah lived with her father in a little shanty on the Barna's property. Her mother passed while giving birth and after a logging accident that killed her father, Leah has to leave everything she's ever known. Forced to live in a foster home with strangers, Leah is treated very poorly and faces many hardships in their care. Her story was so heartbreaking and it made you want to scoop her up and just love her. Historical fiction is not a genre I typically read, but I did enjoy this heart wrenching story and also appreciated the character development. I wasn't the biggest fan of the narration as I found it to be very slow, but the narrator was not terrible.

The Last Carolina Girl
Written By Meagan Church
Media: AudioBook by Netgalley
Read by Susan Bennett
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: March 28, 2023
Publisher: RB Media

‘The Last Carolina Girl’ by Meagan Church is about a young girl in her early teens that lives with her father in a small coastal Carolina town. The story follows the main character, Leah, through a series of unhappy events that lands her in a completely different town, living with a new family. What starts as an opportunity to start over quickly becomes a nightmare as she realizes she is not part of this new family and the mother seems to have it out for her. Leah struggles with episodes of mental instability where she zones out completely, as she tries desperately to please Mrs Graham and bond with her new family. While Leah battles with her new life she also longs for a friend from her past and eventually risks everything to try and get back to him. Things don't exactly pan out for Leah as Mrs Graham has secret plans for her and takes her to see a Eugenics doctor under the pretense of having appendicitis. This part becomes confusing as the reasons for this are never truly explained. Eventually Leah overhears some very disturbing news about her appointment with the eugenics doctor and decides to finally lash out at Mrs Graham to get some answers. Unfortunately, they are not what she expects to hear.
I gave this book 1 star because I was left with SO MANY questions. SPOILER ALERT: What was the point of the eugenics story line? For what reason did they sterilize her? Why didn't she reconnect with the children of the family after she got away? Why didn't the Barnums just let her stay in the first place? She spent so much time pining for Jessie but then there was no real story about their life together. What was the significance of the spells she had and what ever resulted from them? Why isn't there more behind the Grahams being her family and why the Mrs hated her so much. Her being mad cuz Leah's parents were happy together doesn't really add up to the level of violence directed towards her. END SPOILERS. There are just too many loose ends left unexplained for me to be able to enjoy the story which didn't really have any “meat and potatoes”, if you will. It was hard to feel much of anything for the characters because there was never any depth built up for any of them other than Leah, who never REALLY stood up for herself and didnt show much growth as a character. I was left wanting more.
I consumed this via audiobook through Netgalley and have a few issues with the audio as presented. The narration was unusually slow and when sped up to a reasonable speed, it would skip large portions of the story. When listened to at normal speeds the audio still skipped throughout the first 3 chapters. There are insanely long pauses between each chapter and the Audio even stops before some of them. The app was not consistent with the verbiage of chapters throughout the book as well as the chapters not being synced between the audio and the app itself. When on ‘Chapter 10’, for example, the app would state ‘Section 11’ There was a 1 second lag between the left and right headphones. (this was tested on a separate app to ensure it was not just a headphone malfunction)
All things considered, I do not recommend this one. There isn't anything about it I enjoyed other than the narrator's accent. Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for allowing me to review this title. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to working with them again in the future.

Excellent story similar to Where the Crawdads Sing. Leah is a 14 year old girl who is sent away after being orphaned and must endure harsh treatment and lies until she had enough and put her foot down.

I love a book that takes place in North Carolina. This is defintely not a light hearted book.

Leah's story is sad. She suffers trauma and heart break. She lost her mother at her birth. Her father passed away when she was fourteen. She and her dad lived in Holden Beach. Neighbors kept her for a while, parents of Jesse, who was probably her only friend. But then the time came for her to go to a foster family in Matthews. She thought she'd be a part of their family, like an adopted child. She was a servant.

Many lies and secrets come out and the things she endures in Matthews are sad and tragic, and some are irreversible.

Leah was a strong young woman and the fact that she perservered and you get a somewhat happy ending surprised me. What she endured I'm sure happened to many during this time period. And sad to think current laws and events are setting us back in this regard.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and RB Media for both an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.