If you’re drawn to books that switch between characters or time periods. You get the best of both worlds with Home for Erring and Outcast Girls. This book switches between time periods, from present, to not so distant past, to almost a century back to the Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls. It also switches between characters within these time periods. I thoroughly enjoyed the multiple plot lines transpiring into one story within this novel. Add a flavor of little known history, and you have a historical fiction that needs to be shared.

The Berachah Home takes in women off the streets, and helps to support them and their babies, keeping mom and child together. At a time when babies were often separated from their mothers and provided to loving couples to be raised, this home broke the social norm to keep families intact and support women in a way many others would never have considered. More than a century later, Cate, needs her own redemption, healing from a past she continues to grapple with. Can delving into the stories of past “lost” women, help her to find her own way?

This book is full of emotion, rich as well as raw. Julie Kibler did a beautiful job developing characters whose stories are eloquently woven together. I felt for these women, all of them, for their hardships and triumphs as they navigate their world to finding their true selves or recovering from where they used to be. It’s not only the personal development that I appreciated, but the interpersonal relationships built throughout the story as well, and I often found the chapters would leave me grasping for more time with each woman.

Set in central Texas, this historical fiction is about homes designed to help wayward females get their lives back on track. The author does not gloss over the hardships of the era. The story traces characters over several years in the past and contrasts with similar issues in the present day: babies, loss and family connections

I enjoyed this story for several reasons. The setting, central Texas, is familiar to me. It’s historical fiction, which is always a favorite. And it’s about something I wasn’t familiar with, homes designed to help wayward females get their lives back on track. The author holds nothing back as she describes the hardships of the era. No glossing over things that are unpleasant. The story follows the lives of a couple of main characters, tracing their paths over a period of several years. Children born, children lost, friends and family gained and forgotten. It was a little drawn out in parts and occasionally had me wondering where the story was going. Still, it was an interesting read!

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the characters in this book were based on real people. This was a new piece of history for me and I found it very interesting. Kibler's writing is very good and very comfortable. She has the ability to develop characters that feel very real, flaws and all. The plot is developed with the existence of two separate storylines and four separate narrative views. It sounds terribly complex and confusing, but it is masterfully done and at no point did I feel lost or confused by this. I was, unfortunately, disappointed by the swiftness of the ending and the author's choice to leave a major plot point open and ambiguous. I would very much have appreciated something more comprehensive and concrete.

For the full review visit "Home for Erring and Outcast Girls" on EPJ: https://erraticprojectjunkie.blogspot.com/2019/03/home-for-erring-and-outcast-girls-by.html

Well written. Compassionate, enthralling, The kind of book that stays with you.
One hell of a book with shocking revelations I never saw coming

Story of pregnant Lizzie just didn't capture my attention. I thought it was drab and monotone. I just never captured my interest.

This book set in dual timelines, 1904 and 2017, wandered and I didn't wander with it. Somehow, I couldn't connect. But kudos to the author for her research. I am sure there are others who will enjoy this book, but it wasn't one I enjoyed. In fairness and for that reason, I will give this book 3 stars, for the writing, but the subject matter wasn't one I was interested in.

A lifetime apart, Cate Sutton discovers Lizzie and Mattie in the library where she works and in an old and unkempt cemetery nearby. What exactly was “The Home for Erring and Outcast Girls”? Was it a good option for young women and their mostly illegitimate children or something else? With only a handful of ancient records and the cemetery as a resource, Cate sets out to discover just that. While dealing with issues and struggles in her own life and mind, she takes on a young assistant with her own drama and delves into the lives of Lizzie and Mattie and the other young women and staff at the home. She comes to know and love them as much as one can without having ever met. This book took me back to another time and into the lives of some unfortunate young ladies and kept me there long after I finish the last page. If you enjoy his Storico fiction, put this book on your must read list! Thank you to NetGalley for an advance read copy of this great book.

*Thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC of this book in return for a fair and honest review.
"Home for Erring and Outcast Girls" was not quite what I was expecting. Well, one of the the stories was, but I wasn't expecting the other two. This novel does tell the story of a group of women who lived at the home back in the day, but also weaves in two, more contemporary, stories (both contemporary stories are about the same woman, just at different points in her life). While I truly enjoyed the historical piece about the actual Home, I really did not enjoy the two others. I believe this book would have been better if the author had just stuck with the one idea, and saved the other two for a different book. That said, it's worth the read simply for the true story of the Home and some of the women who resided there.

This novel is for anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction read. The novel moves between early 1900’s Texas and Texas of today. A century ago, a woman or girl who found herself penniless, “ruined”, raped, molested, pregnant etc often had nowhere to turn. Families would throw a girl out onto the streets. It was seen as her fault always. Mattie and Lizzie are young mothers on their own living in hard times. They are both told about the Home for Erring Girls and turn to it as a place of refuge. What Lizzie and Mattie do with their lives once they get there is part of the story. Then the story moves back and forth to modern day- Cate. Cate has more in common with the outcast girls then it may seem at first. She follows her own journey dealing with heartache and family betrayal.
It is a thought provoking, sad, and touching book about how much life has changed for women for the better, but also how we still have the capacity to hurt the ones we love. But ultimately the protagonists speak their own truth to find their own happiness.

A book of saga proportions. A look at woman and the lack of choices they had in the early 19th century. An interesting look at drug addition at a time when only "those woman" had addictions and must be reeducated or redeemed. What made this book interesting was the fact that few historical fiction novels deal with drug addition. I did find some of the book a bit tedious and wanted to get back to the historical time line, as you go back and forth between a contemporary story and one from the turn of the 19th century. Recommend to readers of Wiseman.

Julie Kibler is a great writer.
I fell madly in love with her book “Calling Me Home”, her debut novel published in 2013. Her irresistible novel often had me laughing or crying.
Julie is gifted in her ability to portray the perceptions and emotions of her characters. She writes with sensitivity, and insights, rendering meticulous attention to details.
This second novel....”Home for Erring and Outcast Girls”.....has been a long anticipated wait. Many of Julie’s fans...me included...are excited happy campers with this new book. Its wonderful! The research is impeccable .....crafting is easy to follow ...and storytelling is vibrant.

Julie - once again - delivers an evocative - emotional - sorrowful - captivating story.
She engages and educates us about a little known time in history.

A little background history:
The Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls was a facility for unwed mother’s in Arlington, Texas. Reverend James T. and Maggie May Upchurch opened the home in 1903. It took in homeless, usually pregnant women from Texas and the surrounding states. Unlike other homes in the area for “fallen women”, women at the Berachah Home were required/ allowed to keep their babies. They were not forced to give their babies up for adoption.
The home closed in 1935 but then reopened as an orphanage from 1936-1942.
The University of Texas purchase a property in 1963. On March 7, 1981, a Texas Historical Marker was installed and dedicated at the graveyard that served Berache Home.

Following several women from the early 1900’s..... to present day
we meet:
.......Cate Sutton......modern day archival librarian at The University of Texas in the year 2017. We also meet Cate’s assistant, Laurel Medina, - a few of her personal friends ....learn about her past life and the work that occupies her every waking moment. It’s not legal to take the archives home - ( they must stay at the library)....but we can feel how Cate wishes she could spend her days-off from work snuggled up at home reading those archives.
Her fascination and dedication - learning all she can about the women who lived in the Berachah House was her passion. Going out with a friend was almost a chore - she felt more at home with the dead.
Cate often visited the cemetery when she was longing for something she couldn’t have: HOME.
“Situations that require intimacy of any kind, however, topple the careful balance I’ve worked so hard to create. I accepted it years ago. And despite my therapist’s confidence, it remains painfully obvious when I attempt to engage on anything more than a surface level”.
“I am a grown woman. I am a professional. I manage my life well.
But I am broken. People sense it, and when they do, they walk away”.
“Me? I run”.
We’ll learn more about Cate .....and experience her growth.

We also meet:
.......Lizzie Bates. Lizzie is 19 when we first meet her in 1904. She has a baby name Docie. They come to live at the House....after some of the most devastating things she endured....really awful. My heart ached!
In the beginning before the Berachah House...
“How Lizzie had earned her keep out at a country farm, lately, cooking for Negro inmates. How the farm superintendent had taken her into his own shack to live in sin, feeding her heroin to subdue her, and then passed her to the chain gang boss when he tired of her. How’d she taken sick, and it crippled her so badly she couldn’t stand. And finally, how they’d sent her and Docie to jail, no regard for whether she lived or died”.
Lizzie’s time at the house - the way she changes was really beautiful. I came to really treasure her goodness - the pure soul she was born with and passed on to her daughter .....and best friend Mattie.

We also meet Mattie Corder.... 23 years at the ‘start’.
I loved Mattie as much as Lizzie...but I worried about her differently. Mattie’s outer shell was more feisty than Lizzie. It looks like she is confident and strong...less sensitive than Lizzie.
She’s definitely angry, sad, beaten down with grief —( her baby son died)... but her bark is bold, ruthless!. But really .... my opinion about both Lizzie and Mattie change and inter-change over time. I felt I grew with both of these women - and grew to understand them why Mattie might be sarcastic and Lizzie not.

The history and real people ( Lizzie and Mattie), and others: Reverend James Toney, Maggie Mae Upchurch, etc..... was fascinating to learn about. Sad too....just can’t get away from the sadness.

The author’s notes at the end are deeply felt...
The entire book is excellent. I’ll continue to read anything Julie Kibler writes!

Thank You Netgalley, Crown Publishing, and Big Congrats to Julie Kibler 💖

“Home for Erring and Outcast Girls” is a thoughtful and touching story not to be missed! It flawlessly weaves together the history of the Berachah Home for Erring Girls (a home for unwed and troubled women in Texas in the early 1900’s) with Cate, a present-day University librarian. Throughout the novel, the author ever so skillfully examines not only the social impact of being an unwed mother but also the devastating personal impact. And by connecting the past history of the Berachah Home with the present day story of Cate, we see that as far as we have come in accepting that there is not simply one way right way to live to unlock the doors to happiness, we still have much much farther to go! The fact that the novel was so well researched and steeped in fact as evidenced in the Author’s Notes made the book so much richer and meaningful for me. “Home for Erring and Outcast Girls” is a well researched, well written and thought-provoking story that will stay with you long after you have read the last page! I was honored to receive a free advanced copy from NetGalley and the Publisher, Crown Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book because I absolitely loved the author's debut book. This one was very difficult to get moving for me and when it did, I really didn't like it. The characters were flat IMO and again, I went in with high expectations so the bar was quite high. The plot was interesting enough but the writing style was off and just made the feel of the story in and out of the times represented very choppy.

I enjoyed this book and gave it 3 stars. I really enjoyed the relationship between Lizzy and Mattie but had a hard time connecting with the present day Cate. Normally when the book shifts back and forth between time periods and characters, I enjoy the present day character more but in this book I sort of dreaded the present day Cate parts. I can tell the author did her research and I overall enjoyed the book.

This was both an endearing, wonderful book but also a heart-breaking story. I was sobbing while I read this story. I touched my heart, I loved the characters and I cared about what happened to them all. That includes the women in the current time and in the past.
I have never read any books by this author but I will definitely be looking for more by her.

Loved this book!! I’m always drawn to stories of resilient women and Home for Erring and Outcast Girls delivers. I was immediately captivated by the horrific predicaments of Lizzie and Mattie, two “broken” women in turn-of-the-20th century Texas, as well as modern day librarian Cate, whose own back-story is also deeply emotional. Julie Kibler shares a little known part of history in a sensitive and moving manner which adds to the appeal of this book. Always nice to learn something new.

My only constructive feedback is that the names of Lizzie and Mattie were a little too close making it somewhat confusing in the beginning.

The cover of the book is beautiful. The font very clean and appealing. A winner.

Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this wonderful book early. Rated: 4.25!

Many thanks to Crown Publishing for this advanced reader digital copy!

Truly interesting read based on historical events of unwed mothers or homeless women and pulls in nicely with modern times with a college librarian who comes across old documents about the Baruchah Home of the early 1900’s. Occasionally it was hard going back and forth from the 2 historical characters, Mattie and Lizzie, but their stories become clearer as the book goes along.

I found myself drawn in immediately and found all the main characters likable and interesting. It’s also great to learn a bit of history as well!

I give it a solid 4 stars!

I loved this novel! My favorite aspect of historical fiction is when the story switches from current day to the past. We see so many years which hold their own unique stories. These characters have so much to say. Beautifully written with very developed characters.
Thank you NetGalley.

I loved this one. It was a good historical fiction back spotlighting a little known history in this country. I felt the plot and characters were we’ll fleshed out.
The author is a master at writing about hard subjects
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book