An emotionally raw and resonant story of love, loss, and the enduring power of friendship, following the lives of two young women connected by a home for “fallen girls,” and inspired by historical events.

Raw and beautifully written novel based on a true historical home for single mothers and women who had been forced into prostitution or other unseemly professions.

Netgalley provided me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Home for Erring and Outcast Girls is a sanctuary for women who have nowhere else to go. In the unforgiving social and moral climate of the Georgian era, these women have fallen in love and been abandoned, been the victims of heinous sexual crimes, or do not neatly crumple into the box defining "appropriate womanhood." The one thing they share is their need for safety and security.

At the home there is always food for their bellies and a warm bed at night. There is the opportunity to learn skills that will stand them in good stead if they choose to leave the Home.

For Lizzie and Mattie the Home is the foundation for the tragedy of their shared experiences and launches a lifelong friendship. For Cate and Lauren, the Home represents hope, forgiveness and healing.

This is a wonderful story about friendships, finding grace and finding peace.

Does history repeat itself? In a way it does, but it is handled differently, or is it?
We get an in-depth look at a home that was established for women in the early 1900’s, although not all were accepted here, made me think of the poor souls that were turned away.
We look and walk with two of the woman who went to The Berachah Home in Texas, and have a look at what happened to them to bring them here. This is not an easy life for either of them, and it could have been any one.
I did love the author’s notes at the end of this book, the story is fictional, and has literary license, but is based on actual people. I always enjoy these updates!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Crown, and was not required to give a positive review.

Let me start by saying I truly enjoy historical fiction. The Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls in Arlington, Texas was a real place, and the home did play an important role in supporting and providing a place for women and their children. Not only do we follow the lives of Mattie and Lizzie, who lived during that time, and were saved by the home, we also hear the stories of present-day Cate, who experienced trauma and heartache. To a lesser extent we hear Cate's friend, Laurel's story as well.

I wished during my reading experience that I could have liked it more. These characters in all timelines really did experience heartache and hardship. I had a problem investing myself in this story. The pace felt slow, and the switching back and forth between people and eras somehow did not flow for me.

HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS by Julie Kibler is an absorbing fictional tale based on a real historical place that sheltered women and their children from cruelty and isolation. Often horrifying, as well as familiar, their stories will touch your heart. Great novel honoring lifelong friendships.

The story is told from multiple points-of-view in dual timelines. A majority of the novel is historical, with some modern-day sleuthing to help tell the women and children’s stories.

Historically, “fallen” women were shamed and shunned for results of relationships not always of their choosing. It’s a horrifying fact that rape, and/or abuse, changes a woman’s life, whether anyone knows about it or not. Abuse can come in many forms, some effects visible, while others are hidden behind secrets never told. This book delves into all these historical issues with a character-driven tale of one place and its affect on these women and their children.

HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS is an amazing volume of history brought to life with a talented author’s imagination. Details undoubtedly researched thoroughly are vividly portrayed by several women’s stories that intertwine with others later in history.

My only complaint is that the book was too detailed when I was ready to move on. I was ready for a conclusion by 75% through the book, and that’s when it really slowed for me. Too much time was spent on Mattie’s situation, when I wanted more about Lizzie and Docie in their timeline, as well as River, Cate and Laurel in the modern-day timeline.

I was especially impressed with the characterization. Each woman’s story comes alive with her details, some of which are kept secret, binding them to each other with their unique situations that brought them together in the first place. For those who love religious-inspired stories, there are plenty of references to faith and how it interacts with all the women and their children, as well as those who cared for them.

The volume of research done for this novel is both fascinating and overwhelming. Bringing it all together in such a cohesive story with captivating characters is a feat of unquestionable talent.

I feel I should forewarn about several triggers for some readers. If rape or abuse is a trigger for you, these women’s stories may be hard to endure. On the other hand, they may have a healing affect if you’re ready, but their authenticity is sometimes shocking and heartbreaking.

Also, if you’ve lost a child, a large part of the story-line is about women who gave birth, often under dire circumstances. The early 1900s are rough times and not all women and children will survive. Those who do, form lifelong friendships that weather the storms of their lives together.

Although this novel is oftentimes dealing with sorrow, it’s also filled with overcoming grief and fear with strength and endurance. It’s hopeful in a time and place that was difficult.

Above all, HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS made me think about all the women in history who could have benefited from this beautiful place. Where women and their babies could land, without fear of having to separate.

It’s a shame that even today, women are often outcasts for their choices. We as loving Christian women owe our sisters our compassion. As women of faith we can lift each other up above vicious rumors and speculation.

I often think about how many amazing authors I’d miss if I wasn’t a reviewer. Julie Kibler would be one of them. None of my GoodReads friends had listed this book to read when I stumbled upon it on NetGalley.com. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to try someone new-to-me, in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn’t always easy to read. It enraged me with injustices portrayed, real or fictional. Books like this one renew my faith and leave me with so many thoughts about how we can do better. Women need to support women and the children they bear, no matter the circumstances, because we all deserve God’s grace.

Author Julie Kibler is now on my radar and her first novel, CALLING ME HOME, is on my wishlist. HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS beautifully portrays women’s success over adversity, even when they don’t agree with one another. That friendship built on trust outlasts all obstacles. You’ll want to give your best friend a hug after this one.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of TheZestQuest.com.

I was such a fan of Kibler's first book. I had high hopes for this book but it fell short for me.
The writing felt very disjointed and did not flow easily in my opinion. I felt that the story could have done without Cate's story. Lizzie and Mattie's friendship could have carried the book possibly. It also seemed long-winded.

Kibler has the talent and has proved it with her first book so I am not sure what the problem was but this book was a miss on every level.

HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS by Julie Kibler (Calling me Home) is a new work of historical fiction. Kibler uses multiple viewpoints to tell the story of Lizzie and Maddie ("wayward" mothers in the early 1900s and of Cate and Lauren (contemporary librarian and student intern). It's difficult to keep jumping from one time to another and, of course, the poverty and healthcare for unmarried mothers and their children in the early 1900s is horrific. This title has been compared to Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train which we often recommend, but HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS seemed darker and, for me, less engaging. Book groups who especially like historical fiction may want to select Kibler's new work and debate its merits, particularly since online reviews do seem mixed.

The Home for Erring and Outcast Girls is an incredible story of friendship, survival and second chances. This story is based, in part, on the work done by Berachah Home in Texas. This is a story of a group of young women who had been dealt a bad hand by fate but were taken in and given a second chance at life. I was intrigued by the story of the Berachah Home, a place that embraced young women despite having a child outside marriage, contrary to societal norms.

The story toggles between present day and the past. In the past, we are introduced to Lizzie, a young girl who has disgraced her family because she is pregnant out of wedlock and is cast out by her family. Lizzie is found in dire straits by Sister Susie and taken to the Berachah Home.
In August 2017 Cate has recently relocated to Arlington, Texas to take a job as an assistant librarian. On the first day in her new town, Cate happens upon a small cemetery with a plaque about the Berachah Home. Both the plaque and the Home pique Cate’s curiosity. So she begins a new position with a new interest in the Home.

I found myself drawn into the Cate and her story and so curious about the Berachah Home just as she was. This is a well written story of friendships, heartache, and survival. I was captivated by the characters who are both sympathetic and strong and invested in the characters’ losses and successes. This is a book that every woman should read. Thank you to #Netgalley and #CrownPublishing for approving my request. All the opinions expressed in this review are solely my own..

Over the past several years, I've developed quite a liking for dual timeline novels, and Home for Erring and Outcast Girls, centered around a home for fallen women in the early 1900s is one of the best I've read. It's a bit complicated, due to the large cast of characters and the constant shifts in time, but Julie Kibler does a fantastic job bringing this period of American history to life.

Cate Sutton is a University librarian with very few connections to the people in her life. She hasn't had much to do with her parents since just after she graduated high school, and in many ways, she feels adrift. Her new job at the University of Texas is everything she's ever wanted, and she's determined to forge a new life for herself, a life that feels fresh and new, free of family drama.

Shortly after arriving in Texas, Cate stumbles upon an abandoned graveyard. She's fascinated by the bits and pieces of information she gathers from the tombstones, and vows to learn more about the women buried there. Fortunately, the university library contains boxes of information about the Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls, a charitable home established in 1904 to assist young women who had fallen on hard times. Unlike many of the other homes that existed during this time, those in charge were determined to offer rehabilitation to these women without separating unwed mothers from their children.

As Cate delves into the historical records, she uncovers the stories of two women with ties to the Berachah home. Lizzie Bates and Mattie McBride both spent time there, and Cate becomes the slightest bit obsessed with their histories. Something about the difficulties they endured reminds her of her own troubled past, and the more she reads about them, the more determined she becomes to lay her inner demons to rest once and for all.

Lizzie and Mattie developed a strong bond at the home. Lizzie and her young daughter took refuge there after being taken ill with influenza, and Mattie arrived shortly afterwards, clinging tightly to the body of her dying son. Over the ensuing quarter of a century, Lizzie and Mattie remain closer than some sisters, despite the terrible obstacles life constantly puts in their paths.

The story moves back and forth in time, giving the reader a full picture of the lives of our three main characters. We are even treated to glimpses of Cate as a teenager, something I found especially helpful as it gave me quite a bit of insight into the events that turned her into the reclusive, extremely guarded woman we meet when the story opens. As I said above, all the moving around in time might deter some readers, but once I got used to it, I settled right into the story and hated to put the book down.

As is often the case with these types of novels, I found the historical timeline to be a bit more interesting than the one that takes place in the present. Mattie and Lizzie both led difficult lives, and I loved watching them struggle to come out on top. Cate's chapters served as a sort of vehicle to move the historical timeline forward, and while I enjoyed those parts of the book, I was always pleased to return to the historical setting.

It's obvious the author did a lot of research for this book. She weaves factual detail  seamlessly into the story, giving it a sense of authenticity that is so necessary for historical fiction, while keeping the prose from being dry or pedantic. Ms. Kibler's vibrant descriptions of life inside the Berachah's walls brings the characters and their circumstances to life in a dramatic and evocative manner.

There are quite a few descriptions of domestic violence and sexual assault throughout the novel, some incidences which actually occur on the page and others that are just mentioned. I didn't find these descriptions to be overly graphic, but they were still quite troubling to read. What was perhaps more disturbing though, was the cold, unfeeling way other characters reacted when they learned what had happened. It's a sad but true state of affairs, both today and in the past, and it brought tears to my eyes on several occasions.

If you love books about strong women who do their best to survive under less than ideal conditions, Home for Erring and Outcast Girls is most assuredly the book for you. It's tragic in places, but hopeful too. It's pretty much everything I wanted in a dual timeline novel, making it one of my favorite reads of 2019 so far.

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Six years ago I read Julie Kibler's book Calling Me Home and simply adored it. It's a book that has stayed with me over the years so it should not come as a shock that I was oh-so-eager to read Home for Erring and Outcast Girls.

This story is based on the real-life Berachah Industrial Home for Girls and is told using three time lines - one set in Arlington, Texas in 1904 which follows the lives of two young women, Lizzie and Maddie, who meet at the Home. The goal of Berachah was to help pregnant young women but instead of adopting out the babies, these young mothers were encouraged to raise their children at the Home (a vastly different approach than other homes of the time). The second story line occurs in 2017 and focuses on Cate, a university librarian who has become fixated on research depicting life at the Berachah home with the third going back to Cate's youth.

This is a well-researched novel (make sure to read the author's notes at the end) and I loved learning the historical aspects but sadly, I can't say that I loved it. The multiple time lines, while a popular format, didn't work for me here. The 1904 story line was interesting but both of Cate's story lines fell flat, made things overly complicated and could have easily been omitted for what they added to the story. I also felt that there was too much going on with multiple characters and time lines. The frequent shifting between the eras felt awkward which resulted in me struggling to connect with the characters and find a focus to the story (especially in the middle where my interest waned quite a bit).

I want to rave about this book (I really do!) but I struggled to engage with the characters and felt that the book was longer than it had to be. That said, I did enjoy learning about the historical aspects, mainly this unique Home what went against the grain to ensure that women who chose to, could raise their own children as well as witnessing the dangers and restrictions women have faced in the past.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Crown Publishing for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

The author did a great job of writing about a period in our history that many do not know too much about. I found myself wanting to learn more after reading this book and spent time researching online. Definitely recommend this one!

I'm a little conflicted about this one. I really, really enjoy the fact that it takes place in the early 1900s, it was different than the historical fiction that I typically read. The history aspect is extremely interesting, this home was one that was attempting, against all odds, to help these women and give them a little push away from their past. The stories of Lizzie and Mattie are intriguing, they appear to be so different, but you come to learn that they're more similar than you think.

I had a difficult time not only connecting with Cate's character but also understanding why this story was included. I don't find that it added as much to the story as it could have. I also think that the novel overall could have been a little shorter and still articulate all that was in it.

Overall, I enjoyed learning about this home, what it was and what happened there. I like the authors note about how the characters were based on women who actually lived in the home and the extensive research that went into creating this.

This book attracted me because I've been to most of the locations mentioned in the book. I was born in one of the cities and grew up on another of them and have spent time all over TX. That the book was about a real place, the Berachah Industrial Home for Erring Girls in Arlington, Texas, also led me to want to read the it. This home gave hope to girls, women, and their children who had been battered, abused, raped, and often were on death's door before this group would take them in and give them a home for as long as they needed one. What was remarkable about this home was that the girls/women were encouraged to keep their children when almost any other place would have required them to give them up for adoption before they would have been allowed into the home.

The book is broken into two different timelines, the time when the Berachah Industrial Home for Erring Girls was in existence in the early 1900s and later, when two women are researching the library archives about the home in 2017. The timeline that interested me was the earlier timeline and I think I would have enjoyed the book more if the later timeline might have just consisted of archive information rather than a story with characters concerns. It was distracting to be taken away from the perils of Lizzie, Mattie, and the earlier characters, to then read about the problems of the modern day women.

This book made me extremely sad and the subject matter is very difficult to read. Most of the girls during the earlier time, that needed the help of this home (and so many more were turned away because there wasn't room, money, or because they weren't yet "tainted" or abused enough) were victims of rape, incest, sexual abuse, starvation and neglect and so much more. The home had strict rules to remain there but it also allowed the residents to learn work skills and find their place in the small society, where they could earn their keep, sleep in a bed, have shelter for themselves and their child, and leave the abject poverty and misery of their former lives. The challenges of Lizzie and Mattie are heartbreaking but we get to see that they develop a lifelong caring for each other, a kind of enduring family that neither of them really had in the past.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

This story was written as a narrative from multiple first person point of views. The characters are described in a direct manner. The conflict is a mixture between internal as characters battle themselves and external as characters have to battle other characters and society as a whole. The major themes shown throughout include character, circle of life, death, family, female roles, hazards of passing judgment, injustice, loss of innocence, lost honor, lost love, motherhood, progress and role of religion.

Cate Sutton (2017) is a reclusive librarian that has just moved to Arlington, Texas. She finds something similar about Laurel, a young university student who works as an assistant at the library. They both have hidden paths and are curious about the Berachach Home. Lizzie Bates and Mattie McBride (1900s) were two of the young girls that passed through the home. Lizzie has been abused, thrown out by her family, and is now looking for a better life her and her daughter. Mattie McBride has just lost her young son and is looking for a better life. Lizze and Mattie were labeled as fallen women because of choices they made in order to care for their children, including drugs and prostitution, and were discriminated because of it. They were both taken in by The Berachach Home for Erring and Outcast Girls, where they formed a friendship. They helped one another heal from the actions before their arrival and continued this bond until Mattie’s unexpected death. Cate Sutton has just started work as a university librarian when she stumbles across the old grounds. She brings Laurel into her search for what happened to the home and its girls, seeing as they both may have something in common with the girls that passed through the home. Can all the mysteries behind their pasts be revealed while healing?

The ideas were interesting and unique as they brought forth a part of history that isn’t shown much without an interest. The flow was organized and logical; it transitioned smoothly between the different time periods. The voices were individualized per character but complemented each and their time period. The sentence structure and word choice help to enhance the overall story. Yes, I would recommend this book. This would be a good read for anyone interested in historical fiction, the power of religion in 1900s, or the power of second chances. This would not be the book for those who dislike mentions of abuse or rape, heavy religion influences, discrimination or labeling and the blaming of female victims.

Rating: 4 stars

In 2013, Julie Kilber’s debut book, “Calling Me Home” was one of my favorite books that year. I’ve impatiently waited for her next book since then. Imagine my delight when I received and e-Arc copy from Netgalley of Kibler’s latest book, “Home for Erring and Outcast Girls”. While I wasn’t as enamored of this book as I was with her debut book, I think that this new book is an entertaining work that deftly combines a dual timeline narration of historical fiction centering in a personal way on the experiences of women today and at the turn of the 19th century.

We meet Lizzie and Mattie in Texas in 1903. They are both regarded as fallen women since they’ve both had children out of wedlock, or have worked as prostitutes. They each reached the Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls closely together, and they were taken in by the religious home. At the Home, Lizzie and her daughter Docie found a place of refuge. Maggie chafed at the strictures placed on her, but relied heavily on Lizzie’s friendship to get her through some hard experiences.



Most of the way through the book I was more intrigued with Lizzie and Maggie’s stories. I wanted to skip through the Cate sections and get back to the ‘girls’. But as the timelines developed there was a surprise in Cate’s story that I did not see coming. Sadly, the 1903 women, and the modern women still face some of the Cate Sutton narrates the modern timeline. She’s stumbled upon a little known graveyard on the grounds of the Texas University that she works at as a librarian. A plaque at the graveyard has spurred her to research the Berachah Home in the library’s archives. We learn how alone Cate is. Her solitariness stems from hurts suffered as a member of a close-knit, fundamentalist church that she attended with her family up through her high-school years. Cate’s story is told in two timelines. One timeline describes the current time, and one as she describes the events of twenty or so years ago that led up to the rupture with her family. same forms of ostracism.

I could almost taste the dust and feel the heat of summer in Texas and Oklahoma in the early part of the 20th century. The historical elements were finely drawn, and well-balanced between being factual as well as entertaining. Having grown up in a fundamentalist religion, I could relate to the relief that Lizzie felt when firmly giving her life over to God, and paradoxically the unsupported situation Cate found herself in when her patriarchal church’s rules no longer fit her life. This is not a book specifically about religion, but there is a lot of talk about God and what the ‘girls’ have to do in order stay in the religious refuge of the Berachah House, and what is expected of Cate in her religion.

Ultimately, this books is about having the strength, in any era, to forge your own path based on what is right for you. Admittedly, there were much fewer paths open to the women of a hundred years ago. Even today though, it takes more strength to let people into your heart again after you’ve been hurt than is does to remain cutoff and sheltered from further hurt. But what kind of life is that?

Julie Kibler has written a thought provoking work of Historical Fiction that I gladly will be recommending to others this year, just as I still whole-heartedly recommend “Calling Me Home”.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Crown Publishing; and the author, Julie Kibler; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, but I just didn't. The subject matter seemed right up my alley. I love reading about things that could have happened back when girls were treated so differently from what they are now, especially when they make bad decisions.

The characters were confusing, the book moved extremely slow. It just wasn't for me!

This is a deeply emotional, somewhat depressing fictional account of the histoical Berachah Industrial Home for Erring Girls in Texas, It is based on a true location and true circumstances and tells the devastating stories of three young women from youth to middle age and the terrible circumstances that both broke and made them.

I wasn't really enamoured by the shifting timelines. I feel like many times the tension and dramatic effect was lost by changing narrator and time. Sometimes the deeply emotional retelling of a painful experience from one narrator was shifted within a page to a completely different mood with another narrator even when the reader was emotionally unprepared to move on from what they had just read.

If ever a book was grief p*rn, it is this one. Think of every outrage and atrocity society and religion can inflict on a young, vulnerable woman, and you will probably find it in this book. This book touched on the issues of race at the time it was set a couple of times, but it was very unsatisfying to read. It's like this big issue of invisible persons of color and discrimination against them were mentioned lightly in passing, rather than dwelled on as they deserved. I think the author should have either not mentioned these issues at all, or done more justice to them.

In the end, did I like this book? On the whole, I did. Or more accurately, I'm more positively disposed to it than I'm negatively disposed to it. This book should carry every trigger warning possible but most especially trigger warning for rape, incest and sexual abuse especially in places that should be safe. I would definitely recommend being in a solid place mentally before embarking on this book journey.

I received an advanced reading copy from Crown Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited about this book but unfortunately it didn't end up being one of my favorites. I was confused by the different narrators and the story felt stretched out inconsistently over time which made it hard for me to invest. I just never felt compelled by the story lines. This ended up being a book I put down more than I picked up. It may be because I've read a variety of fiction and nonfiction books on this topic recently, so this felt like more of the same. I would definitely recommend this book to others interested in the time period and topic though.

Some girls who lost their way were welcomed to Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls in the 20th century. They were allowed to keep their baby and taught homemaking skills.

The book shifts back and forth between the early 1900s and 2017. Lizzie and Maddie lived in Barachah. Cate was interested in learning all she could about that time.

I was anxious to read this book. The topic is one that I am very interested in. However, this book seemed slow. There were too many characters to learn, especially in the beginning. After about 60% in, I truly wanted to set it down and not finish it. I could not bring myself to care about the characters.

This is not a bad book; it simply wasn’t for me. Please read other reviews for a more balanced take away.


I received an ARC from Crown Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book.

Julie Kibler, author of Calling Me Home (2013), opens The Home for Erring and Outcast Girls at the Berachah Industrial Home in Arlington, Texas. Kibler tells her page-turner story through the viewpoints of three complex women: Lizzie and Mattie, Berachah residents at least part of their lives during the early 20th century, and Cate, a 21st university librarian with access to the Berachah archives. Kibler captures the reader’s attention with a 2-page prologue set during Beracha’s 1933 Homecoming. Lizzie vainly awaits the return of Mattie, “sister of her heart and soul,” and ponders how she will keep her promise to the missing Mattie, who had arrived at Berachah roughly thirty years earlier. Hinting at Mattie’s dreams that had taken her from Berachah, at Lizzie’s nightmare past, and at Berachah’s tenuous survival during the Depression, Kibler slowly unwinds the tangled lives of her three women, leaving the readers wanting more each time she shifts narrators.

The story shifts from the 1933 prologue to Cate’s 2017 arrival in Arlington to start her new job. Jogging around the neighborhood after the movers unload her belongings, Cate discovers a small cemetery invisible from her new home because of a high industrial fence but marked on another side with an historical marker. The cemetery, first established in 1904, had been used by the Berachah Rescue Society and contained eighty graves.

Don’t fear that the shifts from narrator to narrator, decade to decade, will confuse you. Kibler skillfully manages them by opening each section with the narrator’s name, the place, and the date. She captures the reader’s attention and heart as she relates each woman’s life story—three stories that ultimately intertwine in surprising ways that left me happy to have gotten to know these three amazing women and several others that play roles in their lives along the way. Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing an Advance Reader Copy through NetGalley.