Stephanie Kallos

I started to like this book when Margaret Hughes went home and asked her possessions if she could take on a boarder. I liked it even more when Mrs. K, a wonderfully meddling, caring, Jewish, bowling, red-headed old lady was introduced. Though the book does take some unlikely turns, and it could probably have been a bit shorter, it was a really enjoyable read. Tenderly written, full of history, character-driven, and intelligent.

The audiobook narrator was amazing. Not only did she create show more unique voices for all the main characters, she also sang and performed the following accents: Irish, British, Southern, French, and Yiddish. Wow. show less

Sing Them Home is a big book with 540 pages. It’s a big story too, with travels that span the world, relationships that span societal mores, and families that span life and death. But it’s centered in the tiny town of Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, and in the family of Hope Jones, who disappeared in a tornado long ago and never returned. It’s a story, filled with time-spanning sense of place, about Hope’s children who have each, in their own way, lost their place in the world. It’s about show more the wind that tears things apart, and the way things come back together, not the same, but still as real and just as complete. And it’s about the littlest sister, the one who maybe wasn’t quite complete from the start, who somehow seems to give completeness to everyone else.

The death of Hope’s husband many years later brings the family back. They return to the town’s deep Welsh traditions where the dead are “sung home,” to the town’s sweet expectations, even those that can’t be expressed, and to each other. The wonderful stepmother deals with heartbreak and disillusion on her way to forgiveness. The self-centered brother learns to center himself on something other than image. The stubbornly separate sister finds acceptance. The lonely find love.

The pages run the gamut of emotions, from Hope’s diary of hope’s retreat, to lost children, to Viney’s very real bereavement, to the kindness and cruelties of strangers. All of it is so very real and absorbing that the book becomes hard to put down. Wrenched heartstrings remain somehow always sure that the tune will play sweetly again, as indeed, it does. The writing sings. And the characters finally, each on their own surprising path, all find their way home. show less

I started this book, really couldn't get into it, so put it aside. In the meantime, a friend read it and loved it. At her urging, I picked it up again -- this time, I really liked it.

The title is perfect, in so many senses, some that become clearer as the book progresses. What starts out to be two isolated, clearly broken "Eleanor Rigby" women gel into a family, along with the rag-tag recruits who affix themselves into their lives. But that's the cheater's description. The book is so much show more more, in such unexpected ways.

There is a point, where a character is cooking and the following passage occurs, where he is describing how his grandmother taught him to cook:

"'Slow down, boychick' she was always saying. 'Cooking is not to rush. It's a prayer. A gift of love. It's a family. It's standing in the company of your ancestors and feeling their hands, helping you.'" Bruce started weaving the strands into braids. "When you're Jewish, everything that matters happens in the kitchen."

Despite the fact that I was en route to my nephew's Bar Mitzvah, I didn't expect to be poleaxed by a fundamental truth of my Jewish heritage. Nor did I expect to stumble into the creation of art that matches very much some of my artistic tendencies, or a philosophy of giving I've always wished to be able to carry out. I didn't expect to see one of the characters break in so many ways, and resurrect into something that could take "broken" and make it beautiful. I just didn't expect...

I passed this book on to my cousin, simply because of the above quote. Glad I picked this up again and finished it this time. show less

Sing Them Home is a beautiful, generous story about family, community, love and grief. In 1978 a tornado sweeps through the town of Emlyn Springs, Nebraska taking Hope Jones with it. She is never found and this is the story of how her three children live with the grief of her mysterious disappearance. But this book is so much more then the basic plot. Stephanie Kallos has a magical way of weaving characters and setting with weather and atmosphere until it is a real jolt to wrench yourself show more from the pages and find you aren't actually in Emlyn Springs. Her characters become real people who you will worry over and laugh with even after you put the book down!
This is one of the best books I read in 2008 and will make a great Christmas gift. show less