Dear Lit Loves,
Okay beautiful people, I have an excellent book I am reviewing today and up until now, I had never heard of this book. This just goes to show you that if you happen to be on Amazon and are buying a book, take a look at the "similar reads" suggestions once you scroll through the book you are currently buying. That is exactly how I located The Last Carolina Girl, a novel, by Meagan Church.
Meagan Church is a Midwesterner by birth and achieved an undergraduate degree in English from Indiana University. Currently, Ms. Church resides here in my native state, North Carolina. Wonder why it is that so many Midwesterners appear to love North Carolina? Seriously. I married a Midwesterner from Illinois and am constantly meeting people from that area of the country. Interestingly, on our local news this week, it was reported that only fifty-two percent of people who reside in the state of North Carolina were actually born here. Native North Carolinians are becoming rare.
The Last Carolina Girl, a novel, grabbed my attention because it is a story about a fourteen-year-old girl named Leah Payne who resides with her dad near Holden Beach, N.C. Leah's mom died while giving birth to Leah. It is just Leah and her dad residing in a small house behind the home of Mr. and Mrs. Barna. Mr. Barna is a local business owner and he employs Leah's dad to help with his local store and his land. Mr. and Mrs. Barna have a son named Jesse who walks to school with Leah each day. And there is Tulla, who takes on the role of primary caretaker of the household.
One day Leah is blinded by adverse news regarding her father and the Barnas let her stay with them until the state can find a home for Leah. Interestingly, during Leah's brief stay with the Barnas, Leah and Jesse become good friends. Jesse goes with Leah to visit her mother's grave and adorn it with shells from the beach. Each year when Leah had a birthday, her father and she would always plant a tree in honor of her mother. When Leah learns the state of North Carolina has found a new home for her, Mr. Barna and she travel to Matthews, N.C. to meet the Griffin family.
The Griffin family is composed of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin and three kids, Eva Jane, Michael Henry, and Mary Anne. Leah has anxiety about meeting her new family. Mr. Barna heads back to Holden Beach, N.C. and Leah gets truly worried when Mrs. Griffin shows her to her room which is outside the house and described as a closet off the main kitchen. There is only enough room for a bed and a mattress. When Leah realizes the Griffins will not be referring to her as family, but as a "helpmate" for Mrs. Griffin, her hopes of finding a family are dashed. Leah finds herself tasked with cooking, cleaning, styling hair, acting as a host, and keeping a garden outside. She is seen among Mrs. Griffin's friends as the family servant. At age fourteen, Leah no longer goes to school once she joins the Griffin family.
What Leah does not know is that there is more going on with The Griffin family than she knows, and there is a reason why she was sent to live with this particular family. Leah finds herself helping Mrs. Griffin host teas and lectures by a local physician. The truth about Leah's true relationship to the Griffin family is brought to life after a catastrophic medical event at which point Leah's life is changed forever and she just wishes to return to live with the Barna family as she has been exchanging letters with Jesse, the Barna's son, while she lives with the Griffins.
What stood out to me about this story? First, we all have a biological family of blood relations and then we have a family of our choice. There is nothing we can do to change who we are related to via birth. You might not like this aunt or that uncle. And you like me have probably thought on more than one occasion, how in the heck am I and this cousin even related? Leah's family includes her mom, dad, and other members she has not yet been told are actually a part of her biological family. The Barna family including Jesse and Tulla I would say are Leah's family of choice. She would rather reside with them and call them her "family". It is quite apparent how the two families differ in this book and why the Barnas are her family of choice.
Next, Leah is a young girl who has spunk, hope, and spirit though she has already in her young life endured a whole lot of tragedy. Leah loves living with just her father and the wayward cat named Maeve in a ramshackle house along the Carolina coast. Leah even plants her own garden where she grows food for she and her dad. The sad part is that it is actually someone who is part of her biological family that she does not know she is related to, who breaks her spirit of hope. And it's always what I call bad "juju" to be someone who is responsible for breaking another individual's hope, spirit, and joy for life. And what makes it more hurtful is if the spirit-breaker is someone you are biologically related to who should have your best interests at heart. (Not always the case.)
Finally, there was this effort, particularly in Southern states, to push what was dubbed by some medical specialists to be "Eugenics". Eugenics refers to an effort by a group of like-minded people who think that individuals who are mentally disabled, handicapped, emotionally-challenged, and poor are also deemed "unfit". Subsequently, some individuals who fit those characteristics were sterilized such that they could never procreate or produce children of their own. And this is such a disastrous, heinous act in our history as a country. It is like, "Who died and appointed this group of people better or more fit to then judge another person's suitability to have children of their own?!!" Honestly, I think well over seven thousand people who fit these characteristics living in the state of North Carolina at the time were subsequently sterilized when Eugenics was deemed legitimate in the state of North Carolina. What in heavens name were they thinking? And why??
This is quite a touching story. I would definitely read the study guide questions at the end of the book if this book is part of a book club selection. It will make you think about who you consider your family of choice versus your biological family. Were you ever a person who contributed to the belittlement of another person? Do you think you or someone you know were ever responsible for breaking someone's spirit? And what do you think about our country's history of Eugenics? What did the concept of Eugenics say about our medical system and society at large during this part of U.S. history?
I highly recommend this book.
Best,
Grace (Amy)
