The Last Carolina Girl: A Novel
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Average rating4
15
Ratings1
Average rating4
A searing book club novel for fans of Where the Crawdad's Sing and The Girls in the Stilt House following one girl fighting for her family, her body, and her right to create a future all her own Some folks will do anything to control the wild spirit of a Carolina girl... For fourteen-year-old Leah Payne, life in her beloved coastal Carolina town is as simple as it is free. Devoted to her lumberjack father and running through the wilds where the forest meets the shore, Leah's country life is as natural as the Loblolly pines that rise to greet the Southern sky. When an accident takes her father's life, Leah is wrenched from her small community and cast into a family of strangers with a terrible secret. Separated from her only home, Leah is kept apart from the family and forced to act as a helpmate for the well-to-do household. When a moment of violence and prejudice thrusts Leah into the center of the state's shameful darkness, she must fight for her own future against a world that doesn't always value the wild spirit of a Carolina girl. Set in 1935 against the very real backdrop of a recently formed state eugenics board, The Last Carolina Girl is a powerful and heart-wrenching story of fierce strength, forgotten history, autonomy, and the places and people we ultimately call home.
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⭐⭐⭐.5
The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church is a novel that follows the life of fourteen-year-old Leah Payne in her coastal Carolina town. Leah's simple and free life, spent with her lumberjack father and exploring the wilds where the forest meets the shore, is disrupted when a tragic accident takes her father's life. She is then forced into a family with a dark secret, separating her from her home and making her work for a wealthy household. When Leah becomes embroiled in an act of violence and prejudice, she must fight for her future in a world that doesn't always appreciate the spirit of a Carolina girl. The story is set in 1935 against the backdrop of a recently formed state eugenics board.
The Last Carolina Girl has an appealing cover that caught my attention. I was initially drawn to the setting and time period, which I found intriguing. The inclusion of the eugenics movement as a plot thread added depth to the story. I particularly enjoyed Leah's character and found her compelling.
However, I felt that the overall pace of the book was choppy. I would have liked more depth in both the plot and characters. Additionally, I found the ending abrupt and felt it needed a few more chapters to bring about a satisfying conclusion. Despite these shortcomings, The Last Carolina Girl offers powerful themes of strength, forgotten history, autonomy, and finding one's true home.
ARC Via NetGalley
