Call the Canaries: three estranged sisters confront their past and reconnect

Call the Canaries Home by Laura Barrow is the story of three estranged sisters who reconnect and face an unresolved past. Savannah was only four years old when her twin sister, Georgia, went missing from their small Louisiana town. Twenty-eight years later, she convinces her older sisters, Rayanne and Sue Ellen, to honor their pact and retrieve a time capsule from their old backyard. Going home would mean confronting their painful past and their stubborn grandmother. As they sift through the artifacts from the capsule, they come across a photograph and see a familiar face in the background. Savannah believes this woman could hold the answer to what happened the day Georgia disappeared. Old tensions, rivalries and memories resurface, each sister must confront what they remember about that day, what they know about each other and themselves. Will they finally learn the lesson that Meemaw has been trying to teach them? That family is everything. 

Touted as “a heartfelt novel about family, grief, secrets, and forgiveness” I expected Call the Canaries Home to be a profoundly emotional story of sisters, the past and family. Unfortunately, it was not as profound as I expected. The story is told from the perspectives of the three sisters in the present and Meemaw in the past. The plot itself was not interesting with twists and turns that were left wanting. The sisterly drama dragged on and seemed without real resolution. I couldn’t identify or feel for any of the sisters. I feel the author really didn’t give any reason to care for these sisters who had lived through horrible situations. The setup was about the mysterious disappearance of their sister and then it became an afterthought and a disappointment when the mystery is solved. Overall, this story was drawn out with way too many points of view to follow. I do not recommend Call the Canaries Home. 

Call the Canaries is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook