A sweeping saga in the vein of Ask Again, Yes following a foster family through almost a decade of dazzling triumph and wrenching heartbreak—from the author of The Orphans at Race Point.
Set in the late 1950s through 1960s in a small town in Massachusetts, All the Children Are Home follows the Moscatelli family—Dahlia and Louie, foster parents, and their long-term foster children Jimmy, Zaidie, and Jon—and the irrevocable changes in their lives when a six-year-old indigenous girl, Agnes, comes to live with them.
When Dahlia decided to become a foster mother, she had a few caveats: no howling newborns, no delinquents, and above all, no girls. A harrowing incident years before left her a virtual prisoner in her own home, forever wary of the heartbreak and limitation of a girl’s life.
Eleven years after they began fostering, Dahlia and Louie consider their family complete, but when the social worker begs them to take a young girl who has been horrifically abused and neglected, they can’t say no.
Six-year-old Agnes Juniper arrives with no knowledge of her Native American heritage or herself beyond a box of trinkets given to her by her mother and dreamlike memories of her sister. As the years pass and outside forces threaten to tear them apart, the children, now young adults, must find the courage and resilience to save themselves and each other. Heartfelt and enthralling, All the Children Are Home is a moving testament to the enduring power of love in the face of devastating loss.
MY THOUGHTS:
"I come home, Ma!" she said. That quote there broke me down to the core....
This is a very beautifully written book. A heart wrenching story of a family so mixed and so messed up you will wonder how they are ever going to make it. A story of a love so strong it can weather anything. A mother who cares so much for a group of children you would never guess she is not their biological mother. A family who love each other despite all the things that have happened to them. Even the mother, Dahlia, had deep wounds that kept her locked inside for twenty nine years.
Dahlia and Louie could not have been a better couple to foster children. They could not have children of their own yet had the love to give a thousand times over. They agreed to take three and no girls. Girls were trouble. Or in reality I think Dahlia was afraid for the girls. Afraid she could not protect them. Yet they ended up with two girls that stole both of their hearts. Two girls and two boys. They lost one boy when his father came and took him away but his sister stayed.
This family, Dahlia, Louie, Jimmy, Zaidie, Jon, and Agnes, will melt your heart. They will literally take your breath away. They will worm their way into your heart and not let go. This book will make you weep big huge ugly tears. What a child in the system has to go through is so horrible that we never think of it. But these children got lucky. They finally found their home with a couple that truly loved them with their whole hearts. Loved them just as they were, flaws and all. This is the true parent. The way a true mother and father should love their children.
At times it seems like both Dahlia and Louie are hard but they aren't. They want the children to be their best. You will learn that they have more love for them and for each other and appreciate the way they are. I really loved Dahlia. When she took that huge step for Jimmy it really made my heart thump so hard. This is a story told with such deep emotion. Such tenderness. Such love. You won't be forgetting it anytime soon. It will touch you in ways you never see coming. It has so many feels. It even made me laugh in a few spots. But be warned you will do some big ugly crying too. A whole lot of it.
I loved all the characters in this story except Mr Dean. He's one to truly hate.
Thank you to #NetGalley, #PatryFrancis, #HarperPerennial for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.
5/5 and if I could it would be way more stars and the highest possible recommendation. A must read.
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