by Fleur Beale. Published by Penguin, 2021. Reviewed by Caitlyn Mills. (Year 11, St Mary’s College, Wellington)

The Calling is beautifully written and creatively articulates how hard it was to be a young woman 100 years ago. As we follow our protagonist, Molly Conway, we watch her struggle with hardship after hardship as she journeys her way down the path God has set her on. I particularly enjoyed seeing her come to terms with the fact that she was living out her mother’s dream and not her own and how that affected her life’s path. Molly is a brave young woman and seeing her choose the right over the easy, time and time again, is empowering. Suzanne Aubert enters the story as well.

I wish we could have had more from the point of view of her brothers. It would have been interesting to have more detail about what they were thinking through all the conflict between Molly and her father. 

The Calling is a brilliant book and a great read. When Fleur Beale came to my school and read us the first chapter, I was really excited to see the way Molly’s story would play out — and I can confidently say that I wasn’t disappointed. I believe that this is a book many teenagers would enjoy and I’m delighted that I got to read it so soon after its publication.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 262 August 2021: 31