A Song of Home Audiobook By Susie Finkbeiner cover art

A Song of Home

A Novel of the Swing Era (Pearl Spence Novels, Book 3)

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

A Song of Home

By: Susie Finkbeiner
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $23.39

Buy for $23.39

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Pearl Spence has finally settled into a routine in Bliss, Michigan, far from her home in Red River, Oklahoma. Like all the other kids, she goes to school each day, plays in the woods, and does her chores. But there's one big difference: Mama is still gone and doesn't seem to have a thought for the family she's left behind.

Escaping from her worries is another part of Pearl's new routine, whether that's running to Aunt Carrie's farm, listening to the radio with Ray, or losing herself in a book. In fact, a chair in the stacks, surrounded by books, might be her favorite place on earth - until she discovers swing dancing. The music transports Pearl to a whole other world.

When Mama unexpectedly returns, it isn't the happy occasion Pearl had imagined. Mama is distant, and Pearl can't figure out how to please her. And the horrible way she treats Daddy is more than Pearl can bear. It seems life would be better if Mama would just stay away.

Finkbeiner's portrayal of both tragedy and everyday life in times of great change is charged with a raw beauty that will haunt listeners. Fans of the two prior Pearl Spence novels won't be disappointed!

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2017 Susie Finkbeiner (P)2019 Oasis Audio Christian Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Tearjerking
Heartwarming Family Story • Beautifully Constructed Story • Phenomenal Actress • Captivating Protagonist • Amazing Narrator
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
wonderful! sad the series is over ! I enjoyed them all in the series!

draws you right in!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a wonderful story. Heard all three in the series. Tavia Gilbert’s gave an unbelievable performance! She is extremely talented!

Brilliant narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it. Wish there were more books because I could follow this darling story through her growing up. Pearly was absolutely amazing and what a sweetheart absolutely loved it.

Loved it and the whole series. I wish there was another book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed the story, the reader did exceptionally well, and it was so true to life. Didn’t need any nasty words, didn’t need descriptive sex , just a wonderful family book. I’ve read all of the Pearl series. Feels like I am missing my friends!

Felt Like Home!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This set of books should be required reading in classrooms all across America. Beautifully written and narrated!

Best Trilogy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Overall loved it, just really struggled with all the "mom" missing for a mother who was not good in so many ways.

will listen to more in series...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A story rich with emotion and complexity.

Tavia Gilbert is simply amazing! Her voices are realistic and pleasing to listen to, and she's a phenomenal actress!!!

Rich

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Narrator really brings each character come to life, especially the young girl. Well Done!

Young Girl Navigates Hard Times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story line, great characters and Tavia Gilbert was exceptional. Wish the series would continue.

Sorry to see this series end ...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
1930s - Bliss, Michigan during the Great Depression

Pearl Spence, 11 years old daughter of the town's sheriff
Ray Jones, 12 year old boy who lives with their family
Opal, the family's housekeeper and cook while "mama" is out of the picture
Aunt Carrie and Uncle Gus, like parents to Pearl and Ray

Par for the course, I often read books in a series out of order. Didn’t realize I had read book one years ago. I finished listening to book three just now, but it was easily a stand alone with references to the family's history, which helped a lot.

The voice of this first-person narrative is 11-year-old Pearl, as if she were telling a recent story of events in her family. Pearl pesters Opal into teaching her how to swing dance, as she and Ray had just seen Opal swinging like a pro at a dance hall. But as Pearl is half "colored" there is naturally a scandal involved because of her dance partner being white.

Just as Pearl is getting good, Pearl's long absent mother returns pregnant and expecting to return to her home as wife and mother. The adjustment is hard on Pearl, just as the adjustment had been when she left a year or so ago.

It’s a story of poverty when everyone was poor and just surviving, of prejudice, of Ku Klux Klan's continuing influence in the town, and of forgiveness on many fronts.

I enjoyed all the stories within the whole. I especially appreciated the constancy of Pearl's father. Poor little thing needed to know someone in her life would be her rock.

I also enjoyed quotes from recently deceased Meemaw, who always sited scripture in her lessons of wisdom for Pearl.

Now on to book 2, which will give me the background for this book. ☺️

Oh, almost forgot. This was an audiobook that was worth listening to. Great narrator!

Great audio!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews