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, is 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, the Moscatellis are raising three children as their own and 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. Before long, this stranger in their midst has strengthened the bond in this unusual family, showing them how to contend with outside forces that want to tear them apart. Heartfelt and enthralling, All the Children Are Home is a moving testament to how love can survive in the face of devastating losses.
I was enchanted by Agnes, the abused child who is placed with the family, but most intrigued with Dahlia, the home bound foster mom who has suffered agoraphobia for years. From the beginning you can tell something horrible happened to her in the past. Most women will guess the gist of it but when she finally reveals the details it is both heartbreaking and enraging. Dahlia and her husband Louie have taken in many foster children over the years. Dahlia has tried not to let herself get too attached to them so as not to have a broken heart when it's time for them to leave. She and her husband sometimes appear cold even towards each other but their love for each other and the children is fierce.
This was an intense story of neglect and abuse, love and loss and proof that families don't have to share DNA to be real., Though set in the 1950s it somehow felt timeless, in that the foster care system of those days is as broken today. There were a couple of little things that bothered me about what seemed like inaccuracies for the time period for example I am pretty sure the term Bipolar was never used before the 80s, back in the 60s it would have been called manic depression, but the depth of the characters and the way they engaged with each other felt genuine to me.
About the author
Patry Francis is the author of The Liar's Diary and the blog 100 Days of Discipline for Writers. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in the Tampa Review, Antioch Review, Colorado Review, Ontario Review, and American Poetry Review, among other publications. She is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and has twice been the recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant. She lives in Massachusetts.
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