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A "compassionate novel about loss and broken dreams."— Washington Post
A searing book club read for fans of Ellen Marie Wiseman and The Girls with No Names set in the Baby Scoop Era of the 1960s about the women of a certain condition swept up in a dark history.
It's the 1960s and Lorraine Delford has it all – an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and a white picket fence home in North Carolina. Yet every time she looks through her father's telescope, she dreams of the stars. It's ambitious, but Lorraine has always been exceptional.
But when this darling girl-next-door gets pregnant, she's forced to learn firsthand the realities that keep women grounded.
To hide their daughter's secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven – it's a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she can fight against the powers that aim to take her child or submit to the rules of a society she once admired.
Powerful and affecting, The Girls We Sent Away is a timely novel that explores autonomy, belonging, and a quest for agency when the illusions of life-as-you-know-it fall away.
"An important and vital story." — Donna Everhart, USA Today bestselling author of The Saints of Swallow Hill
A "compassionate novel about loss and broken dreams."— Washington Post
A searing book club read for fans of Ellen Marie Wiseman and The Girls with No Names set in the Baby Scoop Era of the 1960s about the women of a certain condition swept up in a dark history.
It's the 1960s and Lorraine Delford has it all – an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and a white picket fence home in North Carolina. Yet every time she looks through her father's telescope, she dreams of the stars. It's ambitious, but Lorraine has always been exceptional.
But when this darling girl-next-door gets pregnant, she's forced to learn firsthand the realities that keep women grounded.
To hide their daughter's secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven – it's a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she can fight against the powers that aim to take her child or submit to the rules of a society she once admired.
Powerful and affecting, The Girls We Sent Away is a timely novel that explores autonomy, belonging, and a quest for agency when the illusions of life-as-you-know-it fall away.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
After receiving a degree in English with a focus on creative writing from Indiana University, Meagan Church built a career as a storyteller and freelance writer for brands, blogs and organizations. Her fiction focuses on overlooked and oppressed women's voices from the past.
A Midwesterner by birth, she now lives in North Carolina with her high school sweetheart, three children and a plethora of pets. To learn more about her writing, visit www.MeaganChurch.com, or follow her on Instagram and Twitter @mchurchwriter.
Reviews-
February 1, 2024 In the early 1960s, Lorraine, unconventional, aims to be the first female valedictorian of her high school and dreams of a career in space exploration. Everything is upended when an end-of-summer tryst with her boyfriend leaves her pregnant. He dumps her, and her ultraconventional parents are so ashamed they hide her until they can ship her off to a maternity home for her last trimester. Lorraine was told there would be classes, but these consist of "lady" skills like napkin folding and crochet. A town librarian is able to coach her to prepare for a GED so that college is not out of the picture. The 20 or so young women at the home are not supposed to get to know each other, but alliances are made. The worst is that, prodded by half-truths and outright lies, they are required to sign away their rights to their babies. Outcomes are somewhat predictable, and the young women carry on, but the experience is scarring. Discussion points at the end make this a likely book-group and public-library choice.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 1, 2024
It's the mid-1960s, and Lorraine Delford has just turned 17. Not one to sit back and let life happen, Lorraine is a go-getter who likes to be first. She's first in her class and hopes to become the first woman valedictorian at her high school. She's also the first woman to lifeguard at the local pool. But it's a different first that will forever change her life, after a pregnant Lorraine is rejected by her boyfriend and scorned by her parents, who pull her out of school and send her to a maternity home. The residence is not the salvation she's expecting, and its promise to provide residents with the opportunity to get back to their normal lives rings hollow. As her stomach grows, so does Lorraine's determination to keep the baby she's come to love, and she decides to fight for what is rightfully hers. VERDICT In this engaging, shocking, heart-wrenching story, readers are pulled along with Lorraine through the ups and downs of her pregnancy, optimistic for her future but saddened by its likely outcome. Fans of Church's The Last Carolina Girl will be clamoring to read this one.--Vicki Briner
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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