Book Review: The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church

Rating: 4.25⭐️

Set in 1960s North Carolina, this story revolves around seventeen-year-old Lorraine Delford. An only child of dutiful parents who take pride in her accomplishments, Lorraine has a good life at home, is top of her class and has ambitions beyond being a wife and mother as is traditionally expected of women. When an unplanned pregnancy threatens to change everything for her, Lorraine is resilient and makes an effort to accept how her life will change, but her boyfriend abandons her and her parents offer no support instead sending her away to a maternity home for unwed mothers to hide their shame and protect their reputation in their community. Hoping that she would be able to continue her education while there, she is shocked to see the indifferent, uncaring attitude of the housemother and doctors in whose care she has been entrusted realizing that she is expected to return to her former life after she gives birth and gives up her child. She meets others- both like and unlike herself - a reality check that compels her to take stock of her life and reflect on her priorities, the difficult choices she needs to make and the choices that have been made for her fully aware that her life will never be the same even though she is expected to go on as if this episode in her life never happened.

"Strength isn't in the loud and obvious. Strength is often camouflaged in the quiet, reserved places where most people wouldn't think to look. It's grown in the moments when we give up things along the way."

The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church is an incredibly moving story. Beautifully written, heart wrenching yet thought-provoking, this novel captures the social landscape of the Baby Scoop Era and the plight of unwed young girls who were forced to succumb to familial and societal pressure to relinquish their rights to their children. Lorraine’s journey is a painful one as she evolves from a sheltered young girl to a young mother forced to face the reality of her situation and the society in which she lives. It was heartbreaking to witness the challenges faced by these young girls, alone with no guidance or emotional support, their choices taken away from them and let down by everyone they should have been able to trust. The author is brutally honest in her depiction of the psychological toll of her experiences and the emotional scars she carries into her adulthood. Granted those were different times, but it is sad to read stories about women who are judged for mistakes for which they alone were not responsible and how easy it was for society, community and their families to shame them into submission. The author has presented us with a powerful story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading this book.

Do read The Author's Note where she discusses her inspiration for this story. This was my first time reading this author and I'm eager to explore more of her work.

I paired my reading with audio narration by Susan Bennett, who breathes life into the characters and this story, for an absorbing immersion reading experience.

"Sometimes surviving means finding the strength to pick up the remnants of shattered dreams and piece together a mosaic of new ones, a continual work in progress, a constant decision to put one foot in front of the other, to fight against gravity, and keep moving forward."

Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the digital review copy and RB Media for the ALC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.