THE GIRLS WE SENT AWAY
Meagan Church
Sourcebooks Landmark
March 5, 2024
352 pages
Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop.org
This is a book about the “Baby Scoop” of the 1960s. Unwed teen mothers were sent away, confined to a home for unwed mothers. They were hidden away, put to shame for their “transgression”.
I was a teenager in the 1960s. At that time I never heard the term, Baby Scoop. But I was well aware that unwed pregnant teens were subjected to shame and sent away.
Lorraine is a young woman in her senior year of high school, ready to go to college, aiming to go into the space industry. She has lofty goals until one incident that changes her life.
Life in the maternity home is not what Lorraine expected it to be. The focus is on her and her two roommates. All three of them are completely different. And, they all handle their situation in their own way. Lorraine tries to keep her life goals in mind, tries to do what she can to keep them accessible. She is very strong for a 17 year old girl.
I’m not a proponent for teen pregnancy but I’m so glad that most of the stigma has been lifted from it. I think what bothered me the most was how these young women were treated because they “fell from grace”. The only support they received was from each other. Trigger warning for emotional abuse several times in the book.
The last part of the book is very dramatic and emotional. Parts of it are hard to read.
The book ends with hope and acceptance.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
Leave a Reply