Meagan Church

This is a book that you don't want to miss reading.

The action of the novel takes place in the 1960s in North Carolina. Lorraine was an extraordinary girl with big dreams of becoming an astronaut. She was one of the best in school and was very close to becoming valedictorian. However, her future changed completely when her boyfriend offered her a promise ring, and soon after, he betrayed her to a point that Lorraine couldn't even imagine.
Everything changed for her. She lost her boyfriend and her school. She will never go into space.

I had high hopes for this girl. She was ambitious, brave and had high expectations. Her perfect life turned into a nightmare when she became pregnant. Her boyfriend didn't want to take care of her or the baby. Her family sent her to a home for unwed mothers.

This perfectly constructed story takes us back to the times of Baby Scoop Era when the family was ashamed when their daughter became pregnant before she got married. At that time, sending daughters to maternity homes was also intended to protect young ladies and give them a chance at a normal life.

This is a wonderful yet heartbreaking story that follows the life of a girl abandoned by her boyfriend and family when she needed guidance and help. The maternity home was supposed to help, but the place disappointed Lorraine and other girls who found themselves in the same situation.

An excellent historical novel that will leave you emotional, frustrated, and helpless. This book will remain in my memory for a long time.… (mere)

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC of this book.

I loved this book. I've already heard about the 'homes for unwed mothers' in passing and also from my mother (who had friends disappear to them), so the premise of this book immediately caught my attention.

Lorraine- soon to be valedictorian of her high school class the next school year and the single child of a well-to-do family becomes pregnant (without really understanding the concept of how one gets pregnant) and gets sent away to not tarnish the family name. I immediately loved Lorraine's character. That being said, Church's development of characters is fantastic throughout the book which is rich with characters from different classes and backgrounds.

The readers get to know the other girls in the home, along with the strict understanding that there is a family ready to adopt each of their babies, so they can go back to their lives as if nothing happened, which is largely how these homes worked back in the 40s-70s.

This book explores the lack of sex education given to young women, the same pressures from men to have sex, and the abandonment from boyfriends when given choice of marriage and raising a child or breaking ties with their girlfriends. The baby scoop era forced so many young moms to relinquish their rights to their babies through lies, parental/societal pressure and the withholding of medical support/treatment.

This was both a fast and tough read. I had to know what happened to Lo and her baby, yet having an inkling of what would happen at the same time. This was one of my favorite historical fiction books I've read in a while. I would highly recommend this to bookclubs as it is one that I desperately want to be able to discuss with others.

I did receive the audiobook of this novel. And Susan Bennett was fine, although a little melodic for my taste.… (mere)

Lorraine is such a young girl when she trust the wrong boy. This totally derails her plans. And her parents take drastic actions. They send her away to have the baby and give it up for adoption.

Megan Church has become one of my favorite authors. I loved her debut novel, The Last Carolina Girl. And now she has hit me with this tale.

Lorraine and her situation brings out all the feels. One minute I am so mad I could punch her parents, her boyfriend and everyone around her. The next minute I am in tears thinking about the stuff this poor girl went through all by herself.

This story is so well written. The characters and the situation just pulls you in, and let me tell you, it does not let you go! And to know this was the normal way of handling this just a few decades ago.

Need a novel that will bring out all kinds of emotions…THIS IS IT!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.… (mere)

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.… (mere)