The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade Book Review

It is a truth universally acknowledged that we are all sexual beings and will at some point in our lives, engage in a sexual act. It is also a truth that pregnancy is often the result of such an experience, regardless of our marital status.

The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler, was published in 2007. The women she interviewed mostly came of age in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Despite coming from different backgrounds and different parts of the country, the story was the same.

Finding themselves pregnant and without a ring on their left hand, these girls either went into hiding or we sent to/dropped off at facilities that would house them until the baby was born. Once the children entered the world, the mothers were coerced by parents, religious leaders, and social workers to give up their newborns for adoption.

The book is hard to read, for good reason. The stories that are chronicled are full of pain, anger, shame, and decades of trauma.

Two things struck me with Fessler’s tale. The first is that the young ladies were slut shamed while their boyfriends and partners mostly got off scot-free. The second is the mental health (and sometimes physical health) battles lasted long after they gave birth.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely. It is a must-read for anyone who cares about restoring Roe and making sure that a woman’s healthcare and sexual choices are her own.

The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade is available wherever books are sold.

Taking Care of Myself in Small Doses Helps Tremendously

Daily writing prompt

What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?

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Life is busy. We all have a long to-do list and responsibilities that cannot be ignored. That does not mean, however, that self-care has to be pushed aside.

It can be as simple as going to bed a little early, taking a walk for fresh air, lounging on the couch for an hour, or adding one fruit or vegetable to a meal.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation Book Review

Abigail Adams once wrote to her husband, John Adams:

“…remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”

When we think back to the early days of the United States, we often think of the men whose names are synonymous with America. We forget/minimize that women played an equally important role during those times.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by the late Cokie Roberts, was published in 2004. In great detail, Roberts tells the stories of the wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters who worked behind the scenes to bring about the Great American Experiment. Using both private and public documents, Roberts reveals that the subjects should be as respected and highly regarded as their male counterparts.

I enjoyed this book. The fact that women like Adams and Martha Washington have only been seen in the “female square” is a disservice to their legacy. They should be lionized as the heroines they are.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation is available wherever books are sold.

I Wouldn’t Be the Person I am Today Without My Mother

Daily writing prompt

Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.

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Being that today is Mother’s Day, the natural shoutout would be to my own mother. I will never be able to repay her for the work and the sacrifices she made to give us a happy and safe childhood.

Here’s to the mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, and other maternal figures who loved us and guided us to a successful and fruitful adulthood.

Becoming Madam Secretary Book Review

At the beginning of the 20th century, some women had the opportunity to go to college and pursue a career before settling down and starting a family. They had no idea of the precedent that they were setting.

Stephanie Dray‘s new book, Becoming Madam Secretary, is the life story of Frances Perkins. It was published in March. Perkins was the first American female to serve in a Presidential cabinet and the architect of The New Deal. After getting her degree (which was unusual for the era), Perkins started working to assist poor families in the tenements in New York City.

Her entire world changes with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. After the loss of innocent life, she knows her purpose. Joining up with a group of the city’s eclectic citizens, she falls in love with and marries Paul Wilson. Perkins also meets future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Their first impression of one another is not exactly a harbinger of their future professional relationship.

As time rolls on and she climbs the political ranks, the push-pull of work vs. family comes into play. Making it worse is the discrimination she faces at the office and her husband’s downturn into mental illness.

Becoming Madam Secretary is one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year. I knew of Perkins before I read Dray’s novel. I just didn’t know that much about her.

In our time, she would be just another woman trying to pull off the work/life balance. In her time, she broke boundaries that many of us take for granted today.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Becoming Madam Secretary is available wherever books are sold.

Freedom Means That I Can Be True to Myself

Daily writing prompt

What does freedom mean to you?

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Conformity is easy. The harder task is to be yourself, even when that means being potentially ostracized and hated.

“This above all: to thine own self be true”-William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act 1, Scene III

Herland and Selected Stories Book Review

For every author from a marginalized community whose work has remained in print over the decades, others have been forgotten.

Charlotte Perkins Gillman is one of these writers. In 2014, editor Barbara H. Solomon released an anthology of Perkins Gillman’s work, entitled Herland and Selected Stories. Starting with Herland, Solomon also includes other short stories that for the most part, have not been included in the canon of classic works by a female author.

I am not shocked that modern readers need to be introduced to the author. Like other women writers before her, she uses fiction to point out discrimination and sexism that was and still is prevalent.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Herland and Selected Stories is available wherever books are sold.

Flashback Friday: Lone Star Law (2016-2021)

The protection of wildlife is a job that is not suited for everyone. It takes a certain type of person who earns their living by protecting our non-human friends.

Lone Star Law was part of Animal Planet‘s schedule from 2016-2021. This reality show followed various game wardens from Texas whose job was to safeguard animals from man’s cruelty.

I’ve tried to watch Lone Star Law. Unfortunately, it did not keep my interest.

Do I recommend it? No.

Democracy is Not Expendable

Daily writing prompt

What public figure do you disagree with the most?

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It’s not so much a public figure, but the idea that democracy is expendable. While it takes work and must be protected, it is the only form of government that ensures that the rights of residents and citizens are not (hopefully) subject to the whims of political leadership.

Emma of 83rd Street Book Review

I have a complicated relationship with Emma Woodhouse. As much as I laugh and can see where she goes wrong, I can’t relate to her as I do with other Austen heroines. As good-hearted as she is, she can also be a snob.

Emma of 83rd Street, by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding, was published last year. It is the first book in the For the Love of Austen series. Like her regency counterpart, this modern Emma has grown up with a comfortable life. She lives with her widowed father in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and is in her final year of grad school.

After matching her sister with Ben Knightley, Emma is bored. The house feels empty now that Margo is married and has moved downtown. A new challenge comes in the form of Nadine Pittman. Nadine and Emma are classmates. A transplant from Ohio, she is naive and wide-eyed.

Emma’s next-door neighbor and brother-in-law by marriage, George Knightley seems to take pleasure in pointing out her faults. He knows that she is smart and can do anything once she puts her mind to it. But he is concerned that she is more concerned with frivolous pursuits. Knightley also notices that Emma is now a woman with whom he is developing an un-ignorable attraction.

I loved this book. It is one of the best modern Austen adaptations that I have read in a long time. It was charming, funny, and adorable. It is the perfect mix of the original text and the contemporary world that we inhabit. It also helped that the book was set in NYC. I was easily able to identify some of the locations from within the narrative.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Emma of 83rd Street is available wherever books are sold.