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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
This was a good Diane Chamberlain book which pulled at the heartstrings with strong female characters. I liked this book as the history was shocking yet amazing (hard to believe it really happened actually!) and once again at the end my end were leaking. Good reading.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Absolutely incredible book!
Diane Chamberlain’s ability to take a subject as heavy as the North Carolina Eugenics Program and weave a story that seamlessly touches on every emotion you could feel about the characters was piee enjoyment to read!
Diane Chamberlain’s ability to take a subject as heavy as the North Carolina Eugenics Program and weave a story that seamlessly touches on every emotion you could feel about the characters was piee enjoyment to read!
Maybe we all be Jane and Ivy’s as we continue to fight for our rights, as women and humans!
Make sure to read the Author’s Notes at the end too
Make sure to read the Author’s Notes at the end too
4.5⭐️ I am making my way through Diane Chamberlain's backlist and LOVED this book!!! The beginning is a bit slow but around half way through it picks up and is impossible to put down. The story is set in 1960 in a small NC town and follows Jane, a newly employed social worker, and Ivy, a 15 year old girl who works and lives on a Tobacco farm and cares for her family. When Jane is assigned to Ivy's case, she begins to uncover some secrets on the farm and the lines between case worker and caretaker start to blur. Diane did a great job discussing the Eugenics Program and informing readers about the sterilization that was done by the poor, those with low IQ or epileptics so they could not reproduce. I felt a lot of emotions while reading and could not fathom how the government let this happen. The one reason I am not giving this five stars is that I found myself often annoyed at how naive the main character was, especially because of the important field she worked in. Still, worth the read and a must for all HF fans!!
Read if you like:
-HF set in the 1960s
-North Carolina setting
-Character-driven stories
-Learning more about state-mandated sterilization
-Take My Hand
Read if you like:
-HF set in the 1960s
-North Carolina setting
-Character-driven stories
-Learning more about state-mandated sterilization
-Take My Hand
Haunting story about the Eugenics Program in North Carolina, one of the last remaining of its kind after WW2. Hugely important story to be told.
Rounding up from 3.5. I was all in until the final stretch when, I feel, the author went off the rails, plummeting to a frantic, haphazard climax (can you plummet to a climax? probably not) and then grabbed some bows and tape to wrap up the perfectly happy, tidy gift of an ending. Eh.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
To think 1960 as historical baffles me. This story is pretty powerful. Jane Forrester is a social worker when she takes on the job I don’t think she realized what she was getting into or how hard her heart was going to be affected.
The System is in place but Jane Forrester disagrees with quite a bit of what “The System” says. She starts to question if the “The System” is really there to help her poverty and mental illness clients. Or if “The System” is just helping Society.
When you find out that this story is based on real events and that Sterilizing mentally ill or epileptic girls were part of “The System” and "Normal" it really puts things into perspective.
The author does an author’s note and even a little Q & A in the back of the book which I found to be the most interesting, and gave the book that much more meaning to me.
The narration was fabulous; she does each character justice in a way you feel the voices not just hearing them. I can’t explain it better than that.
The System is in place but Jane Forrester disagrees with quite a bit of what “The System” says. She starts to question if the “The System” is really there to help her poverty and mental illness clients. Or if “The System” is just helping Society.
When you find out that this story is based on real events and that Sterilizing mentally ill or epileptic girls were part of “The System” and "Normal" it really puts things into perspective.
The author does an author’s note and even a little Q & A in the back of the book which I found to be the most interesting, and gave the book that much more meaning to me.
The narration was fabulous; she does each character justice in a way you feel the voices not just hearing them. I can’t explain it better than that.
Another book that tugs at the heart strings and teaches you something about the past. This focused on rural North Carolina, poor families and the welfare program, involuntary sterilization, and attitudes towards women in the 50s & early 60s. Interesting story that engaged you through to the end.
Jane is a brand new social worker and she has been assigned to the Hart family. Grandma, mentally challenged grandaughter Mary Ella and her baby, William and her sister Ivy. Mary Ella has been sterilized after the birth of her baby through the North Carolina's Eugenics program. Ivy is scheduled to be sterilized too. Jane doesn't think that Ivy fits the requirements and becomes personally involved to try to get that decision changed. There are plenty of family secrets too.