A review by brandy_reads
The Girls We Sent Away: A Novel by Meagan Church

fast-paced

4.0

 Thank you @bookmarked @netgalley and @recordedbooks for the complimentary ARC & ALC.

Many times people have asked a QOTD along the lines of who was a character you really related to, and I’ve never had an answer… until now. I saw so much of myself in Lorraine, high school senior straight A student, college bound and suddenly being forced to leave school. There is where our stories diverge. I had the support of my family, and Lorraine was sent to a maternity home to hide her pregnancy.

I was completely engrossed in this book from start to finish. My heart broke for Lorraine and for all girls that were sent to those homes! Decisions were made for, and about them, without once ever talking to them. I cannot begin to fathom how you recover from such trauma.

I mostly listened to this book, the narrator Susan Bennet was the perfect voice for Lorraine, but I’m so glad that I also had a physical copy because the audio did not include the author’s note. I knew about these maternity homes before but I had no idea as to the scale of it. I also didn’t know about The Baby Scoop Era which lasted from 1945-1973! An estimated four million women were sent to these homes. Four million! Knowing there were so many other stories like Lorraine and the other girls at the home just made this story hit home even more.

Highly recommend!