The Girls We Sent Away

By: Meagan Church

Narrated by: Susan Bennett

Girls in your condition don't get to have their say.

It’s the 1960s in North Carolina, and Lorraine Delford has it all—an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and an idyllic home complete with a white picket fence. Yet every time she looks through her father’s telescope, she dreams of leaving it all behind to go to space. It’s ambitious, but Lorraine has always been exceptional.

But when this darling girl-next-door gets pregnant, she’s forced to learn firsthand the realities that keep women grounded. To hide their daughter’s secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven—it’s a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she has the power to fight for the future she wants or if she must submit to the rules of a society she once admired.

Powerful and affecting, The Girls We Sent Away is a timely novel set during the intersection of the Baby Scoop Era and Space Race that explores autonomy, belonging, and a quest for agency when the illusions of life-as-you-know-it fall away.

“Readers will be entranced as author Meagan Church steadily peels away the veneer of the era, revealing the dark underbelly of a secretive and unforgiving society.”—Tracey Enerson Wood, international bestselling author of The Engineer’s Wife and The War Nurse

©2024 Meagan Church (P)2024 Recorded Books

Amazing story!

This is one of the most gripping and heart-wrenching stories I’ve ever read. An excellent read that I could not stop listening to. I will recommend this to everyone. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another amazing title from Meagan Church

Very well written. The author allows you to be transported back into time and gets you feeling Loraine’s feelings in all she goes through. Meagan is an amazing author. Her writing is very well done and she makes you feel all the empty of every character she writes about. Another job well done!

A snapshot of unwed motherhood in the ‘60s

Could not stop listening!
As an Ohio nursing major in the early 70’s, I visited a Florence Crittenten Home for Unwed Mothers. This book brought back the memory and the question if the happy dorm like atmosphere had a darker element. The majority of mothers were white and almost all gave over their infants to Catholic Charities for adoption. Of the few black residents, most took their babies home. Looking back, there was a hint of racial judgment.
The home closed shortly thereafter owing to the changes in social attitudes.
The novel’s cruelty by the house mother, the baby’s father and Lorraine’s parents was a bit too heavy handed. But no doubt social norms for unwed mothers were harsh in the 60’s.
Maybe it was because I wanted a well deserved happy ending, but the epilogue was rushed and very unsatisfying.
Nevertheless, I am going to recommend this to my bookclub.

So good!

I wish I could reread this one for the first time…so sweet and just…good!

Very well written and narrated.

The story was sad, but accurately depicted the way girls were treated in that unfortunate era.

Simple storyline good characters

Good characters and easy read
I enjoyed this book and the easy flow and thoughtful characters .

Poignant, gripping, emotionally satisfying

This character-driven novel is set in North Carolina in the late 1960's. I really enjoyed the cultural references. If you're looking for a cliche-ridden tale about teenage pregnancy with a happy ending, then look elsewhere. This story is about real people. Bravo, Meagan Church! I've already ordered one of your previous novels.

Very predictable

While this is an important story to tell, of women’s oppression and unscrupulous baby mills during the 60’s and 70’s, the tone was less to educate the public and more as a dramatic intrigue. Entertaining, but not too historical overall.

Very Enjoyable

Loved the look back with much respect at history & how life has changed. Author brought color into this word picture.

The shame we put on others

A very “personal” story - of many young girls. I never imagined how it must have felt to be pregnant and a teenager in the 60’s, though I grew up then. A harsh, honest look into the effects our judgemental attitudes have always had on young girls in this situation. Heartbreaking.