Meagan Church has written a beautiful story of a young girl who gets pregnant and is sent to a maternity home to have the baby in the early 1960s.

Lorraine has always tried to be the “good girl” but when she finds herself pregnant her parents send her to a maternity home for the bulk of the pregnancy and to have her baby.

This story made me sad and angry and I wondered how this could have happened to these young and scared girls.

5 huge stars for this amazing story.

The Girls We Sent Away is a touching coming-of-age story set in the 1960's in North Carolina. The story follows 17-year-old high school senior Lorraine Delford. All of Lorraine's hopes and dreams are put on hold when she becomes pregnant. When her boyfriend tells her he wants no part of the baby, she is sent to a home for unwed girls. Once there she is on her own to deal with the emotional feelings of abandonment, fear, and guilt. This story tells of the "Baby Scoop Era" in history where unmarried girls were sent to maternity homes where a lot of them were forced to give up their baby for adoption. Meagan Church has once again given us an emotional read that is about impossible to put down. Thanks to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

A very moving book.
Set in the 1960s when Lorraine the perfect girl next door in the last year of school and a A* pupil falls pregnant after the first time having sex. The boyfriend wants her to get rid of it and her parents send her to a mother and baby home having shamed her family.
When she enters the home she has to sign over her baby for adoption. and told the rules which shocks her especially as she thought she would continue her education.
After the birth Lorraine was expected to return home and be a normal and never to speak of the experience ever.
Lorraine was a very likeable character and you felt everything she went through and it was heart-breaking and brought you to tears especially as it was true that hundreds of young girls went through in the 1960s and was still happening when I was a young girl.
A brilliant book.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review

I listened to this and read it. It is good in both ways.
This is a good novel about a terrible time in history. The baby scoop er caused so much pain. I was really hoping for a good outcome for Loraine even when I knew it wasn't going to happen.
Things are maybe better now. At least now we can keep our babies, and have bank account and credit cards, I guess. I loved all of this.

Because this was described as historical, I had different expectations than what was ultimately delivered. Yes, it was about the 1960s and the Baby Scoop but I think I was expecting something richer in detail.

Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, Sourcebooks Landmark for the copy of The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church. I loved the writing style that painted a great picture of the characters. I liked Lorraine so much I kept hoping she would find her happy ending. The line in the description about “dark secrets and suffocating rules” was misleading. Maybe I read too many thrillers, but some things that happened or were revealed were bad but were not framed as truly dark. It was a good read, and made me think about how this country is denying basic health care to women so could homes for unwed mothers make a comeback? 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[arc review]
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Girls We Sent Away releases March 5, 2024

Lorraine is a character that I latched onto almost immediately. She’s an incredibly strong female character with dreams so big they go beyond the norm of what it means to be a young female in the suburbs of a southern town in the 60’s.

At 17, the world is her oyster. Lorraine is aiming to be valedictorian of her senior year class, attend college, and go to space as an astronaut. But all that is taken away from her when her boyfriend who is going off to college plans a romantic surprise for the two of them just as the summer is ending, and gets her pregnant.

Lorraine’s mother is adamant on saving face within the community, so she sends her daughter to a home for unwed pregnant girls where Lorraine can spend her last trimester, give birth, and presumably give up the rights to her child and return back to life “normal” like nothing ever happened.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the themes surrounding autonomy, but I felt like the ending was 1-2 chapters too short!

“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.”

It’s the 1960s.

What became of girls who found themselves pregnant and with no support?

We meet Lorraine Delford, an only child, a girl who was going to be valedictorian of her senior class, a girl who wanted to be an astronaut, a girl who did not want to be the typical mother, teacher, or secretary.

All her dreams were slashed when her boyfriend told her “if you want to keep it, you’re on your own.”

THE GIRLS WE SENT AWAY has a main character that you will love from the minute you meet her.

You will cheer for her and for her dreams, but your heart will break when she has to deal with her pregnancy and a mother that has always been critical and unsupportive especially when she needed her the most.

Lorraine gets sent to a home for wayward girls not really knowing her fate.

Ms. Church has written another heartwarming, but heartbreaking book that you won’t want to put down.

Ms. Church’s writing is pull you in and makes you feel the emotions of each character as well as the sentiments and feelings of this time in the 1960s.

Don’t miss this well-researched, poignant heartwrenching, fabulous, tissues-needed book. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is a book about the “Baby Scoop” of the 1960s. Unwed teen mothers were sent away, confined to a home for unwed mothers. They were hidden away, put to shame for their “transgression”.

I was a teenager in the 1960s. At that time I never heard the term, Baby Scoop. But I was well aware that unwed pregnant teens were subjected to shame and sent away.

Lorraine is a young woman in her senior year of high school, ready to go to college, aiming to go into the space industry. She has lofty goals until one incident that changes her life.

Life in the maternity home is not what Lorraine expected it to be. The focus is on her and her two roommates. All three of them are completely different. And, they all handle their situation in their own way. Lorraine tries to keep her life goals in mind, tries to do what she can to keep them accessible. She is very strong for a 17 year old girl.

I'm not a proponent for teen pregnancy but I’m so glad that most of the stigma has been lifted from it. I think what bothered me the most was how these young women were treated because they “fell from grace”. The only support they received was from each other. Trigger warning for emotional abuse several times in the book.

The last part of the book is very dramatic and emotional. Parts of it are hard to read.

The book ends with hope and acceptance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

This was such a beautiful and heartbreaking book and the fact that this is a part of our history is really devastating. Set during the 1960s in the Baby Scoop era and the Space Race, we get a look at a “maternity home” for unwed mothers. The lack of consideration and agency these women had was so frustrating to read, but there’s still so much hope in these pages. I feel such a connection with Lorraine and all the other women at the home. I liked that while she was our main character, we got a few other POVs like Lorraine’s parents and the woman in charge of the home. It really helped show all the different viewpoints people in that time had about pregnancy and women even though some of them were infuriating. I think this book will affect anyone who reads it, but especially if you’re a woman or a parent. I think I would have loved it, pre motherhood, but it hit even harder now. The ending made me so sad, but it was also beautiful in its own way. Books like these are so important to stress why women need the right to make decisions for themselves. Have tissues (and I mean A LOT) of tissues on hand for this one. And absolutely read the author’s note. I will definitely be reading whatever she writes next.
CW: mentions of incest, infant death, descriptions of pregnancy and childbirth, medical trauma

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Girls We Sent Away is set during the Baby Scoop era in the 1960s, when thousands of babies were relinquished to the authorities for adoption, willingly and unwillingly. Lorraine Delford is in her last year of high school, an avid scholar and promising valedictorian, dreaming of a career in the space industry. When she realises she is pregnant, after one date which unexpectedly turned intimate, she can’t really process what’s happening. Forced to tell her parents, they give her no choice but to leave school and hide at home, while her mother invents a story for friends and relatives that Lorraine has gone to help an ailing aunt. Her father drives her to a home for unwed mothers when she is six months pregnant, and both mother and father wash their hands of her, neither visiting, nor writing, nor offering any kind of advice. At seventeen Lorraine is entirely on her own.

Church’s story gets deep inside Lorraine’s head with tenderness and compassion, so much so that the first half of the novel might be aimed at the young adult market. Four themes make a deep impact: the complete lack of ownership by the men involved, the complete lack of autonomy over their own lives for the girls, the astounding ignorance in which girls like Lorraine were raised, and the preposterous idea that after the rollercoaster ride of a pregnancy and birth, the girls should return to their lives and pretend nothing happened! This is a heartbreaking tale of prejudice, shame and secret-keeping within families, and a sincere and moving account of one teenager’s personal grief and inner strength, which I think will appeal strongly to readers aged 14+.

Meagan Church breaks our hearts again to tell us about another disturbing time in American history. The “Baby Scoop” era is something I was not familiar with, however I am destroyed knowing this happened to unsuspecting young mothers.

There are so many beautifully yet sickening moments of this book that help you understand how lonely and shameful these women were meant to feel. The father had no consequences and was able to easily walk away. The women had their lives destroyed and ripped apart.

Just like her first novel, this book will stick with you.

Absolutely heartbreaking story but one that needs to be talked about more. Inspired by learning about the "Baby Scoop Era" (roughly 1945-1972) , the author writes the story of Lorraine, who is beginning her senior year of high school and has a tremendously bright future. The story is set in the 1960s. One night with her boyfriend turns everything upside down. When she tells her parents about her pregnancy, she's sent to a maternity home to have the baby and place it for adoption. That's what everyone says she should do. That she is now "that kind of girl." That she's brought shame upon herself.
The Baby Scoop Era refers to the millions of unwed women who were sent to maternity homes to hide until they gave birth. Then, they were coerced or forced to give their baby up for adoption.
The story of Lorraine is a necessary one for this generation to hear. To learn what happens when women are given no choice of what to do with their bodies or babies. The novel is written so beautifully and sensitively. I was absolutely hooked into the story and my heart broke along with every one of the unwed mothers Lorraine encounters.

I would like to preface this review by thanking sourcebooks landmark for sending this title to me in exchange for an honest review.

Lorraine has big dreams she wants to accomplish. She's the soon to be Valedictorian of her class, she has a supportive family, and an even more supportive boyfriend. But, when the summer before her senior year, Lorraine falls pregnant. Now, trying to navigate her life living in the 60's and a teen pregnancy, she is sent away to a maternity home for unmarried women.

Before I jump into this review, I highly suggest checking the trigger warnings for this one. This is a very heavy read but nonetheless, important.

This story brings to light the hardship many young women faced back in the 1950s-1960s. Women who are unwed and fall pregnant were forced to live in maternity homes until they give birth. Then, these women were forced to give up their child. They did this to prevent tarnishing their family's reputation. I did not know about this part of history so this was all new to me. When I read this, it completely broke my heart. Lorraine lost everything that was important to her. Her dreams were crushed but then to further the blow, she had to give up a child she wanted. For me, this story brought a lot of anger. I was angry for Lorraine and what her family and boyfriend did to her. I was angry for the women who lived through this.

This story is told from multiple point of views but it flowed naturally. This book is definitely a "slow burn" but I think everyone should read this book. We need to lift the voices of women who went through this and I think, although, Lorraine was a fictional character, she tells the story of reality for some. This was the easiest 5 star to give to me. Please, read this book.

Thank you again to sourcebooks landmark!

The 60's, unmarried and pregnant. This often went one of two ways. Get married, or go away to "visit/help" a family member or friend and put the child up for adoption. The Girls We Sent Away, by Meagan Church, takes us there, to a sad but true place in history. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook that I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

This is such a heartbreaking book. While I was already aware of the homes that unwed mothers were sent to, I had no idea about the Baby Scoop era.

Lorraine Delford is a teenage girl living in the 1960s who is destined to be valedictorian and dreams of becoming an astronaut. Unfortunately for her, she becomes pregnant by her college-bound boyfriend, Clint. Ever the optimist, she thinks everything will work out as they will get married and she can continue with her studies. Clint, being a despicable human being and a sorry excuse for a man (in my opinion) abandons her. Lorraine is then sent away to a maternity home, where she is forced to give up her baby for adoption. It is impossible not to feel outrage and sadness on Lorraine's behalf.

This book highlights many shortcomings and issues that still exist in society. First of all, the blatant double standard where girls can be "ruined" but not the boys who impregnate them. The blame is placed solely on the females, and there is a great sense of shame associated with all of these unwed mothers. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding their pregnancies, the young women are forced to hide and carry the burden of the decisions made for them by others.

Moreover, I think this book is definitely eye-opening; while it focuses on the plight of one young woman, it is representative of that of millions.

Wow! What did I just read?!! This is a slice of our history that we all know existed but one I never read that had all the emotions of an unwed mother during the Baby Scoop Era. The author truly nailed all the feelings and impacts of the time period. I became truly invested in Lorraine’s story and felt myself rooting for her. Women were not given a choice and were forced to sign their rights away as they entered a home for the unwed as they waited for the arrival of their baby. Families trying to save face and girls without given a choice depicts this era from 1945-1973. These girls were expected to return to their lives without considering the life long effects of their “decision.” Well written and thought provoking! Highly recommend! #TheGirlsWeSentAway #MeaganChurch #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this eye opening book. In it we follow the story of Lorraine, who is very career and education focused. When she falls pregnant, however, her view of the world completely changes.I think this book is a great discussion starter for teens and adults alike on the topics of sex, consent
and mental health. Definitely a book worth reading

The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church is a timely story about the effects of the 60s Baby Scoop.

The main character Lorraine finds herself pregnant and unwed. She is shipped off to the maternity home until she resolves her situation. There, she meets other young women in the same circumstances. Each girl deals with the social effects of her pregnancy in her own way. The writing was incredibly poignant, and I was drawn deeper into the story after every page. This was a book that I had to finish.

The ending was incredibly realistic, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. I really connected with Lorraine, and wanted things to turn out fair - no, better than fair - for her. Ultimately, Lorraine was so wonderfully written and such a compelling protagonist that I'm disappointed with how life just goes on with banality. Essentially, it is proof of quality writing.

Overall, this is a fantastic book based on recent history. If you enjoy being emotionally drawn to characters, this will be a great choice to read.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

An okay read. Descriptions of the time were nicely captured including feeling the Loneliness and hard decisions that Lorraine had to make.

3.25☆