In Megan Church's audiobook "The Girls We Sent Away," narrated by Susan Bennett, listeners are transported into a poignant and nostalgic narrative that explores the challenges faced by Lorraine, a young woman caught in the tumultuous 1960s Baby Scoop Era.

Susan Bennett's simple narration style adds a layer of depth to the storytelling, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in the emotional journey of the characters. Her delivery complements the narrative, enhancing the overall listening experience and bringing out the nuances of Megan Church's evocative writing.

Megan Church's writing style exudes a nostalgic quality that resonates throughout the audiobook, capturing the essence of the era and the emotional struggles of the main character, Lorraine. The juxtaposition of societal expectations and personal ambitions is skillfully portrayed, drawing listeners into a world where love is conditional and agency is hard-won.

Set against the backdrop of the Baby Scoop Era and the Race to Space, "The Girls We Sent Away" offers a compelling exploration of themes such as resilience, societal constraints, and the fight for autonomy. Megan Church's narrative weaves together historical context with emotional depth, creating a captivating listening experience that lingers long after the final chapter.

"The Girls We Sent Away" is a powerful audiobook that combines Susan Bennett's engaging narration with Megan Church's nostalgic writing style to deliver a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant story. Whether you're drawn to historical fiction, stories of personal struggle, or narratives of resilience, this audiobook is sure to leave a lasting impact on its listeners.

What an emotional and moving story! Very different times in the 60’s and how young, pregnant girls were treated - still amazed that places like this existed. How girls were judged and shunned being told they had to be hidden away or else they would bring shame to their family and community. Lorraine was a beautiful, strong, young…. And when her parents found out she was pregnant they made her and the problem disappear.

Nothing was done to prepare Lorraine for what was to be expected in the maternity home, child birth, or how it would feel to give up her baby. A beautifully written tragic story. The author did an amazing job of describing what life was like for these girls in the house. You will root for her during moments of strength, and feel every bit of Lorraine’s pain right through to the last twist at the end.

Now I can’t wait to looking MC’s other book, The Last Carolina Girl!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

Well written glimpse into the lives of many young women during the 60's. Definitely a worthwhile read, and the narrator did a good job.

I had heard about the Baby Scoop Era in passing before, but I hadn't read anything (fiction or nonfiction) on it before, which made this book particularly interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this as an audiobook, but the main detractor for me was that it didn't feel quite as vivid as I would have liked. I would have preferred stronger descriptions of the home and the other girls there. While I found the description on the settings and characters to be lacking a little bit, the book did an excellent job of not only outlining the consequences of being an unwed pregnant teenage girl in the 60s, but showing how incredibly helpless they were in those situations.

Overall, I enjoyed this book fairly well and would definitely recommend it for a book club! It would make for a great discussion.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for a review!

Hidden in Shame

This is a story of the 1960's. A story of the unfortunate girls who gave into passion and found themselves unwed mothers in a society that considered it shameful and a disgrace.

It is a story of the young women, how they found themselves in this situation, how they handled it and the parents behind the girls.

It is also a story of the home for unwed mothers to which these young women were sent and the degrading and unsympathetic way they were treated by those that were supposed to help them. The lies they were told and the heartache they went through.

The story follows Lorraine an excellent student from a well to do home set to be valedictorian of her senior class suddenly finding herself in a delicate situation with child. The indignation and disappointment of her parents and the trauma of the Maternity home where they sent her.

It was a very sad story and sadly happened to so many young in this time period. There was little or no regulation of the homes where they were sent and the treatment they received.

I was very sad for Lorraine and the other girls in the story it was not a happy place at all.

Thanks to Meagan Church for writing about this delicate subject and bringing the injustices to light, to Susan Bennett for the fantastic narration, to RB Media for publishing it and to NetGalley for allowing me to listen to and review a complimentary audio book.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC of this book.

I loved this book. I've already heard about the 'homes for unwed mothers' in passing and also from my mother (who had friends disappear to them), so the premise of this book immediately caught my attention.

Lorraine- soon to be valedictorian of her high school class the next school year and the single child of a well-to-do family becomes pregnant (without really understanding the concept of how one gets pregnant) and gets sent away to not tarnish the family name. I immediately loved Lorraine's character. That being said, Church's development of characters is fantastic throughout the book which is rich with characters from different classes and backgrounds.

The readers get to know the other girls in the home, along with the strict understanding that there is a family ready to adopt each of their babies, so they can go back to their lives as if nothing happened, which is largely how these homes worked back in the 40s-70s.

This book explores the lack of sex education given to young women, the same pressures from men to have sex, and the abandonment from boyfriends when given choice of marriage and raising a child or breaking ties with their girlfriends. The baby scoop era forced so many young moms to relinquish their rights to their babies through lies, parental/societal pressure and the withholding of medical support/treatment.

This was both a fast and tough read. I had to know what happened to Lo and her baby, yet having an inkling of what would happen at the same time. This was one of my favorite historical fiction books I've read in a while. I would highly recommend this to bookclubs as it is one that I desperately want to be able to discuss with others.

I did receive the audiobook of this novel. And Susan Bennett was fine, although a little melodic for my taste.

NetGalley ARC Audio

When Lorraine gets pregnant in 1960's North Carolina, her college bound boyfriend is less than helpful and her parents are horrified. She is sent to a home for unwed mothers to finish her pregnancy.

Lorraine is an ambitious girl, and being away for most of her senior year puts a wrench in her college plans. She goes in to the home hopeful that she can continue her education. What she finds is a sad, lonely place where she must take homemaking classes. She bonds with her two roommates and goes to the library. With the help of a young librarian she is able to study for her GED.

She is also faced with an impossible decision, will she give her baby up for adoption. Her struggle in this respect was very relatable. We also hear from other characters such as Lorraine's parents, her useless boyfriend, a high school friend, the social worker at the home and the friendly librarian.

If you would like more information about these homes you should read the girls who went away by Ann Fessler.

This book......it made me so MAD!!! Everyone let this poor girl down. As parents shouldn't we be protecting our children, not just pushing them off? That's all I can say about the story. The book itself was great. There was a nice twist at the end. I listened to it. It's a story set back in the mid 1960s about unwed teen mothers. I enjoyed the story a lot. The characters were interesting, good and bad people. The story is mostly told from Lorraine's point of view, but occasionally we get the mother's and the house mother's point of view. The narrator did a great job with bringing this book to life. I will recommend this book, just be prepared to be mad.

Great book that beautifully captures how unwed girls who got pregnant in the 1960's were "managed." I really like Lorraine and the story as it unfolded. There were lots of loose ends to the book, but I suppose the story mirrored the reality those girls faced with many unknowns in their lives as they had to keep moving their lives forward (in the days without Internet ;-)).
Thank you for the advanced copy.

Copied from Goodreads:
The Girls We Sent Away" offers fictional insight into the "Baby Scoop" era of the 1960s. Lorraine is looking forward to senior year. A bright young woman, Lorraine is knowledgeable about many subjects, but none of them involve human reproduction. Unfortunately, this lack of awareness turns Lorraine's senior year on its head. Like so many other pregnant teenagers, Lorraine is made to feel ashamed and packed away. Lorraine's pregnancy, her mixed emotions, and interest in the Space Race are well depicted through the course of the novel. I appreciated that there were characters that performed acts of villainy without being quintessential "villains," a more normal course of events. None of the actions or characters in this work of historical fiction were particularly inventive, but it was an enjoyable window into this time and place.

TW: pregnancy, fetal death, STIs, abortion

"The Girls We Sent Away" was released in the U.S. on March 5, 2024. Thanks to Recorded Books and NetGalley for this audio ARC given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A very impactful read, The Girls We Sent Away is set in 1960s North Carolina and tells the story of Lorraine Delford. She seems to have it all, a respectable family, a boyfriend, top of her class, future valedictorian. She dreams of being in the space race and loves science.

This all changes when right before her senior year of highschool Lorraine ends up pregnant. By the time she confirms it, it’s ‘too late’. When Lorraine tells her mother, a plan is set in motion for her to be sent to a Marernity home for unwed mothers.

This is a must read that gives us a heartbreaking glimpse into the past and how young women were given little to no education around sex and how they were blamed and shamed when the consequences of their lack of knowledge came to light. We see the mistreatment of Lorraine and all the real girls this must have happened to and the way it affects them forever.

Thank you RB media, Recorded Books and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook.

Thank you to Meagan Church, NetGalley, and RB Media for an eARC of The Girls We Sent Away.

This book touches on a topic that is a hard point in country's history. The fact that we forced young girls to give away their children and act like it never happened is truly appalling. Personally I've found stories like these super intriguing. This book was no different. I got so completely frustrated with the rude, closed-minded characters that I found myself getting physically tense!

With such a heavy subject matter sometimes it can be hard to truly enjoy a book like this. While it had it's bright spots, it was really a sad recap of a tough time in history and it's even worse when you remember it happened not that long ago.

I thought the writing was ok - I felt like the author kept alluding to things further in the future than the book ever even touched upon. Why bring up how Lorraine' life will forever be intertwined with Clint's if the furthest we get is a year in the future?

This book had a lot of potential but ended fairly abruptly and left me wanting more. 3/5 stars.

While the story started off relatively predictably, I enjoyed the details that were included and the direction the story took. I quite liked Lorraine as a character, and the way she grew and changed as the plot moved forward. I also enjoyed the secondary characters, especially in the last half of the book. They were well written and added much to the story.

I also enjoyed the way the author chose to write from an omniscient third-person perspective. Although it was largely told from Lorraine's POV, the third-person omniscient was great when new important characters were introduced or to provide some insight into part of the story Lorraine wouldn't know. It made it a smooth and easy shift to the others’ POVs. This happened throughout the book and helped to make the characters feel alive and developed.

This is not a happy historical fiction but it is melancholic and bittersweet. If you're looking for a powerful historical fiction about teen motherhood, grief, and loss, then this is worth checking out.

Beautifully written story that deals with a teenager having an unplanned pregnancy in the 1960's. It tells of the ups and downs of Lorraine's life as she comes to terms with being pregnant and alone and sent away to hide the pregnancy and give her child up for adoption. Well researched and sad at times but it is a story that needs to be told. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

One of the saddest books I have read and I actually read more about the baby scoop era because of this.
The story was beautifully weaved and the character development was like watching a flower bloom. As a woman, this part of the US History really breaks my heart.
Highly recommend this one to those people who are into Historical Fiction.

Last year, my IRL book club read Meagan Church’s debut, The Last Carolina Girl together and absolutely LOVED it. When I saw her latest, The Girls We Sent Away on netgalley, I couldn’t hit the request button fast enough! This novel is set in the Baby Scoop Era of the 1960s, when pregnant unwed women were sent to maternity homes for wayward girls. Ooof. Yeah, definitely a dark time in our history that really wasn’t that too long ago. It’s sad, scary, and absolutely maddening.

I must warn you that this is a very emotional read. My feelings were all over the place while listening. Mostly, my heart was breaking for all of the girls in the home. How could it not? I also experienced spurts of rage and fury. I wanted to punch, kick, and stab certain family members and staff working at the home. (Sorry if that was too graphic, but that’s just how intense my feelings were.) You can only imagine the shame, confusion, fear, and loneliness that these poor girls felt, and the treatment that they received was abysmal.

If you’re a historical fiction fan like myself, please keep Meagan Church in mind when looking for your next read. She’s a new and refreshing voice of the genre that focuses strongly on women. I highly recommend both of her books, and will read absolutely anything she writes from now on. 4/5 solid stars for The Girls We Sent Away! It’s out now!

Thank you to @netgalley for the chance to give an honest reviews of The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church. It was the 1960s and Lorraine looked like she had it all together. She dreamt of being an astronaut, but then became pregnant. Her parents were embarrassed and sent her way to a home where we were girls. However, Lorraine realized that people were trying to adopt the baby that she loved.

I adored Lorraine’s character and her fight for her child. Poignant and beautiful, I would recommend this book without hesitation! Susan Bennett expertly narrated the audiobook.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking novel set in the 60s about 17 year old Lorraine Delford, a smart girl with a very promising future whose life is derailed by a pregnancy. Everything happens as one suspects it did in the 60s. Girl gets sent away, girl wants to keep baby. I Secrets are revealed. If it sounds like this story has been told before it’s because it has. But Meagan Church gives it new life with beautiful, lyrical writing. The narrator, Susan Bennett, did an excellent job.

Thank you to NetGalley for my review copy.
4 ⭐️

This was a great read. It was heartbreaking and you felt for the main character. I was glad that something good actually kind of happened because it seemed like it would only be bad. But it all came together in the end.

I love historical fiction and this one was fantastic. In the 1960’s Lorraine Delford plans to go to college and possibly to space one day. When she finds herself pregnant during her senior year of high school, her parents cannot handle the embarrassment. They send her to a wayward school for girls so she can give birth to the child and then return to normal life. Lorraine is forced to give up her child even when she doesn’t want to. It is so sad and disappointing to realize how many of these children were just given away even though their mothers did want them. The lack of control over their bodies, including the doctors’ visits, is unacceptable. This was a quick, emotional read that was heartbreaking. I was captivated by the storytelling and thought the narrator for the audiobook did a great job. This was a beautiful read about an important time in history.