If gripping factually based narratives with a ripped from the headlines feel are your thing, you’ll want to put Jacqueline Friedland’s latest novel on your radar. It is a powerful and compelling fictionalized narrative based on the eugenics practices used in the United States prior to WWII.

COUNTING BACKWARDS tells two stories across dual timelines. The primary plot line features attorney Jessa Gidney. Reeling from a recent miscarriage and being passed over for partner at her firm, her desperation to have a child is placing a wedge between Jessa and her husband. When she is assigned a pro bono case representing a woman held in an immigration detention center, she stumbles upon a horrible secret.

The second storyline centers on real-life Carrie Buck, a young woman who was caught up in and abused by the Virginia foster care system. An unplanned pregnancy results in her being made a ward of the state. What happens from there is horrific.

Friedland merges these storylines to create an important novel that doesn’t shy away from hard topics. For me, the mark of good historical fiction is the desire to do more research into the central themes of the book. I am now well down the rabbit hole of eugenics and the atrocities performed on vulnerable women made possible by a significant imbalance of power.

COUNTING BACKWARDS is not a comfortable read, but it’s an important one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the advance reader copy. All options are my own.

Counting Backwards needs to be on everyone's 2025 reading list!

Jacqueline Friedland has crafted an unputdownable dual timeline story that shines a light on the 1920s eugenics movement in the United States and connects it with modern day injustices. I highly recommend this book for the propulsive story in and of itself, but even more so for the timely themes exploring the mistreatment of immigrants, women's autonomy and reproductive rights. The book demonstrates the very real and serious harm that can be perpetrated against women when the actions of corrupt men in power receive a stamp of approval from the Supreme Court.

Counting Backwards brought me back to my days in Big Law. Jessa is a successful attorney sacrificing so much of herself while on the partnership track. When she takes on a pro bono case, she uncovers a horrifying pattern of unlawful and irreversible medical malpractice against women at an ICE detention center. Jessa becomes consumed by her fight for justice for these women. With her own fertility struggles and her family history, it quickly becomes personal. Counting Backwards would make an excellent book club read. The narrative, characters and relevant history allow for a rich and passionate discussion. The book is phenomenal. I loved it, it left me wanting more!

"I pray the world will change and we'll come to a place where the people in charge can no longer use women's bodies to get what they want--not for money, power, anything."

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the ARC.

Counting Backwards will be out 3/11.

Inspired by true events, this powerful dual-timeline novel explores America’s dark history of pre-war eugenics and the fight for justice. In present-day Manhattan, attorney Jessa Gidney takes on a pro bono case for Isobel Perez, an immigrant detainee facing deportation. As she uncovers shocking medical malpractice, Jessa is torn between her career, personal struggles, and a newfound mission for justice. Nearly a century earlier, real-life Carrie Buck fights for her autonomy in a landmark Supreme Court case. As their stories intertwine, a startling connection emerges, creating an unforgettable tale of resilience, motherhood, and the pursuit of truth.

4 stars!

Thank you for the history lesson, Jackie, because this one was a heartbreaking shock. I knew bits and pieces of the history of eugenics, but this story is brilliantly thought-provoking and comes packed with hard hitting accuracy of today's headlines on female autonomy. Counting Backwards is focused on a dual timeline between Carrie Buck (1927) who has been deemed unfit to be a mother or a woman with her own medical rights and thus is given a procedure without her consent to ensure she is unable to produce again. Current day Jessa Gidney (2022) is a fantastic lawyer who takes on a pro bono case and uncovers modern day eugenics occuring in the immigrant prison system. It is unnerving to think that these women trust a physician to take care of them and then wake up to find they are no longer able to make decisions for their own body or their family planning.

This book covers a really difficult topic in a highly page-turning way. There is a lot of history, law and emotion involved and it is all written very well. The stories of both Carrie and Jessa are transformative in their own ways, and their connection makes for an added layer of interest. A fast, interesting read, perfect to kick off Women's History Month!

Thank you to UpLit Reads and Harper Muse for the free and early copy of this book.

A surprising powerful dual time line novel that blends the present day story of Jessa who represents Isobel and Carrie Buck in the 1920s. Jessa's decision to take on a pro bono case leads her to Isobel and turns her life sideways, giving her both challenges and rewards as she fights for Isobel. This is a look at eugenics, health care for women, and civil rights that's well written and emotional. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Heart wrenching but beautiful novel

It's 2022. Jessa is a successful corporate lawyer. She becomes increasingly obsessed with getting pregnant as this has always been her "life plan". When she takes on a pro bone case in immigration law, she gets a new perspective on fertility...

In the 1920s, Carrie Buck gets put in a foster home, while her mother is institutionalized. She doesn't get to finish school, ultimately gets raped, pregnant and ends up institutionalized as well. But her story doesn't end there...

This novel captivated me. The two timelines, alternating between each other, ultimately being connected more than the reader would have ever thought. The book is based on true events, which makes it even more heart wrenching. I can definitely recommend this book, a sad but worthwhile read.

Excellent and thought provoking. If I’m being honest, the cover doesn’t correlate to the story but I may be missing something!

Jessa is working toward partner at her law firm. She’s in love with her husband and is desperately trying to get pregnant. All of these things are problems in her life but she doesn’t know it, until she does. She learns about these things and so much more as the story unfolds.

Advanced reader copy provided by Harper Muse and NetGalley but all opinions are my own

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My hopes were sky high for this one, and the summary sounds like it would be right up my alley. It just didn’t work for me.

I think stories like this are really important, and just for the fact that this story is out there and could speak to people makes it worth considering. Eugenics and how things like this happened and still happen today is important to address and I liked how it was set up as a pseudo fictional story (based on true events) for us to get more involved in the story.

However. While I understand the importance and totally support this story being expanded for another audience, it was so boring. The characters fell flat, I never wanted to pick it up and continue reading. It just wasn’t for me.

Counting Backwards is the Erin Brockovich of our time.

'Counting Backwards' is a story is based on the real life eugenics atrocity of Carrie Buck in the 1920s. It is brought into glaring, contemporary relevance, with disturbing forced sterilisation cases in an immigrant detention centre. The horror of what has passed, and what has only more recently happened, is connected by a disturbing tether.

This is a confronting tale. One that not only delves into a past, murky history regarding women's rights but sadly the continued saga around women's reproductive choices. Telling this type of story was always going to be difficult to tell. To that end, I did find it hard to connect with the contemporary character, Jessa, at times. However, it is another story that needs to be told and the author's notes are a must read to really appreciate the complexity of this topic.

Five stars just aren’t enough for this brilliant historical fiction story! Told in dual timelines, the connection that weaves the two protagonists together is heartbreaking and timely. In present day NYC, Jessa Gidney is a married 30-something, smart and hardworking corporate attorney who has been passed over to become partner. When the opportunity to work on a pro bono case involving detained immigrant women is offered, Jessa jumps on the case. But what she discovers is a horrifying medical practice occurring within the prison walls to the detainees. In 1920’s Virginia, 6-year old Carrie Buck is put into foster care by the children’s state agency. As she matures, she is sent to The Colony, a facility for “feebleminded” women, though she is far from feebleminded. Carrie finds herself the subject of a court case to give the facility permission to provide medical procedures resulting in her inability to have children. This is a story that explores eugenics, a practice that began pre WW2 and continues to this day in the United States. But it is so much more. It is the story of the mistreatment of immigrants, the injustices surrounding women’s reproductive rights and the resilience, strength and fortitude of women across all ages and status in our society. Carrie Buck was a real woman. The trial she was involved in was a real trial. This story will remain with you long after you’ve turned the last page as the issues are still very relevant to today’s world. Be sure to read the Authors Notes.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Muse and Jacqueline Friedland for allowing me the opportunity to read this very important story in exchange for my honest opinion. Publication: March 11

Fantastic read about a very important topic that was handled beautifully. I liked the movement between the two timelines and how the stories were inter-related. I definitely needed to read something lighter afterward but this was so so good!

Counting Backwards by Jacqueline Friedland is a gripping, dual-timeline novel that seamlessly connects past and present injustices. Jessa, a lawyer uncovering forced sterilizations at an ICE detention center in 2022, finds herself linked to Carrie Buck, a woman fighting for autonomy in the 1920s eugenics era. This emotional, thought-provoking read exposes the horrifying reality of reproductive control and legal failures that persist today. With compelling characters and meticulous research, Friedland delivers a powerful story that lingers long after the final page. A must-read for historical fiction lovers and advocates for women's rights. Highly recommended!

Told in two timelines, this story explores a range of powerful themes:

• Eugenics and Bodily Autonomy

• Immigrant Detention and Legal Representation

• Inherited Secrets and Family Legacy

• Fertility Challenges and Marriage Dynamics

"I knew it was hard to believe. Here we were in 2022, and women were being sterilized against their will. I still couldn’t parse out what would be motivating the doctor, the guards, the government, to let this happen. Was it because the women were foreigners? People of color? Less educated? Or was it a scam involving money from insurance payments? Maybe all of the above."

2022: Jessa, a lawyer working on a pro bono immigration case at a local detention center, discovers that her client underwent an invasive medical procedure without consent. As she digs deeper into her client’s case, Jessa uncovers a disturbing pattern of abuse and retaliation within the facility.

1924: Carrie, sent to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded after enduring a grim childhood, sexual assault, and resulting pregnancy, learns she has been wrongly labeled an 'imbecile'. The facility brings a case to court under a new law that would permit her forced sterilization.

I couldn't put this book down! The Author's Note was fascinating and made me want to learn more. I've already downloaded two books from her Additional Reading recommendations:

📖 No Justice in the Shadows: How America Criminalizes Immigrants by Alina Das

📖 Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics , and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck by Adam Cohen

Working tirelessly as a young attorney at a prestigious New York law firm, Jessa has one goal: to make partner. But as it becomes increasingly clear that this dream is slipping away, she is drawn into an unexpected case—one that won’t bring the billable hours her firm so highly values. Instead, it’s a pro bono case for Isobel, a woman detained at a nearby ICE facility. As Jessa delves deeper, Isobel confides in her about troubling medical issues she and other detainees have experienced at the women’s clinic. As the pieces of a disturbing puzzle fall into place, Jessa’s world is further shaken by a long-held family secret revealed by her beloved grandmother. Suddenly, turning her back on these women is no longer an option. For the first time, Jessa also finds herself at odds with her husband, Vance—once her steadfast supporter—who now prioritizes money and reputation over doing what’s right. Caught between career, family, and conscience, Jessa is determined to help these vulnerable women expose the shocking eugenics practices being forced upon them under the guise of medical care. With everything at stake, Jessa must summon the courage to stand up and speak out for those who have been silenced. Would be a great book club discussion!

This dual timeline story was way more than I expected. We follow Jessa through her fertility struggles and marriage issues while she is trying to help the women in the ICE facility. Her fertility struggles got more of the focus than the issues the women in the facility which showed her connection to wanting to help them when their ability to have children was taken away. We also follow Carrie Buck and get a first hand view at how the state failed her in so many ways. How their lives connected was crazy and part of the driving force for Jessa trying to help the women and try to make up for what her family had done years prior. The emotion in this story is remarkable and I cried for these women that this actually happened to. The past and present timeline was executed beautifully and will definitely stay with me for a while.
4.5/5

This novel was so gut-wrenching but also a super necessary read that left me both heartbroken and enraged.

The dual timeline connected Jessa's modern-day legal battle with Isobel's harrowing fight against medical injustice to the true story of Carrie Buck, a young woman caught in America's dark history of eugenics. The way the author ties these stories together - unearthing the horrors of forced sterilization, reproductive control, and the dehumanization of vulnerable women - makes this such an emotional and thought-provoking read.

Jessa's character is especially powerful as she transitions from a corporate lawyer to a woman willing to risk everything to stand up for those who have been silenced. Meanwhile, Carrie's storyline is devastating, as her real-life Supreme Court case (Buck vs. Bell) cemented a horrifying legal precedent that still echoes today.

What makes this book so hard to read - and so necessary - is how relevant it still feels. The discussion around reproductive autonomy, the treatment of immigrants, and the systemic control of women's bodies are terrifying in the context of current events. It's infuriating to realize that the same systems of power and oppression that shaped Carrie's fate continue to dictate the lives of marginalized women today.

This book is not just a novel - it's a call to awareness and action! I've been processing this book for weeks and it's still unsettling to me. While it was an emotional and exhausting read, it's one I would recommend to anyone that's willing to confront the uncomfortable truths of our past and present.

An absolutely unforgettable read! Please check it out!

This was a really unique story (compared to any other books I’ve read), and it was so heartbreaking but amazing. The dual timeline/POV between Carrie’s heartbreaking story about forced sterilization, and Jessa fighting for the women that this is still happening to was so interesting and while the topic is so sad, I loved this book. Fantasticly written, and a relevant topic.

I binge-read this in 24 hours and it was such a compelling read. Based on actual events, it is chilling reminder that exploitation of women can take many forms.

I've read powerful stories about motherhood and loss, but none like this. The grief that the characters suffered from forced sterilization just made me feel sad and distressed. While I don't have or intend to have children, at least I know that I made that choice myself. And it was only made worse with the dual timeline, knowing that it didn't happen just in the past but continued even less than a decade ago.

No less interesting was Jessa's personal situation, her trauma and insecurities about getting pregnant and needing that last link to biological family to feel complete.

Highly recommend this one!

COUNTING BACKWARDS - JACQUELINE FRIEDLAND

I cannot tell you how absorbed I was by this book and the topics it covers. And in a world where laws are currently being made about women's rights and their access to important medical services, Counting Backwards feels like an essential and relevant read for our times.

Flipping between Jessa in 2022 and Carrie in 1927, these two storylines are connected in a number of different ways. Jessa, through her pro bono legal work at an immigration detention centre, encounters women who have received gynaecological healthcare through the centre - but have found themselves sterilised, which they didn't consent to.

Carrie, my favourite character in the book, is based on a real person. Carrie was used as an example to pass a law that forced women who were deemed undesirable and undeserving of reproduction to be sterilised. And this actually happened, with thousands of women being sterilised in multiple states.

Back to Jessa, who discovers that someone in her family is connected to Carrie's case while also dealing with her own infertility issues and journey to becoming pregnant. There's a lot going on in this book, but Jacqueline Friedland writes in a way that's clear and that highlights the emotional states of the characters beautifully.

If you get all the way to the author's note at the end, you'll find out that everything in the book is drawn from actual historical events and more recent incidents. That's what makes Counting Backwards a truly harrowing read, and one that sparks rage for the characters and, of course, the reader. I completely recommend it.

My only note is that I wish we could hear more from Jessa's clients as they experience the legal case and the effects on their lives, given that they are the ones who underwent truly horrific experiences.

Thank you to Jacqueline Friedland, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Release date: 11 March 2025

Review score: 4/5

Trigger warnings: r*pe, infertility, miscarriage, uninformed medical procedures (off-page), eugenics

The story is set in two timelines: 1927 where we hear the story of Carrie and 2022 where we meet Jessa.

Jessa takes a pro-bono case to defend a woman being held at ICE. Whilst there she uncovers some awful information about the women there being sterilised against their will. Given Jessa has been trying so hard for a child herself, this ignited a spark in her to fight.

She uncovers a similar story of Carrie who was sent to a Colony and used as a test subject at the time. More women were sterilised to rid the world of their ‘useless’ genes.

Linked to the real life Buck vs Bell Supreme Court case this book reveals the startling history of eugenics, human rights and female sterilisation.

Covering heavy, emotional topics and challenging the current justice system, this was an eye opening read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Harper Muse and Net Galley.

'...that high-spirited woman's body had been altered irrevocably, in a manner that would prevent her ever having another child'.

Jessa is a high-powered corporate lawyer who's become increasingly obsessed with getting pregnant - it's all a part of her life plan, together with making partner at her law firm. However, when she decides to take on a pro-bono legal case at an immigrant detention centre, the ability to have children takes on a whole new meaning.

Jessa's story alternates with Carrie Buck's story, a hundred years prior. It's the mid 1920s and after Carrie was taken from her mother and forced into a foster home. Sadly, this is just the beginning of her tough journey, when she's forced into a situation that ultimately sends her to court and puts her front and centre of a historic eugenics case, 'The girl before you is feeble-minded and must be sexually sterilized for both her own good and the good of society'.

'Counting Backwards' is a story is based on the real life eugenics atrocity of Carrie Buck in the 1920s. It is brought into glaring, contemporary relevance, with disturbing forced sterilisation cases in an immigrant detention centre. The horror of what has passed, and what has only more recently happened, is connected by a disturbing tether.

This is a confronting tale. One that not only delves into a past, murky history regarding women's rights but sadly the continued saga around women's reproductive choices. Telling this type of story was always going to be difficult to tell. To that end, I did find it hard to connect with the contemporary character, Jessa, at times. However, it is another story that needs to be told and the author's notes are a must read to really appreciate the complexity of this topic.

'You have to stop living your whole life based on the worst thing that's happened to you'.