Counting Backwards
A Novel
by Jacqueline Friedland
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Pub Date Mar 11 2025 | Archive Date Apr 11 2025
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Description
"Jacqueline Friedland's ripped-from-the-headlines story is an Erin Brockovich for our times." --Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost
". . . a riveting, compelling story--but it's also an important one, reminding us that history's darkest aspects can echo forward into our present day and that there is so much work left to do in the fight for freedom and equality." --Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author of The German Wife
A routine immigration case, a shocking legacy. Jessa Gidney's quest for justice draws her into the heart of an abhorrent conspiracy. As she uncovers her personal ties to a heartbreaking past, her life takes a dramatic turn, in this emotionally riveting novel inspired by true events.
New York, 2022. Jessa Gidney is trying to have it all--a high-powered legal career, a meaningful marriage, and hopefully, one day, a child. But when her professional ambitions come up short and Jessa finds herself at a turning point, she leans into her family's history of activism by taking on pro bono work at a nearby ICE detention center. There she meets Isobel Pérez--a young mother fighting to stay with her daughter--but as she gets to know Isobel, an unsettling revelation about Isobel's health leads Jessa to uncover a horrifying pattern of medical malpractice within the detention facility. One that shockingly has ties to her own family.
Virginia, 1927. Carrie Buck is an ordinary young woman in the center of an extraordinary legal battle at the forefront of the American eugenics conversation. From a poor family, she was only six years old when she first became a ward of the state. Uneducated and without any support, she spends her youth dreaming about a different future--one separate from her exploitative foster family--unknowing of the ripples her small, country life will have on an entire nation.
As Jessa works to assemble a case against the prison and the crimes she believes are being committed there, she discovers the landmark Supreme Court case involving Carrie Buck. Her connection to the case, however, is deeper and much more personal than she ever knew--sending her down new paths that will leave her forever changed and determined to fight for these women, no matter the cost.
Alternating between the past and present, and deftly tackling timely-yet-timeless issues such as reproductive rights, incarceration, and society's expectations of women and mothers, Counting Backwards is a compelling reminder that progress is rarely a straight line and always hard-won. A moving story of two remarkable women that you'll remember for years to come.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781400347308 |
| PRICE | $18.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 336 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 1349299
I liked this book! It had a great storyline and pretty good pacing. I think the characters were interesting and I would like to read this book in a book club to see others thoughts and opinions of it. Overall I enjoyed this book!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!
Andrea D, Reviewer
A haunting novel that twist and turns between 2022. and the late 1920's
Our protagonist Jessa Gidney is working non stop to become a partner in her law firm. So hard, the stress might be an obstacle to her and her husband becoming pregnant. During her hours donated by her firm she meets a young woman that may be deported. When she hears her story she dedicates her time and energy to assisting her.
In alternating chapters we learn about Carrie Buck, taken from her mother, she is raised as an orphan. When she becomes pregnant, her story creates ripples that reach all the way forward to 2022.
Friedland weaves the two together seamlessly and tells a tale that you will never forget. This is an important story for right now!
#harpermuse #countingbackwards #jacquelinefriedland
Reviewer 836821
1927 Virginia - Carrie Buck has lead a life of hardship. Taken from her mother and fostered by a family who use her as an unpaid servant and farm hand she has not had it easy. But Virginia has some new laws and they will take more from Carrie then she ever thought possible.
2022 New York - Corporate lawyer Jess’s has taken on some pro bono work to help get her mind off her other problems. Appointed to help a young woman in an ICE facility she soon learns that this facility is taking a lot more then the inmate’s freedoms. Determined to make everyone responsible pay for the atrocities committed Jessa starts work on a class action suit. But the case will bring some skeletons out of her own closet and put a strain on her marriage and reputation.
This is not the first time I’ve read about the eugenics programs in the US but every time I am blown away at how widespread and long lived it was. And how well it was covered up.
Carrie’s story is based on a real case by a woman of the same name.
For the most part I enjoyed this book but I did think Jessa’s story was a bit more focused on her and her own problems. I would have maybe enjoyed having one of the inmates perspectives or more of Carrie’s story and a little less of Jessa. It was an interesting read though.
Thank you to @harpermusebooks and @netgalley for letting me have an advanced copy for review. Look for #countingbackwards March 11 2024.
#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookworm #bookreview #booklover #readmorebooks #readersofinstagram
Ayşe K, Reviewer
I received this book for free and I write this comment voluntarily. Let me brag about myself a little. I do choose the best ARCs. I am generally reluctant to give five stars to contemporary novels (because if Dostoyevsky is your five star how could give you five stars to anything) but this time I am giving out a full five stars. This novel is very timely, I wish it is published right now, given that it explores areas of woman rights, immigration laws and family relationships. We have two stories in the novel, one is Jesse's and the other is Carrie Buck's. Taking the real life story Carrie Buck and integrating it into a novel with a legal and fictional perspective is just great. The author is a law graduate which makes novel even more interesting. If you have never heard of Carrie Buck, do not research until you finish the novel so that you would be more surprised. I thank the author, NetGalley and the publisher for this free novel.
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