The Girls We Sent Away | Meagan Church

Is historical fiction still historical fiction if you were alive in the time period of the story? Hmmm. Anyway, The Girls We Sent Away is about a high school girl, destined for great things, who is impregnated by her high school boyfriend, also destined for great things, but who is hidden away in a maternity home for unwed mothers. It's the 1960s and this is what happened to too many young women. It brought to mind The Patron Saint of Liars, Anne Patchett's debut novel (1992) which is also set in a maternity home for unwed mothers and deals with moral ambiguity. The lingering emotions and consequences for these young women live on in many ways far beyond their "confinement." I haven't read Patron Saint since it came out, but my recollection is that it's a better book, but it's different in that the mother in Patchett's book is an unhappily married woman who commits herself to the maternity home to escape her marriage. Girls is more centered on the double standards for boys and girls at that time and the pull and power of secrets within families. It's a good book, an easy read, and worthwhile.