My thoughts
Another winner from Donna Everhart. This one is a heartstopping, heartbreaking, historical about how females were treated when the government decided they were causing servicemen to catch STDs. Not the men being treating any such way, just the females. Even in cases of rape and incest. All those innocent men.... Right!!
In this story you meet several females from various ages. Each placed in a detention center for being promiscuous. Or possibly being promiscuous. They all seemed to have STDs even if they had not done anything of a sexual nature. They were just taken and placed in a place where they were treated lower than the lowest. Some even being sterilized without consent. Sometimes it was a spouse who put them there. I guess they just weren't cooperating enough. Not doing exactly what they were told by their husbands.
Stella was a child. A fifteen year old who did nothing wrong. Her father impregnated her. Forced her to do what he wanted. She was a very poor girl. Her mother was a basket case who was not there for her. Her dad was the lowest excuse ever.
Ruth was a single woman who was minding her own business. Walking to work. When a cop approached her. He forced her to go with him to a doctor who said she had a STD and had to be taken away. To protect the service men. She was only twenty four. She was just a single woman who had not done anything wrong.
There are several females in the Colony. You'll meet a few and hear parts of their stories. The main ones though are Stella and Ruth. And some of the staff.
Dorothy Baker came to work at the Colony after losing her job at another home that had been set on fire. She was a hard hearted woman. She tended to blame all women for what her ex-husband did. She caught him in their bed with another woman. She was the type to blame women instead of standing by them and fighting for women. I didn't like her at all. Even after hearing her entire story I did not like her. The only thing she did that was possibly kind was being kind of nice to Stella.
This author did a wonderful job of making me feel the pain these females went through. She did great research and put her heart into this story. You can feel the pain of these young women. How hard they tried and what they felt at their weakest periods. The isolation they felt when put in rooms for extended lengths of time to think about what they did. All the emotions are so raw and realistic. It hurt to read this book. It's heartbreaking.
To think that this actually happened is beyond comprehension. More than my mind can take. It can happen again too. Never think it can't.
Well written. Realistic. Real. Heartfelt. Heartbreaking. Sad. There is so much going on. So much emotion.
Thank you Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.
About
The day Ruth Foster’s life changes begins the same way as many others—with a walk through her North Carolina hometown toward the diner where she works. But on this day, Ruth is stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. Women like Ruth—young, unmarried, living alone—must undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease.
Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.
Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences—solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.
But some refuse to be cowed. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost . . .
Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.
Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences—solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.
But some refuse to be cowed. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost . . .
