4.25⭐️

Set in 1960’s North Carolina, this story revolves around seventeen-year-old Lorraine Delford. An only child of dutiful parents who take pride in her accomplishments, Lorraine has a good life at home, is top of her class and has ambitions beyond being a wife and mother as is traditionally expected of women. When an unplanned pregnancy threatens to change everything for her, Lorraine is resilient and makes an effort to accept how her life will change, but her boyfriend abandons her and her parents offer no support instead sending her away to a maternity home for unwed mothers to hide their shame and protect their reputation in their community. Hoping that she would be able to continue her education while there, she is shocked to see the indifferent, uncaring attitude of the housemother and doctors in whose care she has been entrusted realizing that she is expected to return to her former life after she gives birth and gives up her child. She meets others- both like and unlike herself - a reality check that compels her to take stock of her life and reflect on her priorities, the difficult choices she needs to make and the choices that have been made for her fully aware that her life will never be the same even though she is expected to go on as if this episode in her life never happened.

The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church is an incredibly moving story. Beautifully written, heart wrenching yet thought-provoking, this novel captures the social landscape of the Baby Scoop Era and the plight of unwed young girls who were forced to succumb to familial and societal pressure to relinquish their rights to their children. Lorraine’s journey is a painful one as she evolves from a sheltered young girl to a young mother forced to face the reality of her situation and the society in which she lives. It was heartbreaking to witness the challenges faced by these young girls, alone with no guidance or emotional support, their choices taken away from them and let down by everyone they should have been able to trust. The author is brutally honest in her depiction of the psychological toll of her experiences and the emotional scars she carries into her adulthood. Granted those were different times, but it is sad to read stories about women who are judged for mistakes for which they alone were not responsible and how easy it was for society, community and their families to shame them into submission. The author has presented us with a powerful story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading this book.

This was my first time reading this author and I'm eager to explore more of her work.
I paired my reading with audio narration by Susan Bennett, who breathes life into the characters and this story, for an absorbing immersion reading experience.

Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the digital review copy and RB Media for the ALC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Happy Pub Day to the amazing, beautiful & talented @mchurchwriter!

Thank you AGAIN for another spectacular story! Thank you as well to @bookmarked @netgalley @recordedbooks for the physical, digital & audio galleys!

Meagan told me early on that this one was “different” from The Last Carolina Girl. And it was, to a certain degree. This story dives into a similar-ish situation, but in a completely different time period and dilemma facing young girls. I absolutely LOVED it!

Meagan has a talent for drawing the reader into her stories. They are incredibly atmospheric & will have the reader going through every single emotion. This was another magnificent, heartbreaking novel that I recommend everyone reading ASAP.

Set in 1960s North Carolina, Lorraine Delford comes from a prominent, upstanding family & dreams of being an astronaut. She is an extraordinary teenager who is destined for amazing things.

Sadly, Lorraine become pregnant after having sex for just the first time with her boyfriend. To a family like the Delfords, this is extremely shameful & not tolerated, so she is sent off to a maternity home under the guise of a finishing school. Young girls & women are sent there to finish out their pregnancy, give birth & go home. But there is more to this maternity home than meets the eye. There are many sinister secrets held within its walls and what happens to these young soon-to-be mothers.

This novel will affect the reader, deeply. Meagan gives us a heartbreaking glimpse into what it meant to be a pregnant teen during this era of our history. What makes it even more heartbreaking is that this is more than just a story. Yes, this specific story is a work of fiction, but it addresses very real issues that plagued young mothers during this time period.

5/5 Stars – Meagan – please tell me Book 3 is underway! I already can’t wait!

#TheGirlsWeSentAway #MeaganChurch #History #Fiction #HistoricalFiction #Adoption #BabyScoopEra #Babies #NASA #Astronaut #Dreams #Historical #Adult #Mystery #Heartbreaking #Relevant #MustRead #ARC #Audiobook #Audio #2024 #March #Sophomore #Pregnancy #Shame #Bookstagram #Bibliophile #Books #Read #Reading

Oh, Meagan Church!!! I see you girl!

The Girls We Sent Away

This book is will put you on a ride of a lifetime and touches on all of your emotions...

Rage, Anger, Compassion, Love, and Empathy.

I was instantly grabbed by the throat and immersed into this book early on. I feel as though I was not able to come up for air until I concluded, and even then I was left "shook".

This book effected me in ways I can not even begin to describe but I can tell you with 100 percent certainty, this is a book you do not want to miss.

Check out this teaser :

A searing book club read for fans of Ellen Marie Wiseman and The Girls with No Names set in the Baby Scoop Era of 1960s and the women of a certain condition swept up in a dark history.

It's the 1960s and Lorraine Delford has it all – an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and a white picket fence home in North Carolina. Yet every time she looks through her father's telescope, she dreams of the stars. It's ambitious, but Lorraine has always been exceptional.

But when this darling girl-next-door gets pregnant, she's forced to learn firsthand the realities that keep women grounded.

To hide their daughter's secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven – it's a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she can fight against the powers that aim to take her child or submit to the rules of a society she once admired.

Powerful and affecting, The Girls We Sent Away is a timely novel that explores autonomy, belonging, and a quest for agency when the illusions of life-as-you-know-it fall away.

After I read Meagan Church’s debut novel, The Last Carolina Girl, I knew she was an author I would automatically want to read regardless of what the stories context was. So when I seen The Girls We Sent Away with her as the author listed on NetGalley I knew I had to request it. Although this story is very different from her first it is just as good. This storyline takes place in the early 1960’s when things were very different than they are today. Girls and women had less options or choices and fewer opportunities. Lorraine, the main character, had high hopes of becoming someone in life. She was very intelligent and had dreams of becoming valedictorian and going on to attend college. She wanted to reach for the stars and maybe even become an astronaut if at all possible. But her dreams were put on hold due to an unplanned pregnancy. Her parents who didn’t want to bring shame to the family, like so many others during that time, sent her off to an unwed mothers home to hide her pregnancy and to put her baby up for adoption. This story told what it was like for girls in this predicament and I found it really sad that they didn’t have much say as to what was going to happen to them. It opened my eyes as to what things were like for these young girls and I found myself crying over their pain and loss. This is a book I enjoyed reading but I also learned from Lorraine’s experience. I’d like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark for accepting my request and NetGalley for the arc. It was a great read and it’s one I would recommend to others. This book makes two 5 star reads for me by Meagan Church and I look forward to reading whatever she writes next!

This book is heartbreaking and made me so angry on behalf of our main character, Lorraine. Set in the 1960's Baby Scoop Era juxtaposed against the Space Race, she is a 17 year old girl on her way to becoming the first female valedictorian at her high school, with her sights set on being an astronaut. It all falls apart when she becomes pregnant and is sent away to hide in shame.

The Girls We Sent Away is an emotionally charged, anger inducing read but also such an important snapshot in our history of how we treat women and mothers who fall outside our view of acceptable. While set roughly 60 years ago, many of the sentiments linger today. Lorraine deserved better and while I wanted a different ending for her, I feel like the ending we got was the most realistic given the circumstances.

The story is told in third person, with changing perspectives but I found myself constantly having to go back a few sentences when the perspective changed because it wasn't always clear. There are twists and secrets revealed along with Lorraine's journey making this a compelling read. While it's hard to call such a heavy read "enjoyable," it was a great book and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Thank you Sourcebooks for the early review copy!

This was a great historical fiction read that explored teenage pregnancy in a time when girls could be sent away while they were pregnant until they gave birth, and the children were then given up for adoption. I thought the book was fine, but not earth shattering.

Thank you so much @Netgalley and @sourcebook for giving me the opportunity to read #TheGirlsWeSentAway. This releases on March 5th and I definitely recommend it!

As you can probably guess from the title, this book is about pregnant teen-aged girls in the 1960s sent to “homes” for the last few months of pregnancy.

Hearing about 17 year old Lorraine’s experience brought out such emotions! She was striving to be valedictorian and head to college to become an astronaut, but instead landed at a home for wayward girls.

The way society shamed these girls and changed the trajectory of their lives, while the boyfriends walked away without taking ANY kind of responsibility made me so mad. The way the home got the girls to sign the relinquishing papers made me furious. I felt like I had Lorraine’s back throughout this book and was hoping everything worked out for her

Lorraine was a typical 17yo child in the early 1960s. She was an only child and the apple of her dad's eye. Her mom was a bit stricter in that she would call Lorraine on every little thing dealing with decency. How dare Lorraine let her swimsuit strap fall off her shoulder. Too much skin showing. Good grief.

Lorraine was on track to be valedictorian of her high school that year & had plans to go to college. She wanted to be someone who left her mark on the world. She loved outer space and wanted to fly to the moon one day. All of that was dashed when she found herself pregnant after just one time with her boyfriend; Her friend for almost her whole life. Lorraine & Clint had known each other forever and been dating for two years. But Clint had other plans and that did not include being a husband or father.

You get to know exactly what Lorraine went through at home and at the home for unwed mothers. All the hurt and pain she feels. All the fears she experiences. How her heart broke because no one seemed to care. Not Clint or her parents. No one at this awful home either. The librarian was nice to her and tried to help her get her GED. She seemed like a good friend who cared. Until it was time. Until Lorraine went into labor. Then she was on her own. The descriptions of what Lorraine felt in the delivery room felt so real. The way she hurt over losing her baby. Not being able to keep that child almost did her in. I felt her pain so deep. It made me weep.

This book is filled with emotions. You feel it. I didn't like Lorraine's parents. I hated Clint. I adored Alan. I hoped that Lorraine's mother was going to be there but I didn't feel it. After all was said and done it was still about appearances for her.

‘When choosing to survive is the way forward’ …
Oh my gosh my heart is in a million pieces.
How blind I was to impacts of this time history. How one persons joy is another’s complete destruction of self.
The sad truth of life changing decisions made for you rather than with you.
An important heartbreaking yet poignant powerful read.

It’s the early 1960s and Lorraine is a lifeguard at the local swimming pool we’re her mom holes Court with the other “N“ ladies in the neighborhood. Right after saving a four-year-old from certain death all her mom has to say to her is to pull up her bathing suit strap because other people are watching. Lorraine is a senior and is on schedule to be a valedictorian of her class she wants to study the stars, but when her and her boyfriend go as far as you can with teenage love she whinds up expecting. Her father stops talking to her and her mom agrees with him when he suggest they send her away to a maternity home for unwed mothers. She arrives and makes instant friends with Denise an optimistic Mirabelle The house manager is nice but stern if not sometimes abusive while Lorraine is there she will find out some strange stories not only about things that happened in the Home Before she arrived but also about her roommate they get to leave the home once a week as long as they didn’t gain more than 2 pounds. At the beginning of her pregnancy she just wants it to be over and to get back to life as she knew it but the bigger the baby gets the more attach she feels to it and it’s when she starts believing she can keep the baby that will have her skirting the roof. When Lorraine does give birth however in returns home she will learn things about her parents she didn’t know. There is way too much to this story for me to give a brief summary and also I am confused as to what direction to go with that because I know we are supposed to be like oh those homes were horrible but most of the bad things that happened happened in and of itself not having anything to do with anyone that work there. I agree it’s terrible to take someone’s baby especially when they’re like Mirabelle and Albert who want to keep it but overall the Home saved a lot of young girls and their baby from certain poverty. Also I felt like Clint got off easy because why wouldn’t her parents tell his parents I get it they didn’t want her Business to get out in the neighborhood but it was half his problem but like Maya Angelou says when we know better we do better. I also felt the book was written from a 21st-century perspective because I felt as if that was Lorraine‘s mindset and not one of a girl brought up in the 50s i’m still glad I got to read it and totally enjoyed it I was excited when I got it because I loved Megan churches other book “the last Carolina girl,“ I thought it was a brilliant read and although this one wasn’t as good as I said I still enjoyed it. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy - all opinions are my own.

This is such an incredibly powerful and heartbreaking book. Looking back into the 60's with all the knowledge and education we have now, leaves you destroyed for these characters who were victims to the lack of education they had, and the horrifyingly draconian perspective of the world on young, unwed, pregnant girls in that decade.

Everything about this book is beautifully crafted, with incredibly complex characters and a story that keeps you glued to the page. Heart wrenching but such a necessary read.

A emotional tale of resilience and determination that will make you glad things have changed since the 1960s. Lorraine, a bright high school senior, is pregnant and her parents have sent her to a home for unwed mothers. She knows very little about biology and she knows very little about what her future might hold except that this isn't what she had planned, You will feel for her as well as for the other young women. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Its 1960 and Lorraine is a high school cheerleader, hoping to be prom queen, and heading to be valedictorian. She has big dreams for herself and wants to be the first American woman in space. She has loving parents and boyfriend, Clint. Lorraine seems to have her future figured out until she finds herself pregnant. Now, all she has is shame.

This was a slow read for me and didn’t end the way I was hoping it would. I felt like the plot had huge potential for a story that would just grab you and not let go, but I actually felt quite underwhelmed and a bit bored. I do think that this time in history, The Baby Scoop Era, is definitely an important and interesting time, and it should be shared.

Thank you to Netgalley, Meagan Church, and the publishers for this free ebook. This review is 100% my own and honest opinion.

A wonderful insightful look into the girls who got pregnant at the wrong point of history. There was obviously a lot of research done here and it was detailed and informative. A story that sucks you in the way of wanting to help these poor girls.

I am absolutely fascinated by The Baby Scoop Era so I couldn't click "request" fast enough. And, no regrets! The Girls We Sent Away, by Meagan Church, was a powerful read I thoroughly enjoyed. Lorraine is a realistic, empathetic character that I can't help missing now that I'm not buried in her story anymore. Highly recommend!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I've read several books on the Baby Scoop era already, and maybe that's what keeps me from rating this book more highly. If you haven't read anything on the subject, then you may enjoy this book more than I did. It was good, not great.

What we as women have had to put up with because we're the ones who get pregnant is just insane, with little or no consequences for the men involved. This book does a good job of showing society's hypocrisy. And what the unwed mothers went through at these institutions should be taught to every female because sometimes it feels like our country is heading backwards to this era again.

I felt this book was good overall, but a bit long-winded. If it were more tightly written, I might have rated it higher. Some parts just seemed to drag for me, which leads to my overall enjoyment of the book.

This boook, let me tell you about this booooook!!!! This book had me feeling all kinds of emotions. I was angry, I was sad, happy, wanting to bawl my eyes out throughout this book. The main character Lorraine was such a sweet but naive girl I couldn’t help but root for her. Clint one of the main characters I wanted to flick him out of existence. Alan the other main character I was completely rooting for the whole time. He made me happy. If you’re looking for a book that will kick you in the feelers and make you feel every emotion this is the book for you. I’m sad that Lorraine didn’t get the ending that I wanted for her but I loved this book.

“It's the 1960s and Lorraine Delford has it all - an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and a white picket fence home in North Carolina. Yet every time she looks through her father's telescope, she dreams of the stars. It's ambitious, but Lorraine has always been exceptional…

…until Lorraine gets pregnant.

To hide their daughter's secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven - it's a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she can fight against the powers that aim to take her child or submit to the rules of a society she once admired.”


I really enjoyed this book. The first part had me so intrigued, I couldn’t put it down. It is very sensitive though. I can’t imagine what these young girls go through being sent away like this.


The author wrote this very well, except I was expecting a little more at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a DRC. The Girls We Sent Away is available March 5.

The Girls We Sent Away set in the 1960s, reminds the reader that the world of choices doesn't pertain to the unmarried female then or now.

Lorraine has big dreams for herself, indulged by her father as an only child, she thinks these dreams are attainable. Going into her Senior year of high school, she has a steady boyfriend, will be the Valedictorian, and college looms ahead, maybe even aeronautical sciences. But when pressured by her boyfriend to end their chaste relationship prior to him heading out to college a year ahead of Lorraine, she gives in. Off he goes in pursuit of his dreams, and she ends up pregnant.

What happens next is the reality that an unwed mother in the 1960s cannot be seen. She cannot continue her education or attend outside activities. She must be hid until she can be sent away. Though the housing for unwed mothers comes across as fairly decent, the young women in The Girls We Sent Away are required to mostly keep their business to themselves. No trading names, addresses, or reasons for their current state of affairs. They are isolated in their shame. They are also left in the dark of what will happen when the day of delivery arrives.

The shameful history of women being the only one to pay the price for an unplanned, unwed pregnancy is explored. Infuriating is the boyfriend who figures it's Lorraine's problem, not his. How the parents are withholding in their love and comfort. How the girls are left alone to go through childbirth and turned out of the home for unwed mothers without their baby. How the scars of the trauma are left

Lorraine is the "has it all" girl with a loving home and big expectations, including becoming an astronaut before the moon landing occurred.

One night with her boyfriend changed everything. Lorraine lived in a time when pregnancy to an unmarried woman brought huge shame. Her boyfriend quickly moved on. She could no longer attend school, and was hidden by her family until she could be sent to a maternity home where she was expected to give birth, place the baby for adoption, and return as if she were merely visiting family.

This story exemplifies what these maternity homes for 'wayward' teen girls were like. The girls were not well cared for, and were often forced to sign adoption papers. Lorraine must do her best to put one foot in front of the other while deciding with path to follow when she leaves the maternity home.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.