Kelly E. Hill’s debut reads like a living, breathing scrapbook about the women from the titular Home, a religious organization from late 19th-century Louisville, Kentucky, that took in unwed pregnant women, attempting to instill them with godly virtues while persuading them to discard their “sinful” ways. Of course, what constitutes sin is in the beholder’s eye, and the line between the oppressed and their female oppressors often hinges on an unfortunate quirk of fate.

In 1878, a brilliant former Oberlin College student named Ruth arrives at the Home after an unknown man sexually assaults her in the campus museum – a place where women students were permitted to clean but not use the microscopes. With nowhere else to go, Ruth puts up with the founders’ obnoxious moralizing, but shocking events have her worrying about the other girls and their babies. Eleven years later, we hear from the witty Belle Queeney, who left the brothel several blocks away after she fell pregnant. Belle’s tireless work ethic threatens to make the other “inmates” look bad, but she knows her worth even if society calls her a fallen woman. Belle dreams of reuniting with her lover, Rose, who has gone missing. And in 1901, the founders’ daughter Minnie Davidson, now a fortyish wife and mother, uncovers a past scandal at the Home just in time for its 25th anniversary celebration. Their accounts appear chronologically, a technique that allows mysteries to build.

Delighting in research but never weighed down by it, Hill’s novel is based around cryptic mentions from the Home’s actual minute books (“Two women have been sent to City Hospital, one to Insane Asylum, one expelled”), transforming these long-silenced individuals into memorable characters, alongside primary source snippets and informative footnotes. Echoing with themes of human dignity, bodily autonomy, and the rights all women deserve, this wise and compassionate work is completely absorbing.

(from the Historical Novels Review, May 2024)

The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland were a dark period in history where "fallen women" were confined to institutions. I had not, prior to reading "A Home for Friendless Women", fully understood the depth and scope of these practices outside of Ireland. Ultimately, I am glad compelling fiction set against an historically accurate backdrop like this novel exist. It allows for readers to learn more about historical periods in a more engaging way than just opening a textbook.

This is an incredibly well researched book, as is evident in the author's attention to detail throughout. I really enjoyed the author's use of the real records of the home and newspaper clippings to blend into the fiction of what wasn't known about the characters.

I am a fan of this age of the 'time skip' that we seem to be in with various forms of entertainment. I believe that when done well it benefits pacing. It also allows the author to tie up loose ends, and in some cases answer that ever burning question, "well what happens to the characters after the last page?, or in 10 years?".

"A Home for Friendless Women" does all of this really well. The pacing kept me engaged throughout. The author's use of skipping time to cover multiple decades and three different protagonists allowed for a new character's perspective to engage with familiar characters and environments.

Overall, I would rate this book somewhere between 4 and 4.5.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for the advance reading copy of this novel.

Such a unique premise, time period, and location. A Home for Friendless Women provides a voice to girls in Victorian era Louisville in a home for unwed mothers. You can tell this was extremely well-researched. I loved the format of this historical fiction and learned much about the women and the struggles they went through at this point in history.

Once again, my public school education seems to have left out a part of U.S. history. Learning about home for friendless women was heartbreaking and eye-opening. I loved how the author split the story up into three different periods but did connect at the end. I almost wish there as a sequel so we could find out where each woman ended up.

This is an extremely well researched novel about a home in Kentucky for women who become pregnant and therefore, “unchristian like.”

We follow three women;

Ruth- One of the first to be admitted into the home.
Belle- A former sex worker at a local brothel.
Minnie- The daughter of one of the women on the board of the Home.

All three women have their own stories to tell, and are as beautiful as they are heartbreaking. This is not a tale for the faint of heart. Very disturbing things are revealed that are happening in the Home, secrets that have been meticulously covered up for years. Some of the women go on to create better lives for themselves, while others are left to mourn the losses that the Home ripped away from them. It’s devastating to realize that this was a part of our history… something that almost nobody talks about.
All of the women are strong, progressive, and feel real. Some sapphic elements, which I adored. It was just really good and like I said before, the author knows her stuff. Haunting, very haunting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of these thoughts and opinions are my own.

A poignant and painful story of unmarried pregnant young women living together in a house run by a benevolent society. The story, told over a period of years, links Ruth, who was an Oberlin student, Belle, who worked in a brothel, and Minnie, the daughter of the founders. Each of them has a strong voice, each of them feels very real. A horrible event pulls their stories and you will see threads that start with Ruth pop up again. There was much more here than I anticipated so no spoilers but know that this is both devastating and a tribute to resilience. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Wonderful historical fiction I very much enjoyed.

i loooooved this one! ‘a home for friendless women’ by kelly hill is a novel crafted out of the historical archives of a women’s home from the late 19th century.

the novel is split into three parts, following the lives of two ‘fallen women’ who have been impregnated out of wedlock, and one daughter of a board member that ran the home.

the novel explores the hard truths of life for women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the characters are incredibly engaging. ruth, a college student that has been expelled after being raped, belle, a queer sex worker, and minnie, the daughter that faces the consequences of her parents and society lead this novel in brilliant ways.

overall: 5⭐️

I thought that this was an interesting read in how the chapters were set up. I did not love it, but I did not hate it either.

A really well written historical novel about a very interesting topic. Great characters. Just wish this had been a bit longer.

Very well-written and evocative historical novel. The format was slightly different from the dual-perspective form so popular today wherein 2 protagonists tell the story 50 or 100 years apart. Instead, ver effectively, 3 protagonists shared the narrative over 2 decades. Highly recommended.

Kelly E. Hill does a great job in writing this book, it had everything that I was hoping for from the description. It had a great overall feel to it and the historical fiction elements worked. I liked getting to know the women of this home and thought it was a great concept. I enjoyed what I read and thought this was perfectly written.