A book by Susan Wiggs is always a 4or 5 star read. This historical fiction story is definitely 5 star. Hard to believe unwed Mothers and other women with problems could have been sent to the Catholic Church "reform Schools" against their wills. This is a story of a group of girls who become friends while spending their time there. The trauma they endured, the escape they planned, and the future each one of them made for themselves made the book so interesting...a real page turner! I highly recommend this book!

4.5 STARS

Really enjoyed this book. Characters are rich with personality. The generational trauma is thought provoking and devastating. This is definitely in my top 5 of the year so far. I could read a whole series about these girls and what they went thru.

I will be grabbing a physical copy of this book pronto!


Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for my arc in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pretty much every review is a 5-star one on Goodreads, so I might be the outlier on this one. I think my biggest gripe with this book is that if you've ever read (or watched something) about the Magdalene Laundries, there are absolutely no surprises. Every set-up felt predictable, including the one that I think is supposed to be a big twist at the end. I also felt the story lost some potency by including other POVs randomly throughout. Plus, one of the side characters, Angela, actually would have served as a far more interesting main character. I've read historical fiction novels that really stuck with me, but this felt like more of a slog to get through (I kept being surprised that there was so much of the book left, since it kept feeling like an ending). This is an important dark side of US history to tell stories about, but unless someone has a more unique style of storytelling, it's just going to feel stale, like this book did.

There is a drastic need for more narratives like this, a true to era coming of age story for women. This book successfully captured all realms of feelings, joy, sorrow, pain, growth.

Historical fiction serves an important role in preserving and understanding the past and it is very clear the author undertook extensive research to portray what life was like for these young women. That is why this story resonates on so many different levels.

I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a deeper, emotionally compelling read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

let me begin by thanking harper collins, william morrow, and netgalley for both the e-arc, and very unexpectedly, the physical arc of this book! so grateful

susan wiggs’ wayward girls is a heartbreaking, yet hopeful story of surviving trauma, women’s friendships, solidarity, and the abuse endured in Catholic reform schools during the 60s. alternating between a handful of perspectives, we explore the stories of a number of “wayward girls” including queer, bipoc, and pregnant wayward girls disproportionately affected by these institutions, and the significant role they played in each others survival and growth.

i’m not someone who frequents the historical fiction genre, at least not nearly as much as i did when i was younger, but i found myself consumed with this story. a truly beautiful novel

make sure to check trigger warnings, these are many heavy and intense scenes

Wayward Girls is a heartbreaking and hopeful novel about a Magdalene laundry and the women whose lives were indelibly changed by it in Buffalo in the late twentieth century. This book -- which primarily follows six girls who were forcibly institutionalized there -- will shock you with its violence, but keep you reading with its beautiful depictions of friendship. I immediately fell in love with Wiggs' characters and felt deeply invested in them throughout the book. This is not the kind of book you would typically read in one sitting, but I couldn't put it down until I was finished!

A story of hope, solidarity, and strength of young women who find the courage and break free. It’s a story carried forward even when the world tries to silence the women who survived.

Wayward Girls is funny, tragic, ironic and filled with the classic music and pop culture of the 60’s and beyond.

Thank you @williammorrowbooks

4.5 stars

While this book took me longer than usual to read, it in no way reflects on the writing or the story. I can be sensitive to certain subjects, and this book was heavy for me. I had to take breaks between some chapters with another book to get out of the headspace this one put me in. Again, that is not a bad thing and shouldn’t reflect poorly on this book or its author. The book is fantastic and the storytelling is engaging. The subject matter, on the other hand, is horrific.

There are a lot of characters at play in this book, but the most prominent is Mairin. A teenager in the Buffalo, New York area in the late 1960s. She is Irish Catholic, growing up in a Catholic community where the kids all go to Catholic school, and to even utter the word sex is scandalous. Women have few rights, the Vietnam War is raging, and nobody questions what the Catholic Church or local authorities do with the so-called “criminals” in the community.

Not to give too much away, I’ll say that Mairin is sent to a home for underage girls who find themselves in trouble. Be it with the law, by finding themselves pregnant out of wedlock, or because their parents think they are on the road to ruin. These girls are sent to a home, run by nuns, to get straightened out. Yet, behind the walls of this facility, things are much worse than they seem. What hurt so bad while reading this is the knowledge that this is true. This particular book may be fiction, but it’s based on true events. It’s gut-wrenching. I was so proud of Mairin for never letting them get her down, and for Mairin’s new friends for finally fighting for themselves.

This book is separated into a few parts. The first part went by fast. Mairin’s day-to-day life and how she ended up being wrenched from her home and put in this pit of despair. The second part was the hardest part and the part that took me so long to read. The title of the book has everything to do with the second part of this story. I breezed through things once things bounce back to present day, and we see Mairin and the other ladies come together again.

Some of the characters are truly evil in this book. Others, whom I detested, had just as much trauma as the girls who were being hurt. These characters were hard to like, but I did come to understand them. From Mairin’s mom to a young nun at the facility, most of them have their reasons for how they react to the world around them.

The author did a beautiful job of weaving the stories of all the women and girls together. She did her research and took such care with the characters, the setting, and the stories.

Wow, what a wonderfully well written and well researched book. Not an easy read, by any stretch of the imagination, but detailed, emotional and well developed. This story follows 6 girls who were sent to the "Good Shepard" a catholic reform school for a year (or more) where they were treated pretty horrifically. The hope, resilience, friendship and determination that was portrayed so clearly throughout the pages was incredible. I wanted to reach through the pages and hug these young girls - I felt as if I was reading the diary of a friend at times. It was so real and raw. My biggest complaint is the ending - we were brought to the present day where we got to see what all the girls were doing and how they were able to move on from their difficult past and trauma. Although I was curious as to where these girls were today, I felt as if this part of the book just did not flow as smoothly as the rest. Overall, a wonderful read, just bring the tissues. 
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copies.

This is the second book I’ve read this year about fictionalized accounts of “Wayward Girls,” both told in very different ways, neither shying away from the horrors those children faced.
In Susan Wiggs fictionalized account of the treatment and long-term damage inflicted on these children, we are introduced to a group of girls who form a found family to attempt to survive their confinement as adolescents. Later, they come together as adult women who have struggled with the trauma of their childhoods to heal and to find justice for their treatment at the hands of people who were supposed to “help” them.
The last quarter of the book had me in tears the whole time. For some reason, watching these adult women relive their trauma and talk about how it had affected their whole lives broke me in a way that their initial experience didn’t.
I’m grateful that people are telling these stories of our not so pretty past.

NYT Bestselling Author Susan Wiggs (a favorite) returns with her most moving and compelling book yet, WAYWARD GIRLS. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, and at times haunting, inspired by a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption.

Top Books of 2025!

We follow six girls in a Catholic reform school in 1960s Buffalo, NY, in this powerful and unforgettable, emotionally moving story by a master storyteller. A tale of courage and justice while shedding light on a horrific time in our history.

About...

During the turbulence of the Vietnam Era, in Buffalo, New York, teenage girls were condemned to forced labor at the Good Shepherd, a dark and secret institution controlled by the Sisters of Charity nuns.

In 1968, we meet six teens thrust into confinement (by the hands of others, leaving them no choice) at the Good Shepherd—merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly. Some are just being normal teens and are taken advantage of.

~Mairin, a free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, was committed to keeping herself safe from her stepfather.

~Angela, denounced for her attraction to girls, was sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.

~Helen, the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, saw her “temporary” stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.

~Odessa, caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.

~Denise—sentenced for brawling in a foster home, dared to dream of a better life.

~Janice—deeply insecure, she couldn’t decide where her loyalty lay—except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.

Sister Bernadette—rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.

How will they ever escape this evil?

My thoughts...

Heartbreaking. Your heart will go out to these girls! WAYWARD GIRLS showcases the brutality, abuse, hardships, and horrific treatment of young girls who were placed in Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school in 1960s Buffalo, NY.

Their families had various reasons for turning over their daughters, such as teenage pregnancy, being too provocative, too unruly, being gay, or catching the eye of a male family member.

Forced to work in a laundry with no pay, and what made it worse was that the parents thought they were doing the right thing, unaware of the abuses. Then once there, they are in prison with little rights.

Powerful and memorable, the author vividly describes the conditions and the fears, courage, and strength of these young women when they have no support or place to turn.

Wiggs offers an extensive Author's Note (even though fictional). WAYWARD GIRLS is inspired by actual events, and the systemic abuses perpetrated by the Magdalene laundries documented in Ireland.

It is sad to think this practice spread to thirty-eight institutions where women and girls from poor homes were regularly confined to these religious-run, state-sanctioned prison systems of slave labor and abuse.

The author brilliantly portrays these characters (victims) as victims of life-like realistic abuse and shaming. The girls were often placed in isolation in dark, small closets.

I loved how the girls stuck together, showcasing their grit, resilience, and determination, as well as their escape using the library van, which will make you smile. So sad how many women and young girls lost their babies, pressured against their will to surrender their parental rights.

Heart-wrenching, compelling, powerful, and unforgettable. A moving story of friendship, justice, and survival with characters that will remain with you long after the book ends. An ideal pick for book clubs and further discussions.

Audiobook...

I had the privilege of reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook, narrated by Jane Oppenheimer and Cynthia Farrell, who delivered an engaging performance that captures the time, place, evil, injustices, and characters, holding your attention with compelling content, a perfectly paced narrative, and pitch-perfect voices for a dynamic delivery and an immersive connection between the performers and the listener. I highly recommend the audiobook!

Recs...

WAYWARD GIRLS is for historical fiction fans, strong women, and those who enjoy works by Ellen Marie Wiseman, Diane Chamberlain, Megan Church, and Sadeqa Johnson

A special thank you to William Morrow and Harper Audio for the opportunity to read and listen to an advanced reading and listening copy, in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: July 15, 2025
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This is an important powerful historical fiction novel that explores the lives of girls who were sent to Good Shepherd in Buffalo NY. Each of their situations was different - girls were sent to keep them safe or to hide a pregnancy or to be disciplined. Based on a true place, this story was both heart-wrenching and difficult to read. The story starts with their lives in 1968, but then later jumps 50 years later to visit them where they are now in present-day.
Wiggs' writing about the horrors they withstood and the bond that they built makes this such a propulsive novel. I recommend this novel for those who love getting insight into events during tumultuous times of U.S. history that they may not have known.
Many thanks to #WilliamMorrow for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cancel your day and pick this one up!
A wonderfully spun story - fueling rage, finding your power and setting it all on fire.
Like so many other teenagers, these girls are shut away from society for other people's discomfort - pregnancy, victims of abuse, queer, anger. All of it.
What a time to remind us - we still have so far to go.

This isn't an LGBT or Queer book and shouldn't be genre tagged as such. That said, it was an easy read that is well edited and crafted to make it interesting for the reader and I learned something new by reading it. I'd never heard of a Magdalen laundry prior to this book. As a woman, to learn that places like that not only existed but were entirely supported by the communities in which they stood until the early 1970s is gut wrenching but not entirely shocking considering the state of women's rights in the USA.

I wasn't familiar with the author before reading the book which read like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants wants to be Girl, Interrupted. After looking at the author's books, it makes sense now. The book is intended to deal with heavy issues but make them light in a way that comes out uplifting. I'm certain that readers of this author will love this book and many other women. For me, I was hoping for something a bit more raw.

What the book is:
🔘 A third person narrative, women's fiction novel that begins and ends in the present but mostly takes place in late 1960's Buffalo, NY. It primarily tells the coming of age story of 15 year old Mairin O'Hara as a "Wayward Girl" sent to a Magdalene laundry and includes several minor characters that she meets there.
🔘 A book that has LGBT and Queer genre tags, yet only one character from that community that only feels included to check diversity boxes because despite having the most intriguing story line the author gives her no depth and a lame attempt at growth.
🔘 A historical fiction book that somehow didn't feel as historical as it could've. As I mentioned before, I'd never heard of a Magdalene laundry before coming across this book. I would have loved for this book to be told from one of the more interesting character's perspective.
🔘 A book that deals with some very heavy content, yet somehow doesn't seem to feel heavy. Whether that made my enjoyment of this book more or less, I still can't figure out.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you William Morrow!

Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs is truly one of her best books. It is heartbreaking that this ever happened to young girls. This story was very well presented.

Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow Press and Susan Wiggs for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of Wayward Girls.
This is a heart wrenching novel based on true events in history of friendship, survival, strength and perseverance as six girls randomly come together in a Catholic reform school in the 1960’s.
I love the strength and determination these young girls had to fight for their survival in a devastating situation. It saddens me to learn these events were real based on facts.
The characters were well developed and decisions chosen made sense even if they were wrong. The plot is fast paced with many twists and turns along the way. I loved how the characters were intertwined with pieces of the plot that fit together so well. I enjoyed how the characters came back many years after their trauma to make sure all truths were revealed and action taken ,
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from start to finish. This is the first Susan Wiggs book I have read and I can’t wait to read more.

Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs

Inspired by true events and set in the 1960s, this novel tells the story of six young women confined in a catholic reformed school in Buffalo, New York named Good Shepherd. Many of these young women have not committed any wrongdoing, but find themselves placed here for various reasons. Instead of receiving an education and a safe environment, they are worked hard, beaten, locked in a closet, and endure sexual trauma. Through shared experiences and bravery, they form a bond and pursue justice.

This story was a little bit personal for me. My husband’s grandparents were raised in a catholic orphanage in Brooklyn, NY. His grandmother told me heart-wrenching stories of abuse she sustained, so I wasn’t surprised by this novel.
It was well-researched, interesting, and wrapped up nicely in the end. It is a story that needed to be told. Thank you @NetGalley for the e-ARC.

#WaywardGirls #SusanWiggs #HistoricalFiction #NetGalley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another gripping story that one can’t put down. This book really hit home for me since I was about the same age of the MC, so many of the subjects touched as the Vietnam Era was relatable. The secret horrors of reform schools was unknown to me. I did grow up across the street from a Catholic grade school and some friends did talk about the nuns but I was clueless. This is the journey of six girls and the horrors they endured with the MC and ringleader Mairin. The girls for various reasons were basically imprisoned and became slave laborers. The story is a mix of facts and fiction and is woven into an unbelievable story of the unbreakable spirit and will of Mairin and her friends. I love how 50 years later they manage to reconnect and expose the atrocities they lived through. Excellent must read in my opinion! Thank you so much for this ARC of the book and audiobook. I switched back and forth both were so good. The narrator was excellent! #NetGalley #WilliamMorrow #HarperAudio

Wow What a story
Have you hear that statement if you don’t behave we’re sending you off to catholic school?
Well that’s what this book brings us into the lofe of these 6 girls and some of things that did go on
In catholic school.
This story take place in Buffalo,NY where these 6 young girls were sent to,to straighten their lives out.
These girls were forced into manual labor & many other things. This facility was more concerned about making money than giving them an education and turning their lives around.
This book was really well written you could tell Susan Wiggs did her research .
Now the women have formed an alliance to fight for what they lost
Thank you netgalley

Girls who were considered wayward girls meaning they didn’t fit with what society thought they should or brought shame to their family were taken to a place similar to the ‘school’ in the book. This book is based on true events but all of the events in the book are fictional. The book is set at a time where girls are not educated about their bodies and intimacy and are forbidden to say the word pregnant. Everything is spoken in innuendo and I’m so glad the author wrote the book this way. As a reader I had to figure out what some things meant the same as the girls did. It must have been a very confusing time.

The story is heartbreaking and I liked how the author continued to the very end of the story, going past a point other authors may have stopped. It told the full story of what happened to the girls and the impact it had on their lives. I’m so glad I read this book.