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Separated from her husband, young journalist Sam and her 4-year-old daughter are staying with Sam’s beloved Nana. Sam is working long hours trying to get ahead and make a decent living so she can better support herself and her little girl. When late one night she sees her grandmother reading an old letter that’s deeply affected her, Sam is intrigued: It’s from a young woman named Ivy who’s been sent to a home for unwed mothers and is describing horrible conditions and is begging her lover to come and get her.
As she learns more, Sam believes this letter and the home Ivy was confined to, St. Margaret’s, could lead her to a big story that could get her a better job: The long-deserted St. Margaret’s is about to be torn down in a matter of days, a priest was recently found dead there, and a famous talk show host was seen at the priest’s inquest. So Sam does some digging. And as she learns more about the horrific history of the home and the young mothers who were essentially imprisoned there and forced to do hard labor (in more ways than one), she starts linking more suspicious deaths to the story. Sam also learns the letters from Ivy may not just be artifacts found in her grandfather’s antique shop: They might actually be linked to her own family’s story.
Sam races against the clock to discover the truth behind the suspicious deaths and the identity of Ivy, who gave birth decades before, and her inquiries may not just be bad for her job, her already rocky marriage and her relationship with her Nana; they may lead her into danger as well.
This story was based on the true events and experiences of young pregnant women who were shut away in homes and generally forced to place their babies for adoption, given no support from their families or communities. It’s heartbreaking, and the conditions they lived in, the way they were treated (slave labor, essentially, and regular abuse at the hands of administrators), were just abominable. The novel brings those stories to life and sheds light on the times while just being a great page-turner. It brings in some mysteries about how the stories and people are connected and just who is responsible for the suspicious deaths. I enjoyed it.
Rated: Moderate, for three or four uses of strong language and occasional moderate language, and some mild violence. Sexual content is limited to references that there was a love affair but no details.
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