Recently, I finished reading The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church. This story, which takes place in the 1960s, involves Lorraine, who’s sent away to hide her teen pregnancy.
What You Should Know
Lorraine is about to start her senior year of high school when the story starts. She’s the only female lifeguard at her community’s pool. She’s headed toward becoming her school’s first female valedictorian. Lorraine has dreams for her future, including potentially becoming an astronaut. Most of her family and friends don’t support her in her dreams. Soon after her senior year starts, Lorraine finds out she’s pregnant. This definitely doesn’t fit with her plans for her life, but she figures she can marry her boyfriend, still graduate as valedictorian, and go to college the following fall. Unfortunately, even these backup plans don’t work out quite the way she’d hoped.
My Thoughts
This was an enjoyable novel. I was very drawn into the book from the beginning. Having not been alive when this story takes place, it’s crazy to me that people were really treated like this, and it was acceptable to treat an unmarried pregnant girl this way. During this time, pregnant teens were often sent away, especially during the later part of their pregnancy. In Lorraine’s case, she was sent to a place where she was treated horribly.
I’ll admit I was very mad at the boyfriend. It’s sad to think how he could just not accept responsibility. The really sad part is that it was his fault more than it was Lorraine’s fault. He really pressured her into it.
Even crazier to me than that this happened is that it really wasn’t that long ago that it was acceptable for pregnant teens to be treated this way. Thank goodness for some progress in society in general (although I do realize there are still some who are treated this way by family and friends). Yes, Lorraine shouldn’t have done what she did, but she should still be treated with respect and not mentally abused and threatened because of her pregnancy.
Ending Warning
This book does have a bit of a bittersweet ending. While I did want a happier ending, I feel like a happier ending wouldn’t have felt realistic. A too happy ending would have taken away from some of the emotional impact of the novel.
Reader Warnings
As a warning to readers, there is a little swearing in the novel. I didn’t count the number of swear words, but I’d guess that there are around 5-8 swear words in the whole novel. This is a story about a teenage girl getting pregnant, so you do get two scenes where her boyfriend is pressuring her into having sex and where she goes along with it. These scenes are mild and over with within about a paragraph.
This book does hit on some serious topics without going into graphic detail on any of them. There is, of course, the topic of sending away pregnant teenagers to be hidden away during the later part of their pregnancy. Some of the other potentially sensitive topics include rape by a family member, blackmail/coercion of a teenager, the perceived role of women in the 1960s, death of a baby, forced adoption, and other similar topics. If you can handle these topics, I feel like this book is worth reading.
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