Based on the true story behind a landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decision, K.D. Alden’s debut is a rich and moving story of one woman’s courage and determination to get her child back when all odds are stacked against her.
Virginia, 1927: All Ruth Ann Riley wants is a chance to have a family. But because she was poor and unwed when she became pregnant, she was sent to an institution and her … she was sent to an institution and her child was given to another woman. Ruth Ann can’t stand the thought of never seeing little Annabel’s face again, never snuggling up to her warmth or watching her blue eyes crinkle with laughter. And now they want to take away her right to have any other babies? She is not going to let that happen.
All the rich and fancy folks may call her feebleminded, but Ruth Ann is smarter than any of them have bargained for. Because no matter how high the odds are stacked against her, she is going to overcome the scandals in her past and get her child back. She just never expects her battle will go to the U.S. Supreme Court, or that she’d find unexpected friendships . . . and even the possibility of love along the way.
Ruth Ann is living at The Virginia Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded in Virginia as the novel opens. She is treated as if she was feeble minded but the main reason she was there was because she was seen as an impure woman. She had been raped and was sent to the home when she got pregnant. Her mother is also a patient there. The women are treated terribly – they are forced to work all day and frequently beaten by the woman in charge. Ruth Ann’s main goal is to find her baby that was taken away from her at birth and given to a couple. She plans an escape with the help of Clarence who is also at the home due to the fact that he was born with only one hand. She ends up back at the home after her failed escape and finds out that the doctor plans to sterilize her so that she can’t have more children. The scientific belief at the time was eugenics. Many doctors believed that if the feeble minded and less desirable people were sterilized, that would limit the feeble minded in the next generation because of the belief that people who were not bright, would have children with the same problem. Dr. Price is performing this operation on many of the young girls at the home and Ruth Ann is the first one to really fight him on the issue. He hires a friend who is a lawyer to defend Ruth Ann so that he can get more publicity and agreement from the state that eugenics is the proper treatment for undesirable people. Ruth Ann is a fighter and much more intelligent that she is given credit for. Her goal in life is to live in the outside world and raise her baby. Will this case going to trial help her or will it uphold the practices of Dr. Price?
Ruth Ann is a well written and very likable character. Even though she is labeled as feeble minded, she is much more intelligent than many of the people around her. Her fight to stop her sterilization had me rooting for her all the way to the Supreme Court. This fantastic book was based on a true story about the legality of forced sterilization on people who were believed to be undesirable.
There are just some decisions in our blemished past that should be erased from our history forever. I learned so much about the 1927 US Supreme Court Buck vs Bell decision that put into law sterilizing what some may consider unfit – this ruling led to as many as 70,000 Americans being sterilized. The eugenicists labeled these women unfit by reasons of being poor, feebleminded or indolent. However did such a thing become law?
Carrie Buck’s character was fictionalized in this heartbreaking story A Mother’s Promise” and Alden wrote this story in a deeply moving and completely immersive that I found myself deeply absorbed into this part of our American History. I just cannot fathom that this indeed happened in real life.
This certainly is a thought provoking read and had a wonderful time discussing this book with some other readers in a group.
The writing style was engrossing with great pacing that really engaged my attention from the start.
I highly recommend this fantastic historical fiction book!
Ruth Ann Riley, who had a child after a man forced himself on her, is cast out of her home and taken to live at a facility for the feeble-minded. A life of hard labor ensues with little happiness until Ruth Ann meets Clarence, another inmate. His kindness helps to lift her spirits. But she cannot avoid the horrors inflicted upon the girls by a doctor who feels it is his role to purge society of the burden caused by these degenerate women. The policy of eugenics—purifying the blood line—was all too real in this country, and soon Ruth Ann’s future is in jeopardy. Can she realize her self-worth to find freedom and happiness? Her journey is one of hope and strength. A Mother’s Promise is an impactful, informative, and emotional story that needs to be heard. Disclosure – I received a review copy from the author. This is my honest and unbiased review.
K.D. Alden is the pseudonym of a well-known but unnamed author. This is her first historical novel and it was an emotional read. Based on a true story whose case made its way to the Supreme Court it was heartwrenching in its telling but had a few moments of compassion. The story begins in Virginia in 1927 but we learn about some of what takes place before then. The story culminates in 1949 with the epilogue. It’s not that long ago but this Supreme Court case has had far-reaching consequences to the detriment of many due to the collusion of some men and the way they presented the case and their legal arguments.
This is Ruth Ann’s story along with her out-of-wedlock baby, her widowed mother who did all she could to keep her family together and food on their table, and her younger sister who was torn from the foster home she was living at. All except Ruth Ann’s baby ended up at the State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded which was a hard place to live given what their days looked like and under whose charge they were. Clarence, a jack of all trades who also lived at the Colony, had a stump for one hand and while he seemed to have some privileges he wasn’t treated much better. He did have a warm spot for Ruth Ann and did all he could to ease her pain and suffering. Ruby, a black woman, who was an attendant who cared for those most in need had a kind heart although she couldn’t let those in charge know it.
There was a lot of evil intent and actions against those they considered feeble, imbeciles, or morons. That they could justify sexual sterilization without consent so that those deemed defective couldn’t produce offspring who would also be socially inadequate and live off the state was unconscionable. We learn of their lives, their friendships, the gossip, the loony bin, the fear, the medical injustices as well as some of the good. I definitely felt the emotions as I read and cried along with the characters. The characters had a depth to them and the story had a nice flow to it.
The epilogue which took place in 1949 gave wonderful closure along with a better-than-expected happily ever after especially with the way Ruth Ann’s life was while in the Colony. The history behind Ruth Ann’s story and the Buck v. Bell legal case was enlightening and told us the liberties taken by the author. The information about the eugenics movement and the case was informative and heartbreaking. The discussion questions were thought-provoking and the opinion for the case by one of the justices of the Supreme Court was downright scary. I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading fiction that is based on true stories.
This heart wrenching story had me furious throughout the book for Ruth Ann, Clarence and the other girls. It is a powerful book that had me all in my feelings but I didn’t want it to end. Loved it
I really enjoyed this powerful story. I enjoy historical fiction from time to time and was intrigued by the fact that this story was based on a true story. The fact that these events occurred less than one hundred years ago is almost shocking because everything about this story seems unreasonable and unfair. My heart ached for the things that Ruth Ann and the rest of the characters went through over the course of this story. I am so glad that I decided to give this book a try.
This book tells Ruth Ann’s story, along with the other residents of the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded. Ruth Ann was set to the institution after becoming pregnant as an unwed teen. Her mother is also at the institution but in a more secured area. Ruth Ann’s baby, Annabel, was taken from her at birth and given to someone else to raise. Ruth Ann spends her days doing hard labor, often laundry, with some of the other residents and is punished quite severely if things go wrong. Ruth Ann wants nothing more than to raise her baby but nobody seems to want to see that happen. Instead, Ruth Ann is informed that she needs to have an operation that will make it so that she will never be able to have more children.
So many things made me angry about the things that happened to Ruth Ann. She is quite intelligent but is constantly told that she is feebleminded. Her real crime is that she was born poor and had to leave school after sixth grade to work. I hated the fact that the few men in power were making decisions about who was worthy of having children and often didn’t even tell the patient the real reason for the surgery that they were having. Even the court cases seemed less about standing up for the individual’s rights and giving Ruth Ann a voice than I had hoped to see.
Ruth Ann was a fantastic character. She was smart and resilient. She has been through a lot in her life but doesn’t stop trying to do the best she can given her circumstances. She looks out for the younger girls and doesn’t rock the boat all too often. There were a lot of great characters at the institution. Clarence was wonderful from the start and I liked him more and more as the book progressed. There were several other girls that were close to Ruth Ann and I thought that their stories added a lot to the book.
I believe that this is the first time that I have listened to Bethany Anne Lind’s narration and I thought that she did a fantastic job with this book. I thought that her voice was perfect for Ruth Ann and she really brought her character to life. The other voices that she used were equally well done. I thought that she added a lot of emotion to the story which added to my overall enjoyment of the book.
I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction. This was a very powerful story and I really appreciated the fact that she included some information about the actual case this book was based on at the end of the book. The book was based on the case Buck vs. Bell which was decided in 1927. Carrie Buck somehow became the person behind the case that has allowed countless forced sterilizations in the years since her case. In my opinion, what was done to Carrie was wrong as is every other instance of forced sterilization. It is hard to believe that to this date this case has yet to be overturned. K.D. Alden did a fabulous job with this book and I hope to read more of her work in the future.
I received a copy of this book from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and purchased a copy of the audiobook.
Ruth Ann Riley was taken advantage of and had a child out of wedlock in 1927. That was unacceptable at that time, and she was to blame for the predicaments she got herself into. Because of her situation, her child was taken from her and she was put into a home for epileptics and the feebleminded. The same place her mother currently is also. She is looked at as if she has no say, no rights and has no education.
Dr. Price tells Ruth Ann that she is going to be having an operation, but it will not hurt and it is for her best interest. Other’s have also gotten this procedure done and they have healed and are now fine. What is this procedure, she wants to know. Although Dr. Price acts as though she will not understand, he tells her she is to get her tubes tied. She does not need to have any more children because of her family history and the state does not want her to cause more burden and costs on them by having more. One was already one too many in their eyes.
Ruth Ann understands all too well what that means. She may not understand all of the medical terms he used, but how can he make such a decision on her behalf. Isn’t it her choice if she wants to have more children, and if he takes that from her she will never find a man to marry as she could not give him sires.
She decides to escape for two reasons. One is to attempt to get her baby back and second, she is not about to let anyone cut into her and take away her being able to have any more children. That is not right. She gets herself into a situation and asks the last person she thought she would for help with Dr. Price. That person does help her get a lawyer to plead her case and for now Dr. Price is not allowed to do any operation on her.
Although Ruth Ann sees others he is operating on instead, and they are in pain, sore, sick and told they had to have an appendectomy done. They really do not understand the truth of what happened to them. Ruth Ann’s case make it all the way to the Supreme Court but not with any help from the sleazy lawyer that took her case, pro bono and for the wrong reason.
This story just flowed and I could not read fast enough. I cannot believe that this is based on a true story and the ultimate outcome that came out of it all, and that it still stands to this day! I loved that the author included details in the back as to what was true and what was fiction, and also information on the actual case this is based on. Thank you to Forever Publishing for the free novel and to Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for the invite!
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading A Mother’s Promise. Such a compelling read!
It is about a very dark period in the 1920’s when a young girl, Ruth Ann, was sent to The Virginia Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded. Ruth Ann had the misfortune of being pregnant (as a result of rape) and as a young, unmarried girl this caused her to be sent to this “home”. Ruth Ann was judged as having very little mental capacity or moral fibre. And, because of this, she was scheduled to be sterilized in order to not reproduce any offspring of similar “flawed genetics.”
The hardships and abuse of the residents in this home is very hard to read about. Ruth Ann is adept at letting her mind escape during the abuse. But when her sterilization procedure is scheduled, she shows the reader how smart and resourceful she can be. Even at her young age she understands that it simply is not right that she be sterilized against her will.
I love Ruth Ann……so much intelligence even though she only got to grade 6. She is resilient, loving, vulnerable, imaginative and diligent. I think she is one of my favourite characters I have ever encountered in a book.
The book is both character and plot driven, a combination I love. So many unique characters besides Ruth Ann. Good characters and bad ones. The plot is horrifying and interesting at the same time.
The story is loosely based on the case Buck vs Bell. The author did extensive research on the case and changed a few things to suit Ruth Ann and the story better. The changes are explained at the end of the book, as is the case Buck vs Bell.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy.
Heartwrenching, insightful, and incredibly absorbing!
A Mother’s Promise is a poignant, compelling tale that sweeps you away to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded during 1927 and delves into the daily lives, anxiety and true horrors experienced by those young women and men deemed unfit to procreate and thus denied parental rights of any children they may already have had and in turn also forcibly sterilized.
The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are genuine, sympathetic, vulnerable, and lovable. And the plot is a beautifully written, poignant tale about life, loss, love, heartbreak, courage, hope, manipulation, power, corruption, ethics, morality, motherhood, and the unconscionable theory of eugenics.
Overall, A Mother’s Promise is an emotional, heartbreaking, masterfully woven tale by Alden that immerses you so thoroughly into the lives, feelings, and personalities of the characters you never want it to end. It is without a doubt going to be one of my favourite novels of the year and it really shouldn’t be missed.
Fight for my child, fight for my life
I could not believe, as I was reading this book, that anyone could put someone in an institution simply for being an unwed mother. It was even worse in Ruth Ann’s case because she had been raped against her will and by the nephew of the family that took her in and raised her when she was taken from her mother. The family did not believe her story and sent her to the institution. She soon found other girls were there for the same reason.
I find it very wrong that young women were sterilized against their will so they could never have more children. The women were labeled feeble minded and a drain on society. Ruth Ann never was allowed to speak up for herself at any court hearings. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and the doctors were given the right to sterilize the feeble minded. The problem being the doctors made the determination on who was feeble minded.
I liked the story and the characters. Ruth Ann showed great courage. Clarence and Glory her best friends, Bonnie her sister and the baby, Annabelle, that they took from her at birth. She fought to keep her body intact and to see the child they took from her.
The story was sad, the ending was good. The author did a good job of portraying conditions of the institution and feelings and emotions of the characters.
When I read at the end of the book that it had actually been based on a true court case of a girl at the institution it gave the story even more meaning.
I think this story is one that needs to be read and we need to think about it for a while. I would recommend it.
Thanks to K.D. Alden. forever(Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for allowing me to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
An emotional, gripping read about the injustice perpetrated on individuals deemed “feebleminded” or “defective”, who underwent forced sterilization during the eugenics programs of the 1920s to “protect” society from their supposedly inferior genes. Based on a true story that takes events all the way to the Supreme Court, we see the battle for justice through the eyes of Ruth Ann, an uneducated but intelligent young woman who became a mother as a result of a rape. Ruth Ann wants nothing more than to raise her baby, but the authorities have taken the child from her and confined Ruth Ann to a home for degenerate women. Moreover, she is scheduled to undergo a sterilization procedure to ensure she doesn’t reproduce again. But they underestimated Ruth Ann, who resolves to fight for her independence and her child. Haunting and beautifully told.
This is not an easy story to digest, but is a must read. The subject matter is difficult and that it is based loosely on a true story of one of so many women who were tortured/treated with such disregard is important to never forget. These horrors happened not all that long ago and if we fail to remember it we are destined to repeat it. Ruth Ann becomes pregnant after being raped and when no one believes her “story of being raped” she is sent to the Virginia Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded. That is just the beginning of her long often horrifying journey. She has a spirit that is truly astonishing. She is judged as having little mental capacity or moral fiber she is scheduled to be sterilized so as to not produce any one with “flawed genetics”. She is a sweet lovely girl who though they’ve dubbed her feeble minded is smart enough to know that what is happening to her and others like her is deeply horrifyingly wrong. And so after her child is taken away from her she decides to fight back. It is an arduous and wrenching road that leads her to amongst other things the U.S. Supreme Court. It is based on the case Buck vs Bell. The author have shown is much care, respect and concern for the women this story represents, both real and imagined. More than any of them experienced in their lives. Its an emotional and difficult read, but it was truly worth the time and many gasps I experienced while reading.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This is a story that came about from a true happening, and when you finish this page turner story, be sure to read the author’s notes!
The horrors perpetrated in this story are true, and as you read in the book description it is based on a real Supreme Court Case.
Your heart will break for Ruth Ann, how wrong and small minded this doctor and lawyer are, and the victim’s can do nothing to stop what happens to them.
This is a book that is going to linger and one you will be taking about, so much injustice and power, but be aware this law is still on the books and it is perfectly legal.
I loved that we are given epilogue, and we continue with Ruth Ann’s life and how this story played out!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Forever, and was not required to give a positive review.
There are some books that you can’t stop thinking about when you close the book, and the characters and ideas of the book stay with you long after you read it – this is one of those books for me. I was amazed that this was K.D. Alden’s debut novel, her storytelling is incredible. I have recently been shying away from books with difficult topics and having a hard time reading, but this book drew me in and wouldn’t let go. It was about a difficult subject matter, but the incredible storytelling and brave characters made it interesting to read instead of depressing. Every time I started reading I was instantly drawn in and saw myself sitting there with the characters walking through life with them, my heart breaking with theirs as things happened to them. I loved that information about the real life supreme court case that this book was based off of, was included at the end. I have so much more I would love to say about this book, but I am not sure I can without spoiling the story. So I’ll just say that I can’t wait to see what books K.D. Alden writes in the future. I received an ARC of this book on Netgalley, and this is my honest review.
This book based on a true story is truly heartbreaking. It’s 1927 and Ruth Anne is unwed and pregnant. She is sent away to an institution with other unwed mothers.. After the babies are born, they are taken away from the mothers and the mothers are deemed feeble minded and the girls are sterilized. Most of the girls are in the institution are in their predicaments because of rape. Ruth Ann wants to keep her daughter Annabelle and doesn’t want her chance of having other children taken away from her. This was a heartbreaking book made so by knowing it was based on a true story. I loved Ruth Ann’s courage and her fighting spirit! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.