“Understand: these girls have neither the mental capacity nor the moral fiber with which to manage their lives. Most of them – quite sadly – should have been drowned at birth in a bucket, like so many unwanted kittens.”
————————
This book will break your heart in the same way The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or Radium Girls did. The horrible atrocities that America thrust upon the poor, downtrodden and mentally challenged in the name of eugenics will shock you. As someone who works in clinical trials, human rights is at the forefront of everything I do. The first thing you learn about is the Nuremburg code and what happened in the Tuskegee syphilis study. This little piece of history covered in A Mother’s Promise is one that has been in the shadows for far too long.
You will feel for Ruth Ann at every turn, she is a sweet, young 16 year old girl who is a victim of her circumstances and is trying desperately not to be. Your stomach will turn at every word that comes out of Dr Price’s mouth and you will grow ill at the treatment Mother Jenkins gives the girls in the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-minded. But this is a book that you must read. If you are someone concerned with social justice and human rights, this story deserves a place in your heart. Ruth Ann’s desire to fight all the way against all odds will impress you.
The outcome of the book and the real case it is based on will floor you. The author’s note at the end explains the truth versus the fiction of this case and frankly I walked away more gobsmacked than ever. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Read Forever Pub and Grand Central Pub for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
What’s the first thing you think of when you think of your mom?
For me it’s breakfast. Not sure why, but she always made a fabulous breakfast.
~ Dana
openmypages 