Audiobook10 hours
The Myth of Surrender: A Novel
Written by Kelly O'Connor McNees
Narrated by Carlotta Brentan
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
In 1960, free-spirited Doreen is a recent high-school grad and waitress in a Chicago diner. She doesn't know Margie, sixteen and bookish, who lives a sheltered suburban life, but they soon meet when unplanned pregnancies send them to the Holy Family Home for the Wayward in rural Illinois. Assigned as roommates because their due dates line up, Margie and Doreen navigate Holy Family's culture of secrecy and shame and become fast friends as the weight of their coming decision-to keep or surrender their babies-becomes clear.
Except, they soon realize, the decision has already been made for them. Holy Family, like many of the maternity homes where 1.5 million women "relinquished" their babies in what is now known as the Baby Scoop Era, is not interested in what the birth mothers want. In its zeal to make the babies "legitimate" in closed adoptions, Holy Family manipulates and bullies birth mothers, often coercing them to sign away their parental rights while still under the effects of anesthesia.
What happens next, as their babies are born and they leave Holy Family behind, will force each woman to confront the depths and limits of motherhood and friendship, and fight to reclaim control over their own lives.
Except, they soon realize, the decision has already been made for them. Holy Family, like many of the maternity homes where 1.5 million women "relinquished" their babies in what is now known as the Baby Scoop Era, is not interested in what the birth mothers want. In its zeal to make the babies "legitimate" in closed adoptions, Holy Family manipulates and bullies birth mothers, often coercing them to sign away their parental rights while still under the effects of anesthesia.
What happens next, as their babies are born and they leave Holy Family behind, will force each woman to confront the depths and limits of motherhood and friendship, and fight to reclaim control over their own lives.
Author
Kelly O'Connor McNees
Kelly O'Connor McNees is the critically acclaimed author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, In Need of a Good Wife, and The Island of Doves. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.
Related to The Myth of Surrender
Related audiobooks
Paradise Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mercy Will Follow Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDog Days Forever: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Floating Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Compound: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stories We Never Told Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sister Season Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fifty First Dates After Fifty: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne True Theory of Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Beach House: Coming Home: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Friends with Boats Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Our Short History: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Clan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlueprints for Building Better Girls Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Jasmine Blooms: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The Guest List: The Guest List Book Complete Analysis & Study Guide Chapter by Chapter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTommy's Field Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaybe She'll Stay: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where The Old Roses Grow: Eureka Springs Second Chance Romance Prequel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMain Character Energy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ladies' Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lake Season: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wind Will Catch You Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'm the One Who Got Away: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talk of the Town Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Library of Second Chances: A Heartwarming Summer Romance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Reunion: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding Forever: A 1970s Love Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Things We Knew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Historical Fiction For You
Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Apothecary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alice Network: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Eve Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weyward: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Yellow Wife: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West with Giraffes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5News of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Quiet on the Western Front Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Clan of the Cave Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Us Descend: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before I Met You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Myth of Surrender
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews