Welcome back! It’s the 28th week of First Sentence Friday and Free Book Friday! It’s hard to believe there are now only SEVEN more weeks of First Sentence Fridays/Free Book Friday. 

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About Women of a Promiscuous Nature

“Both a cautionary tale and a deeply compassionate rendering of women wrongly imprisoned in a system designed to break them, Everhart’s propulsive story is filled with injustice, intrigue, and the determination to fight back.” —LISA WINGATE, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shelterwood

Accused of “promiscuity” in 1940s North Carolina, a young woman unjustly incarcerated and subjected to involuntary medical treatment at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women decides to fight back in this powerful, shockingly timely novel based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, the government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality throughout the first half of the 20th century.

The day Ruth Foster’s life changes begins the same way as many others—with a walk through her North Carolina hometown toward the diner where she works. But on this day, Ruth is stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. Women like Ruth—young, unmarried, living alone—must undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease.

Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.

Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences—solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.

But some refuse to be cowed. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost . . .

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Chapter 28 – First Sentence Friday Thoughts

Dorothy Baker has career aspirations but needs her peers to help her reach her goals, which for her, is an uncomfortable situation. What she’d like is to manage the Colony as she sees fit without anyone else’s involvement. That’s not how it works, however, so she has to have agreement from the others who also work there for anything she’s planning – whether changes to programs, or to the facility itself. One goal of hers is to expand the Colony. She’s greased the wheels in the past and failed because while her peers listen to her, and for the most part treat her as their superior, there are and have been disagreements over how she runs things. This has created an undercurrent, not only between Baker and Mrs. Maynard, a housemother that oversees one of the dormitories, but with others, to include the on-site nurse and physicians, etc.

Baker’s wish to grow the facility is based on the actual history at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. (Kinston, North Carolina) I’ve mentioned these biennial reports in other posts and one of the more fascinating parts of my research dealt with the letters I found within these resource materials. The people who wrote them, whether the inmates or staff, provided me different pathways to share this troubling history. A letter that gave me an idea for one of the plot points came from superintendent, Elsa Ernst, who oversaw the running of the Colony for a few years. The report below is for the years 1938 through 1940 and you’ll notice she’s requesting to expand the facility with more dormitories. (highlighted)

SIDEBAR: If you read more than the highlighted area, you’ll also see that women were actually placed into jails if there was no room at the Colony. You’ll also notice the superintendent says around “two thousand white women” (segregation laws were in place at the time) are committed to North Carolina jails each year. Add this up over the years of the American Plan and it’s easy to see how these numbers, given this program was run across the United States, would creep into the tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of women held without due process. (as per Scott Stern’s research in his book, The Trials of Nina McCall)

Baker’s challenges, one of many, is that Mrs. Maynard is always trying to thwart her efforts. There’s a rivalry going on between these two, and Baker is always on alert for ways to insure that she’s not only fully in charge, but that anyone trying to take her place doesn’t get that opportunity. When she sees an opportunity to reveal if some of the rumors about Mrs. Maynard are true, she sets up a “trap” and Mrs. Maynard, with an unsavory weakness, walks right into it.

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Chapter 28

Baker

Mrs. Maynard’s degenerate behavior on full display for the entire population of the Colony to see, while unfortunate, gives Baker what she needs, and yet she finds herself strung out over calling Dr. Woodall.

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Question of the Week

Some of you might know I spent about thirty-five years in a corporate environment before I found myself writing books. There were days when it was extraordinarily tough. I got along well with most of my peers, but there was always that one person who could make things complicated or difficult. Jealousy, competitiveness, and self-serving behaviors sometimes created that infamous phrase coined by someone, a “toxic work environment.” There were days I dreaded going in. Many. When I was placed into a position of management, it seemed to get worse instead of better. I was the sort of boss where I wanted to be nice, to have everyone like me. It doesn’t work that way. Over the years I encountered more than one individual who challenged me. Employees need to show respect, but as a manager I had to earn it – and I did – but it wasn’t easy.

If you worked outside the home, did you have a relationship with someone at work that was challenging? What was it about that individual that made your work life difficult or complicated?

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EXTRA! EXTRA!

In case you missed it out on my social media, there’s a Goodreads Giveaway going on right now for the book!

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PRE-ORDER Information

Pre-orders gauge the interest and signal to the publisher readers are eager for an author’s next work. If you’re holding out because you might win an ARC or a finished copy from First Sentence Friday, remember you can always give away the extra as a gift to a reader friend. 😉

Pre-order links for your convenience:

• Bookshop.org
• Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-A-Million
• Amazon
• Hudson Booksellers
• Target
• Walmart

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Social Media

Last, but not least, don’t forget to:

• Add Women of a Promiscuous Nature to your Goodreads “To Read” shelf
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