Welcome back! It’s the 26th week of First Sentence Friday and Free Book Friday! (It’s hard to believe there are only NINE 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 26 – First Sentence Friday Thoughts
In mental institutions, they called them “padded rooms,” and an individual might be placed there to think, to calm down, but I think sometimes they were also used as a form of punishment. This was certainly the case for many of the hapless women who ended up in an institution for reform. Rooms like this still exist. For instance, at schools, they’re known as “calming rooms” or “seclusion rooms.” Even as recently as 2024, there have been reports of this sort of confinement and the potential for the damage that can be caused.
What about in 1941 when there was a lot less oversight? In several resource materials, like the previous mentioned book, Bad Girls at Samarcand, Sexuality and Sterilization in a Southern Juvenile Reformatory, (Karen Zipf) the very reasons the two dormitories were burned at that reform school, had to do with the anger and injustice felt by the young inmates for what they saw as excessive abuse. Whippings, isolation and denying adequate food were used to control the inmate population.
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Chapter 26
Ruth
Still vivid in her mind is the meditation room with its unique smell, damp chilliness, and endless days and nights of monotony, and yet Ruth is still glad she refused to participate in the group punishment.
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ASK DONNA!
This week you get to ask me a question!
Ask anything about the book, about this post, about writing, about what I’m reading, anything you want!
Here’s my question for you – are you ready for the holidays??? A random commenter will be selected for this week’s signed ARC!
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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
- Share this post with your reader friends
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This is the first Christmas since my husband died that I’ve gotten excited about the holiday. I have about half of my shopping done which is pretty amazing because I’m usual a last minute shopper.
I imagine that has been very hard, but I’m happy to know things are getting better. I’m usually done all my shopping by now, but this year, it seems as if everything has snuck up on me.
Hello Donna,
My question for you: how do you not let the current happenings in our country affect how you write?
On a holiday note, I’m excited to be visiting my family in Nevada, (not excited about the seven, plus hour drive, but it’s a great excuse to listen to an audiobook).
Happy Thanksgiving!
Michele Waite
Hi Michele,
There’s enough about that in everything it seems, so I do my best to not let it invade my writing space. Obviously, easier “said” than done – but the easiest way to steer myself into an opinion free zone (haha) is to stick to the facts of history.
Safe travels – and YES, I love listening to audiobooks while on the road!
Not ready for the holidays yet! How do you protect yourself from melancholy when you’re writing a heart-wrenching story?
I’m getting there! 🎄🎁
I’ve never been sad about what I’m writing – but I’ve definteley been down about struggling to get a book written. I think I’m not bothered by my topics b/c I feel in contro – if that makes sense? I.e. I’m the one writing what happens, or doesn’t.
*** Don’t know who this is – you came through as anonymous!
I’m definitely not ready for the holidays. In my head it should still be May! But after Thanksgiving, I’ll put up the Christmas tree/decorations. Hopefully, that will put me in a holiday mood.
How are things going with your WIP? At the retreat, you said you had a character in the story that you really liked but were debating whether to leave him in or not.
I hear you on the May thing. I told my husband I felt like I’d JUST put my decorations up! That’s all it takes for me – put the decorations out, and I’m there. (which I did starting Thursday and finished today. Whew)
Did I say that? (LOL) All the characters remain! 😁
We are having an early Christmas with our sons, dils, and grandchildren the first weekend in December. Thanksgiving will be spent with my siblings and their spouses. I’m scrambling to get everything ready! I need to retire!
Do you gift books (your own of other authors) for Christmas presents?
That sounds like fun – but scrambling to prepare does not! Somehow, it all comes together, doesn’t it? About five days ago I had nothing done – and as of this moment – ALL the decorating is done.
Gifts of books – yes, I do – but not mine. Those are given out for no particular reason, usually on a whim, or for things like this out here.
Yes. What are your Thanksgiving plans?
bn100
We will cook the Thanksgiving meal and my daughter and the grands will come to eat with us. 🍗🥧🍠🥔🥗
Hi, Donna. Thanks for your newsletter and the interesting questions you pose.
Can you think of anyone living or dead whom you would like to meet and why? Picking more than one person presents no problem, but I’m not sure how much you would like to elaborate.
I’m preparing for the holidays, in part by looking for ways to help my wife with anything she might need. She always comes up with much more elaborate holiday plans than I do (LOL).
I have no idea why this question always stumps me, but it does. Everytime I think of someone (and this has happened before) I go, no, not that person, this one, but then it changes again. While trying to answer this question THIS time, I’ve already thought of Jesus, (but then, wouldn’t I be dead???) my maternal grandmother who passed when I was eight, and Sylvia Plath. Since I typed them out, I’ll go with them. Jesus, b/c I want to meet and talk to the man who walked the earth prior to his ascension. My grandmother because I think she could straighten some things out about my mother’s childhood. And, Sylvia Plath just to ask her “WHY would you go and do something like that – over him???” Love is too hard, too difficult, she might say.
I’m impressed with your wife – I’m always trying to eliminate something. 😂
R U ready for the holiday season? Between your writing and your family, I can’t imagine that there’s enough time to “relax and enjoy.” I’m ready for Thanksgiving b/c friends have invited us to share their meal and their company. We don’t start decorating for Christmas till early December, but we leave everything in place till the end of January. We like to prolong the feelings of the season as long as we possibly can. It’s a positive way to get through the dark and dreary winter days so common in the Pacific Northwest.
You hit the nail on the head. There isn’t much relaxing or enjoying as it is a LOT of work. Example: I clean my house every Thursday. Anyone/everyone who knows me knows this. So, this past Thursday I thought, well, I might as well decorate too, because Thanksgiving is next Thursday and if I don’t do it now, I’ll be scrambling. PLUS, there’s no sense cleaning the house only to drag all the holiday decorations down over the weekend and mess it up. So, since Thursday, I’ve been decorating and cleaning, and decorating and cleaning. Today, I’m finally done. Now I have about two days before we will begin the cooking/baking for Thanksgiving. 🥵
I love that you all keep your stuff up that long! Quite honestly in this house first thing on Dec 26th the tree comes down. I keep my outside lights up, and the candles in the windows, but everything else is removed and stored.