Welcome back! It’s the 7th week of First Sentence Friday/Free Book Friday!

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About the Book

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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First Sentence Friday Thoughts

This week’s sentence from a Baker chapter, while appearing pretty mundane, hints at Baker’s human side in that it suggests she needs time away from the demands of reform.

It turns out the history regarding the facilities that are a part of where this story takes place, i.e., the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women in Kinston, which operated under that name from 1927-1946, eventually had a superintendent’s cottage, where the individual could live on-site. I thought about this a lot, how an individual could be so devoted they would take up residence nearby, or right on the premises.

In the  beginning until about 1940, the Colony, which was situated on 488 acres (total) with 106 of those used as farmland, began with these structures:

• Buildings A and B, and they contained dormitories/classrooms/offices
• A dairy barn
• A laundry Building (added in 1939)
• They had their own water supply (probably a tower? I haven’t found a picture of that)
• A sewage disposal plant

I obtained a lot of this information through a random find (which is always GOLD) and landed on a historic architecture survey report done in November of 2008 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation:

For this story, I took creative liberty with regard to the buildings, to include the existence of the superintendent’s cottage which wasn’t actually built until 1952. From a biennial report I found out not only did the superintendent provide state leaders (at the highest level, i.e., the governor) a sort of “report card” as to the successes of the facility, it was also the time to request additional money for “betterments” or expansion. while oftentimes this request came from a superintendent, at other times, maybe because persuasion from another source might get a better foothold, it was submitted by someone higher up as well as a person with a financial background as is the case here.

Here is an actual request for funding for several structures, including the cottage (item #4), taken from the biennial report in 1940 for the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women:

Something else on this copied page gave me another idea for Baker as well. (Odd where you can find a story angle.)

I equate a superintendent’s work as the sort of commitment that allowed for very little downtime. They were available, it seems, 24×7. While historic details of personal time is vague, basically  non-existent, I thought Baker, in her “Baker-like” way, would live up to her character, and implement a rule everyone had to follow. She had a reason for this. There was a part of her personal life very few knew about, and certainly, there was no one at the Colony who was aware of an event that happened to her that played a role in the course of her life.

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Chapter 7
Baker

No one is allowed to buzz the superintendent’s cottage for any reason unless it’s an emergency.

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Question of the Week!

When Baker is alone at the cottage for her “off” weekend, there’s one particular thing she likes to do, and it deals with something she’s kept hidden from most who knew her, with the exception of a previous co-worker, and a close friend she had at one time.

When you have your own downtime, or “off” work time, is there anything in particular you always do, or like to do? Do you have something you do that NO ONE knows about? (Spill it!😂)

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Free Read!

I’ll choose one individual who answers the question/s to win a signed copy of one of the backlist books.  It’s reader’s choice out of the following: The Education of Dixie Dupree, The Road to Bittersweet, The Forgiving Kind (with the original cover versus what’s shown here), The Moonshiner’s Daughter, The Saints of Swallow Hill, or When the Jessamine Grows.

The winner is selected and announced here by Monday a.m. 

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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
• Follow me on Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Bookbub, or my blog!

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