Welcome back! It’s the 12th 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
While in Atlanta last week at the New Voices, New Rooms conference, one phrase I repeated over and over as I pitched Women of a Promiscuous Nature to eager booksellers was, “there are many dark moments in the story, so remember that while this is fiction, most of what you’re reading actually took place in these institutions.” Later, during another pitch, someone said, “this is historical fiction?” I nodded. “Yes. While I can get pretty creative with my work, what you’ll read that happened to my characters is largely based on facts.”
In this week’s post, Stella Temple is going through a tough spot. She’s both guilty, then anxious. The repercussions after she essentially “rats” on her fellow inmates, is nothing short of horrific. I can’t say more than that, or it will be a spoiler. Stella’s part in how this happens is fictional, but what follows isn’t.
I’m going to provide more information on the methods of reform practices because the history still surprises me. This is text from Bad Girls At Samarcand; Sexuality and Sterilization in a Southern Juvenile Reformatory:
“In March, 1929, another parent, a mother of a girl from Parkton, North Carolina, described the form of justice the girls meted out to one another. This parent also said the girls were punished for complaining to parents. Her own daughter had told her that the girls were forced to lie down while all the other girls in the cottage took turns beating her. According to this parent, if a girl refused ‘to do her share of this licking, she must also take a severe licking for not licking the girl or girls being punished.'”
This of course was a reform school for girls. But, what about women held in places like the Colony, detention hospitals or other facilities? From The Trials of Nina McCall; Sex Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison “Promiscuous” Women:
“Nina’s movements were harshly restricted; even to go outside, she had to ask permission. There was a ditch in front of the building, and the inmates knew the could not to go beyond it. When women went outside without approval or strayed in front of the ditch – and Nina recalled several instances when this happened – they were disciplined. ‘I know of punishment being accorded them,’ Nina gravely testified.
“The details of this punishment are obscured by the fog of history, but evidence from other American Plan institutions reveals that it could be brutal indeed. In Bedford Hill, New York, the reformatory designed to be an exemplar of progressive compassion, inmates at this time were punished in ways reminiscent of medieval torture. ‘Young women,’ a state report read in 1920, ‘who transgressed the rules . . . were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs and fastened to the cell grating by another pair of handcuffs attached to those on their wrists so that in some cases their toes or the balls of their feet only touched the floor; and while suspended, their faces were dipped into pails of water until subdued.'”
The next paragraph goes on to report about flogging, as reported by one female prison reformer named Miriam Van Waters. She surveyed several institutions across the United States and found out that corporal punishment was used often. It happened in nearly half of the places she went. Starving inmates, or giving them a limited diet was found in two-thirds and sometimes this restricted diet might last a few days or even a few months. (!) There was solitary confinement, also known as “meditation.” Cold water baths, drugs that made you sick to your stomach, being hosed down with a fire hose, physical restraints, shaving of heads, the list goes on.
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Chapter 12
Stella
Stella suffers a bout of terrible guilt for what happened to the ones she reported, but this is quickly overshadowed when Mrs. Maynard informs her she’s to meet with the superintendent.
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Question of the Week – ASK DONNA!
This week it’s, ASK DONNA! Ask me about this particular post, my research, about writing, about anything you want.
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Free Read! SURPRISE!!! Another ARC!
The winner is 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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How do you handle writing the hard parts? Do you have to take a break from writing a scene like that, or do you just keep moving forward?
I’m a rubbernecker at heart. Slowing down to gawk at horrific highway scenes – not to say I’m not feeling HORRIBLE if someone is hurt or worse – but they draw my attention and curiosity. I want to know what happened. Who’s at fault, etc. It’s the same with movies, or series, or various shows that might have viewer warnings. I get irritated at the blurring out of the worst. 😂🙄
It’s much the same with writing. When I’m writing a scene that deals with something tough, I tend to speed right along. And yes, I sleep well. 😉
Did you ever get to a point during research where you were so disgusted that you wanted to stop?
(Anonymous is April Reuter)
Got the answer over on FB!
How did you learn of this history? I feel like it is something that has been somewhat hidden. When I researched one of these “camps” in my area, it seemed like an almost glowing history, like the women left the camp proud of themselves and their accomplishment. Surely that’s not the WHOLE truth. We know history is sometimes painted a little more favorably than it actually was. Especially when it comes to the history regarding marginalized populations.
I was just responding to a similar question over on FB, but essentially I was researching reform schools for girls and one thing (literally) led to the other. I eventually landed on the Chamberlain-Kahn Act and that’s what REALLY opened the doors for me with regard to places like the Colony, and detention hospitals where women were held against their will, without due process.
It WAS painted favorable – at the time – because reformers believed in what they were doing. Many women were ashamed and never spoke of it (buried it) while others were actually better off – their home life was so horrible, the camp or a place like the Colony afforded them an opportunity to learn to read, and better themselves. There are two sides to this story – as you’ll find out in the book. 😊
Your posts on this book (like your previous books) are so informative! My question about this story is whether you read in your research anything that you had to stop reading because it was too horrific. All of what you wrote is so horrible, especially knowing that it really happened!
Thank you!
No, if anything it makes me want to keep reading – or find out more. I’m sometimes in a state of awe that it could’ve happened and no one knows about it – that’s the case here with this history.
How many hours do you think you spent on researching for this book.
Teresa Bawa
That’s a great question, but one that’s hard to know. I research every day while writing. I’m constantly looking stuff up. I’m going to try and figure this out and here’s how I’d go about getting some idea.
In the beginning, it’s nothing but research. But, let’s say I write about 5 hours a day (sometimes more, sometimes less) and I might spend 2 hours in research each day. (This could be broken up, most likely, i.e. looking something up on the fly, or focusing on a particular thing – which might result in reading multiple sources.) If it took me 18 months to write the book (or a bit less) that comes down to something (vaguely) like this: 548 = 18 months. I take SOME days off, not many, so I’ll go with 500 days x 5 hours / by 2 = 1250 hours, or approx 52 days.
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Donna, you are always so deep with all the historical content in every book and that is why you keep us reading with such interest! But,,,,when your writing a novel, do you ever give up at any time,,,because you just can’t seem to get it put together, in your mind? Maybe toss it aside and months to years later,,,go back to it? Lenora Picolet
Thank you for that! It means a lot.
I’ve definitely stopped writing when I get stuck. But I’ve never stopped for months at a time – that’s almost impossible when writing under contract. That month – or months – is too critical to waste, so I might stop for a day or two – no more than a week, but the entire time, I’m trying to figure it out. I’m always writing, I think – even when I’m not at my desk, my brain is attempting to solve the problem.
I appreciate your writing style and the thoroughness of your research in presenting accurate facts in your stories. Do you exclusively write historical fiction or have you considered exploring other genres?
By default, I’m also considered a Southern fiction writer, although “southern fiction,” is more of a sub-genre.
I wrote a book that was considered a hard crime novel in 2013/2014. Gosh, I haven’t read it in years! It went out on submission in 2015, and it was the book that led to a contract for my debut – an entirely different book (DIXIE DUPREE) that went out on sub years before in 2012. The way the story goes is, the hard crime novel was out, and it was rejected by my current editor. He liked the writing in the story, but he turned that one down and asked to see something else. SO – if I was going to consider another genre at some point, it might be a suspense, or something like that.
How do you organize your research?
bn100
I love this question, but in truth, it sometimes feels like utter chaos over here.
I have lots of sticky notes, for one thing. I keep my reference books on my desk and they have colored tabs to mark the specific history I include in my story. I recently saw Taylor Jenkins Reid’s research notebook for ATMOSPHERE. Wow. It was one of those HUGE ringed binders and was inches thick. It’s making me rethink how I go about organization, quite honestly because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to look up something more than once.