A Mother's Promise

Based on a true story about a US Supreme Court decision (legitimized eugenic sterilization laws), K.D. Alden captures the heart with her moving book A Mother’s Promise. I found myself completely immersed in the lives and personalities of each character in this truly compelling and poignant story.

Virginia, 1927. A chance to have a family. That’s all Ruth Ann Riley wants. But because she was unwed and pregnant, she was sent away and her baby given to another woman. Now they’re trying to take Ruth Ann’s right to have another child. But she can’t stand the thought of never seeing little Annabel’s face again, never snuggling up to her warmth or watching her blue eyes crinkle with laughter. Good thing she has a plan.

All the rich and fancy folks may call her feeble-minded, but Ruth Ann is smarter than any of them have bargained for. Because no matter how high the odds are stacked against her, she is going to overcome the scandals in her past and get her child back—and along the way, she just may find unexpected friendships and the possibility of love in the most unlikely of places.

A Mother’s Promise is a story that swept me up in all the emotions from the beginning. I had no idea that there were so many horrors that existed for those young women who were deemed unfit to have children and become parents. This compelling and disturbing story takes the reader back to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded during 1927 and explores the the day-to-day lives and the abuse these men and women experienced, including forced sterilization.

I became attached to all the endearing characters in this story. They were kind, loving, real, and manipulated by the corruption of power, money and society. The plot moved at a steady pace and I couldn’t tear myself away from the story (except to grab a box of tissues). This is the story of love, loss, heartbreak, courage, and propaganda all written in a beautiful and expressive prose.

Overall, A Mother’s Promise is a heartbreaking story that you must read! It will take you back to 1927 and immerses the reader in the lives and emotions of each character. You will find yourself attached to this book and it’s characters from the beginning, and you will never let them go. This is a story that will stick with me for years to come.

Thank you so much Forever and Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for my honest review.