Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy of this book.

Oh my goodness, my heart. If you read Sadeqa’s previous book, The Yellow Wife, you know she can pack an emotional punch, and also write a very compelling story. I devoured this book despite the hard content and already know it’ll be on my top historical fiction list for 2023.

Told in dual perspective from Eleanor and Ruby, we find out what it’s like to get pregnant unexpectedly as a teenager and college student, and what it’s like to not be able to live up to the expectations of an elite Black family in 1950s Philadelphia. If you read The Girls Who Went Away, one storyline closely follows the experiences described in that book about women who were sent away to “quietly” have their babies - in other words, pay penance for their sins and be forced to give up their babies. The other storyline follows the dynamic of classism amongst Black people in this era. The two stories intertwine perfectly, and also tie back back into The Yellow Wife that ends up being the cherry on top. Sadeqa is an auto-buy author for me at this point, and this is an excellent and important read.