Based on the true story behind a landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decision, K.D. Alden’s debut is a rich and moving story of one woman’s courage and strength at a pivotal point in America’s history.

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.

Review:

Heartwrenching, insightful, and incredibly absorbing!

A Mother’s Promise is a poignant, compelling tale that sweeps you away to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded during 1927 and delves into the daily lives, anxiety and true horrors experienced by those young women and men deemed unfit to procreate and thus denied parental rights of any children they may already have had and in turn also forcibly sterilized.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are genuine, sympathetic, vulnerable, and lovable. And the plot is a beautifully written, poignant tale about life, loss, love, heartbreak, courage, hope, manipulation, power, corruption, ethics, morality, motherhood, and the unconscionable theory of eugenics.

Overall, A Mother’s Promise is an emotional, heartbreaking, masterfully woven tale by Alden that immerses you so thoroughly into the lives, feelings, and personalities of the characters you never want it to end. It is without a doubt going to be one of my favourite novels of the year and it really shouldn’t be missed.

This novel is available now.

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