Overall, what did you think of Women of a Promiscuous Nature? (No spoilers in this thread, please!)
I’m only 7 chapters in, but so far I find it fascinating, socially horrifying and history everyone should know. I can’t wait to finish.
1 Like
I found this book extremely sad, but I also found myself wanting to keep reading. In the author’s notes at the end, she calls this history “dark, disturbing and unsettling”. I agree and feel that Donna Everhart shared it with us in a very touching way.
1 Like
Parts of this book were tough to read, but I thought they were well done and honest. I am glad to have read it and I do think this history should be known.
1 Like
I was so grateful to read this story. I couldn’t put it down, much as I had to stop several times to catch my breath. It scared me, angered me and fear that it can happen again. Thank you so much for gifting me this wonderful, important book.
Not my cup of tea. I prefer character driven literary fiction. The writing was ok but there are typos and that really drives me nuts! I think the author played it safe in some ways especially re: Stella, Baker and baker’s assistant whose name I can’t recall even though I just finished 
The characters lacked a depth to them and they became stereotypes.
I’m glad I read the book, and I found it easy to associate the treatment of women in this book with so many other tragic and abusive ways governments have tried to control the governed. The more I think about the book, the more similar instances come to mind.
Of all the characters, I found Baker hardest to believe. She seemed uni-dimensional to me through large parts of the book. Ruth and Stella had more rounded, fully thought out personalities.
It was a gripping and emotionally difficult read and well worth the effort.
I am glad that I read it. I did not know the extent of programs like this, although I had heard about mandatory sterilization and how easily women could be accused of being mentally unstable and forced into various institutions. I think any book that is trying to cover such a large historically-true period of disturbing history is probably not going to flow as easily as literary fiction.
This book reminds me of the Supreme Court case Buck v Bell. That was a case about forced sterilization of women. The underlying premise of the case was a deeply held belief about poverty, women and the government’s intervention into the lives of poor women. It was a chilling moment in our American history. This feels like a realist riff on the same topics.
I found it hard to read. It was sad how these women were treated. i had to put it down at times. I think Donna Everhart did a good job in portraying this women. This book was very well researched.
Although obviously fictional the book taught about a program I had never heard about. It made me want to learn more about The American Plan.
I would not have picked this book, the First Impressions program helps me to branch out from my usual “comfort reads”. The topic is so horrific, it was hard to take, but the rhythm and pacing and the POV switches really helped me to stay with it. I am glad to have learned about this topic in history. I for sure knew about “reform schools” and forced sterilization and eugenics programs all sanctioned by our government and paid for by taxpayers but this, pulling women off the street of from their homes to “rehabilitate” them was beyond my imagination.
1 Like
I’m really glad I had the opportunity to read this book. But I wasn’t that far into it before I had to stop reading for a few days since I was getting angry and upset over why these women ended up at the farm colony. They were being literally snatched off the street, subjected to invasive and unfair medical tests and procedures, and incarcerated, without a trial or hearing of any kind. The injustice of it was hard for me to process. Why did we never hear of “The American Plan” in school? This was a shameful event in our nation’s history.
I am glad that I read this book and learned an important part of history. And I look forward to other books by Donna Everhart.
I really enjoyed this book and it told me about a historic time that I wasn’t familiar with. When I read the notes about the book prior to reading, I thought it was a dystopian novel. To my surprise once reading, it was based on real events. I thought the book was able to depict the time in an honest manner. The writing kept me wanting more.
I really liked this book. It was 4.5 stars for me. Mostly driven by the research that went into the story. It sent me down a rabbit hole …wanting to know more of what went on during this time period. Forced incarceration without due cause, sterilization without consent and horrific treatment…medical treatment so primitive for nebulous tests and barbaric treatment modalities. Ruth did not have syphilis (we know that) yet was forced to endure the very toxic treatment of the day with arsenic based medication and mercury…. Stella had an abortion and was sterilized and she had no idea…She was told she had a tumor! The fact that the ending was not really a happy one…the lawsuits brought about by the girls of Samarcand and Buck vs Bell were lost. The earlier decisions upheld by he supreme court. The government believed they were “right” in dealing with “fallen women”, promiscuous women and the feeble-minded. What a blight on our nation. A story that needed to be told…
Absolutely agree! I actually gave the book 5/5 because I found myself so angry at times I had to talk to my husband about it. I was incredibly drawn to the characters and as someone who grew up in eastern NC, I never heard any history about this place. I went down the research rabbit hole as well!
I really enjoyed this book even though I was appalled at the circumstances it depicted. I had not heard of the American Plan before and of course, women were treated with such little respect. It is a story that needed to be told.
Women of a Promiscuous Nature was compelling. I am always amazed how well-written and well-researched historical fiction can enlighten and educate. That these horrifying and damaging institutions to women were planned and operated by the government is beyond comprehension.