If you want to learn something new but abhor nonfiction, then dive into a historical fiction novel. The best historical fiction authors authentically recreate a time period with music, movies, and cultural details. In Wayward Girls, Susan Wiggs writes about the forced labor of young girls in a Magdalene laundry in Buffalo, New York, during the Vietnam Era. Wiggs’ cultural references add to the atmosphere of the story.

Run by nuns, The Good Shepherd was a Catholic reform school for “wayward girls.” Unbeknownst to the parents and community of Buffalo, the girls were abused and treated as slave labor in the laundry.

We meet six girls who were sent to The Good Shepherd for a variety of reasons. They form a sisterhood as a way to survive the cruelty of their situation – a true example of trauma bonding. Their resiliency is remarkable.

Our indefatigable heroine is Mairin O’Hara. Her mother sent her to the nuns for protection from her own stepfather, and Mairin is determined to escape the harsh living conditions of the laundry.

Angela is a beautiful young woman who is attracted to girls. Her grandmother sent her to the nuns to be reformed, and she becomes the victim of a sexual predator.

The four other girls’ stories are just as heartbreaking, and they made the novel difficult to read at times. After turning the last page, I had to dig deeper and do my own research. The Magdalene Laundries were part of an international system of institutions to house “fallen women,” becoming self-sufficient by forcing the girls and women to work in the laundries without pay.

The laundries are well known in Ireland and ran from the 18th century until the last one closed in 1996 in Dublin. Watch The Magdalene Sisters, a Netflix documentary, or Small Things Like These, a film starring Cillian Murphy, to learn more about the Irish laundries.

Thirty-eight Magdalene Laundries operated in the U.S. from 1800 until the 1960s. They acted as a shadow penal system to punish women who did not obey the rules of society.

Wiggs says Wayward Girls is a book she wanted to write for a long time and is a “story of female empowerment, justice and all the loves that enrich a woman’s life.” Wiggs also shed light on a part of our history of which I was ignorant. Reading opens windows and doors to new knowledge.

Look for these recommendations and other books at Knox County Online Library or your local independent bookstore each week.

Linda Sullivan is an avid reader and wants to inspire you to become one, too. For more recommendations or to talk books, reach out to her at thebookwhisperertn@gmail.com. She can also be found @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.

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