Diane Chamberlain

Diane Chamberlain has nailed the difficult task of wrapping a murder mystery around a time of political upheaval. Count yourself lucky if you are too young to have lived then and/or have first hand knowledge of the horrors of the violent racial miasma that ran rampant in the United States in 1965. What am I even saying? It hasn’t gone away - it is in the news every other day - - the shame, the horror of hatred and blatant racism. Chamberlain doesn’t leave it at that, she also typifies show more the young who feel they have to address the unfairness and become involved, often rushing in with the best intentions while leaving the door open to disaster. Chamberlain makes sure we realize that zealots come in all shapes, sizes, genders, colors and attitudes. While Chamberlain has focused her attention on the near “Deep South” eschewing that the Carolinas are so much more progressive than the deep and dark prejudice and violence of Mississippi, Alabama, etc. those Satan Robes and Hoods are equally deadly in any State, and they existed in many including the Northeast.

Not to detract from the current time line, the past is just so powerful that everything else struck me as just noise and background. This is a really interesting book that looks hard and long at the “then and now” and doesn’t flinch from exposing prejudices that don’t die but become better cloaked in the guise of gentility. The characters are not pencil sketches but deep depictions of those who hate, those who defend, those who churn and those who stand and fight. A powerful, thought provoking book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy. show less

I had no idea what this was really about when I received the review copy from the publisher. Then I found it on my "hafta read" pile for the Maine Reader's Choice Award panel. I hesitate to call it a delightful surprise since the subject matter, Eugenics, is one that is deeply controversial and ugly.

Evidently, in the US, several states had Eugenics programs in place allowing them to sterilize certain institutionalized citizens deemed unsuitable for procreating for a number of reasons, e.g., show more epilepsy, mental retardation, etc. In North Carolina, the setting of this story, social workers were allowed to recommend this procedure on clients who were members of the general population without their residing in an institution. Often they were simply poor, undereducated, and malnourished.

In the story, we follow Jane Forrester and Ivy Hart. Jane is an upper middle class college graduate, recently married to a pediatrician who does not want his wife to work. Jane has different ideas, wanting to have some sort of career before settling down to staying home to raise children. She is hired as a social worker in North Carolina in the early 1960's. Ivy Hart is one of her clients, a 15 year old girl who is trying hard to be a caregiver to a diabetic grandmother, a mother to her slightly retarded older sister and the sister's child "baby William" all the while trying to stay in high school and be the first in the family to graduate.

The poverty of the Hart family is thoroughly depressing and would crush the spirit of just about any normal person. Ivy, with encouragement from Jane, is determined NOT to allow herself to become pregnant, and at the same time is doing everything she can to be sure that her sister, who is known to be quite promiscuous, does not have another child. The social services department for whom Jane works, is determined to sterilize both girls.

Jane finds herself in the middle of a moral dilemma trying to help Ivy, obey her boss, and placate her husband while keeping him unaware of the specifics of her job. As the timeline becomes more critical, Jane is forced to make decisions that will have a definite impact not only on her clients, but also on her own future.

This is a true page turner. The characters are real, believable, and the story is horrifying in its implications. The author has done significant research to present us with an in-depth look at the unbelievable options that actually occurred in this country just 50 short years ago. It is a must read. show less

Note: Book received for free from GoodReads for honest review.

At first I found Stolen Marriage hard to get through. The first third seemed to slog through stereotypical scenarios from a standard gothic mystery novel and a main character that only rarely did anything proactive. However, once the story really hit its stride, I found myself engrossed more and more with Tess. She finally finds her feet in her new life, finding her spine and not letting society or anyone stand in the way of her show more dreams.

I adored where the story went. From the back description and how the book started, I thought I’d be getting a gothic mystery full of suspenseful twists and chills, with a background and some tidbits on the polio epidemic and hospital. Yet, those parts actually became the main focus, much to my delight. I loved exploring how this small southern town pulled together to create this polio hospital practically overnight, donating time, energy, material support, and medical logistics to the task.

Polio was such a big scare in the mid-20th century. Most people nowadays don’t even think about it. It was fascinating to see that explored in this small town setting, where rumors about the condition spread like wildfire and everyone knows the victims. Where another story could be a bleak portrayal of a small town in crisis, held in the hands of an epidemic, Stolen Marriage gives us a town who pulls it all together to get over this tragedy. I loved how the author portrayed this town.

The polio epidemic also seems to give Tess the kick in the pants to find her own path in life. She starts out trying to please everyone in Hickory, her new husband’s family especially. Quickly, she finds out this is impossible, given she’s the outsider who has stolen the life expected for a local gal. I loved how she shook off this mindset when faced with a bigger crisis. She seems to find herself and mature fast, coming out the other side stronger and with an iron will.

Besides Tess, the reader also gets a great grasp on Chamberlain's secondary characters as well. I grew to love most everyone, even the grumpy mother-in-law. Even her, I came to know why her attitudes were such and why she acted how she did. After I learned of Henry’s story, my sympathy for him rose fast. He’s faced with an impossible situation given the societal mores of the time.

Despite the rocky start with Tess being a bit of a doormat, I learned to love this book as it explored a seldom used historical story and combined it with well-rounded characters. As Tess progressed on her journey, the reader can’t help but be sucked in by her struggles and triumphs. If you’re looking for a great read, give this one a look. The book only gets better the longer you read. show less

Jane Forrester just wants to help people. It's as simple as that. So she takes a job as a social worker, and while her husband isn't exactly on board with that idea, he allows it. It's the 1960's and it's just not proper for the wife of a physician to work, but Jane is strong-willed, independent, and unsatisfied with simply playing the role of a subservient housewife. As a social worker, she'll get to help people. She'll bring them much-needed supplies, much-needed money, much-needed show more assistance. Or so she thinks.

Assigned to a few families in rural North Carolina, her job is nothing like what she imagined, and the Hart family quickly sucks her in. Ivy Hart is practically running the family at fifteen years old. Her parents are gone. Her grandmother, Nonnie, is sick. Her older sister, Mary Ella, has some intellectual problems. And Mary Ella's son, Baby William, while well-loved, isn't well-cared for. Ivy, Mary Ella, and occasionally Nonnie work on a tobacco farm, barely earning enough to keep themselves fed, even with the extra assistance from the state. Jane gradually becomes more and more involved with this family, bending the rules and paying them extra attention.

When she finds out that a large part of her job is ordering the sterilization of at-risk children, such as Ivy, her world comes crumbling down around her. It seems so wrong to her, to sterilize these girls without their consent, without their knowledge - yet to her coworkers, it's common practice. As Jane protests more and more vigorously against the sterilization, she puts her job - and her marriage - at risk.

I was pulled into this novel from the very first sentence, and I was absolutely done for by the time Jane got her job as a social worker. I couldn't believe what I was reading about the eugenics program - in all the history classes I've taken, all the college courses I sat through, all the books I've read, I never once heard about this awful program. I had to research it myself, see if it was true, and the horrifying part is that it was. North Carolina had a particularly aggressive eugenics program, approving nearly all proposals involving the "mentally defective," "feebleminded," or those with epilepsy. Knowing that this book is based on real events is chilling.

If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. Not only is it incredibly well-written, it's such an important topic. Highly, highly recommended. show less