No Names to Be Given by Julia Brewer Daily
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sandy has grown up with her parents, but when it is only her mother who is left to look after her, a new man comes onto the scene and becomes her mums live in boyfriend, but when one day he makes an abusive which move Sandy doesn’t appreciate or understand, she runs away and never returns.

Becca has been brought up in a well to do family in high society with strict rules and high expectations, but Becca cannot help but want to rebel and she does so when she attends University, but when she falls in love with the wrong man, her decisions are taken out of her hands.

Faith is the daughter of a preacher who travels on his tours around the world through his Ministry and sings hymns and songs to the crown, until she is brutally attacked by a man who takes what he wants and leaves her to deal with the consequences.

This is the story of three women from different walks of life and the shared experience which bound them together to create a bond which would last a lifetime when in 1965, Sandy, Faith and Becca meet in a Maternity Home Hospital in New Orleans, Mississippi and it is here that their stories intertwine as they have to acquiesce to the expectations of those around them and give up their babies for adoption so that life can go on as if nothing happened at all.

This therefore is a secret that these young women keep to themselves and try to continue to live their lives, until one day, twenty five years later it is brought back into the fore and threatens to topple the lives these women have worked hard to create. What will these women do to protect themselves from those around them and how did carrying this secret and ball of emotions affect their lives afterwards? This is a deep dive into the societal ramifications of being an unwed mother in the 1960’s and told through a narrative based on women’s experiences at the time which takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions as you read along.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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