Book: Necessary Lies
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Pages: 354
This is my 66th read for the year
What Amazon Says:
After losing her parents, 15 year old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on asmall tobacco farm. As she struggles with her grandmother's aging, her sister's mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give. When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County's newest social worker, she doesn't realize just how much her help is needed. She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband. But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover secrets of the small farm - secrets much darker than she would have guessed. Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong. Set in rural Grace County, NC in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, this book tells the story of these 2 young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you beleive is right, when everyone is telling you it's wrong?
This was a pretty good book. I do like Chamberlain's books - I think she is a great writer. She took a complicated subject and let readers visit it from two sides. It is a quick read - keeps you wanting to see where it is going for both sides of this story. Jane was infurating at points, but I see where the author was trying to go with that character. I did not know much about the sterilizations that were happening in the 40s, so it was a learning curve for me as well. It has a really nice wrap up ending which I appreciated.
Stars: 4
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