by Leni Zumas
First published 2018
Ro teaches high school in a small Oregon fishing town where new laws have made abortion illegal and banned in vitro fertilization. She wants a baby but remains single, spending her free time researching Eivor, a forgotten nineteenth century polar explorer. Her student Mattie discovers she's pregnant and has few options under the new restrictions. Susan struggles with two children and a failing marriage while navigating the same legal landscape. When Gin, a forest herbalist who helps women with natural remedies, gets arrested for her healing work, all four lives converge. The women must find ways to claim their futures as lawmakers debate what rights embryos should have and society questions women's choices. Their stories reveal how personal dreams collide with political realities in an America where reproductive freedom has vanished.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, gender-studies, feminism, contemporary, 21st-century, activism, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-is-political, women-supporting-women
Setting: Oregon
Period: 21st-century
10 pages · Audio CD · Hachette Book Group
Content warnings: infertility, pregnancy-loss