by Ann Leary
First published 2023
Mary Engle arrives at the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age in 1927. At eighteen, she works as secretary to Dr. Agnes Vogel, a pioneering psychiatrist who runs this remote institution. Mary admires her brilliant employer, a former suffragette who dedicated her career to caring for vulnerable women. The job seems perfect until Mary discovers that Lillian, a girl from her orphanage days, lives as an inmate here. Mary remembers Lillian as spirited and wild, not mentally disabled. When Lillian pleads for help escaping and claims the asylum hides dark secrets, Mary faces an impossible decision. She must choose between trusting her troubled childhood friend, with whom she shares a buried secret, or believing in the doctor she respects. Mary's choice sets off dangerous events that will change all their lives forever. This story explores the bonds between women and the price of loyalty when everything you believed proves false.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, psychological-thriller, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age
Period: 1927
352 pages · Paperback · Scribner
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness