Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain (St. Martin's Press ARC)
This novel takes place in North Carolina during the sixties. Then, it skips forward to the Twenty first century. The novel is amazingly honest about decisions made for poor people and people who suffer with an illness like Epilepsy or people with a low high IQ. During the sixties in the South, no one had any thought about special education or other programs to help these people become more responsible for themselves. Sadly, the answer for these women and their children was a Eugenics Program. Eugenics is thought of as a humane way to stop women from having more babies. Really, it's very inhumane. Jane, the Social Worker, is the only one who questions the decisions made by social workers and nurses. For example, Mary Ella who thinks slowly, is sterilized after she births Baby William. However, Mary Ella is told by the authority figures that her appendix burst. She is told this is the reason for the black stitches on her stomach. It takes a courageous Jane, a new Social Worker,