Wayward Girls: A Novel by Susan Wiggs

Description

They called them wayward.

Their only crime was refusing to fit someone else’s idea of who they should be.

Buffalo, New York. 1968.

Behind the imposing walls of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school operated by the Sisters of Charity, young women disappear from public view. Some are sent away for becoming pregnant. Others for defying authority. Some simply for being different.

For Angela, it is because she loves another girl.

For Mairin, it is an escape from an abusive home that becomes another prison. Helen’s family has been torn apart by international politics. Odessa is swept up in racial injustice. Denise dreams of a better future beyond foster care. Janice struggles to find her own voice while protecting her vulnerable friend Kay.

Inside the institution, the girls endure relentless labor in the laundry, harsh discipline, and a system designed to erase their identities. Yet amid cruelty and isolation, they discover something no authority can take from them: each other.

As unlikely friendships grow into unbreakable bonds, the young women begin to imagine a future beyond the walls that confine them. Their shared determination to survive becomes a quiet act of rebellion, one that echoes across decades as buried truths finally come to light.

Inspired by the real history of reform schools that imprisoned thousands of women and girls throughout the twentieth century, Wayward Girls is a deeply moving novel about resilience, injustice, and the extraordinary strength found in solidarity. Susan Wiggs brings compassion and emotional depth to a forgotten chapter of history, illuminating the courage of those who refused to let their spirits be broken.

Heartbreaking, inspiring, and ultimately hopeful, Wayward Girls is a powerful reminder that friendship can become a lifeline, truth can outlast silence, and justice is sometimes decades in the making.

Book Details

• Author: Susan Wiggs
• ISBN: 9780063118263
• Format: Paperback
• Genre: Historical Fiction
• Themes: Women’s History, LGBTQ+ History, Institutional Abuse, Friendship, Survival, Justice, Resilience