Only Girls Bleed - Elaine Lawless

 

Abandoned by her husband, and with her daughter, Molly, suddenly unable to walk, Alice Campbell is barely holding her life together. No doctor can explain what's behind this – or why Molly is now tormented by night terrors. But when Alice uncovers the unthinkable truth behind her daughter's suffering, she flees, unsure whether the man responsible is dead or alive. Haunted by the past, and on the run from the law, Alice and Molly are trying to navigate a future neither one of them is prepared to face.

Taut, urgent, and deeply compassionate, this novel is a haunting portrait of maternal love, survival, and the devastating consequences of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in America.

What did I think?

I hadn't heard of the Roe v. Wade case, or its overturning, in America so I have had my eyes well and truly opened by Elaine Lawless after reading Only Girls Bleed and I read it in a constant state of fury.

Alice blames herself for missing the signs that led to her ten-year-old disabled daughter becoming pregnant.  Her absent husband blames Alice too, which ignited my fury further, and he's lucky he didn't end up in the same position as Molly's abuser.  You should never underestimate a mother protecting her child and as soon as Alice discovered what was going on she became a wanted woman. 

Although Only Girls Bleed is fiction, it reads like a true story and I can't even begin to imagine the number of people whose own stories are similar to that of Alice and Molly.  I didn't realise some states in America still ban abortion completely, even if the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault or incest.  WOW!  Not only do only girls bleed, the letter of the law leaves them literally holding the baby.  Have I stepped back in time to a period when the patriarchal church laid down the law?  

The title itself is incredibly powerful as it is women who have to live with the consequences of acts to which they have not consented.  I don't think it's unreasonable to say that if men were in the same position there wouldn't even be a debate about abortion and there would be no  ridiculous laws banning it.  Americans have the right to bear arms but they don't have the right to have something removed from their bodies that they didn't consent to being put there in the first place.  Is this 'the land of the free'?

Incredibly powerful and extremely thought-provoking, Only Girls Bleed is a timely and important novel that is unflinching in its candour.  Unmissable and unforgettable - I'll be recommending this one for a very long time.

I received a gifted paperback from the publisher and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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The Abandoned - Sharon Thompson

Peggy Bowden has not had an easy life. As a teenager, her mother was committed to an asylum and then a local priest forced her into an abusive marriage. But when her husband dies in an accident Peggy sees an opportunity to start again and trains as a midwife.

In 1950s Dublin it is not easy for a woman to make a living and Peggy sees a chance to start a business and soon a lucrative maternity home is up and running. 

But when Peggy realizes that the lack of birth control is an issue for women, she uses their plight as a way to make more money. Very soon Peggy is on the wrong side of the law. 

What makes a woman decide to walk down a dark path? Can Peggy ever get back on the straight and narrow? Or will she have to pay for her crimes?

Set against the backdrop of Ireland in the 1950’s The Abandoned tells the story of one woman’s fight for survival and her journey into the underbelly of a dangerous criminal world.

What did I think?

I took too much notice of the title and the cover of this book before reading.  I think if both elements had been removed I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more, but I kept wondering when the abandoned babies were going to come into the story.  Even at 80% through the book, I was still wondering what the cover and the title had to do with the story.  Taking that out of the equation, it was actually a really good story with a strong female character that Martina Cole would have been proud to have created.

Peggy Bowden has been in jail for selling babies and why not, it's only what the church has been doing in Ireland for many years.  Peggy now runs a whore house and she has a lucrative sideline of offering illegal abortions.  In typical Irish fashion, the prose is both lyrical and amusing, and I just have to share my favourite passage:

"I wouldn't be sitting in a hellhole with a dead woman in my house, prostitutes upstairs, a sergeant in my kitchen and a halfwit in my bath."

It sounds a bit like a Benny Hill sketch but trust me, it was deadly serious.  Looking back over the book now, I feel like Peggy Bowden would have given Tony Soprano a run for his money.  The Abandoned is like the Irish Sopranos and Sharon Bowden is to Dublin what Martina Cole is to London: both have tough female protagonists that are not only unafraid to wear the trousers, they're willing to kill for it.

Although not the book I was expecting from the title, blurb and cover, I really enjoyed it in the end.  I guarantee that all Martina Cole fans will love The Abandoned; Peggy is tough, gutsy and a real rough diamond.  I certainly wouldn't like to cross her!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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