Spotlight & Giveaway: WAYWARD GIRLS by Susan Wiggs

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Susan Wiggs to HJ!

Hi Susan and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, WAYWARD GIRLS!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Based on a little-known moment in time, WAYWARD GIRLS starts off in 1968 in Buffalo, New York. The daughter of a working-class, devoutly Catholic family, Mairin O’Hara spends her summers working as an apple-picker in the region’s “fruit belt.” Mairin’s hopes for the future are just coming into focus, even as war rages in far-off Vietnam. But when her home life becomes unsafe, Mairin’s destiny takes a dark turn. She winds up at Buffalo’s infamous Good Shepherd home—an institution people only speak about in whispers.
The Good Shepherd is where “wayward girls” are condemned to work without pay in the industrial laundries of the Sisters of Charity. Girls committed there for all kinds of reasons: for being gay, for being pregnant, for being unruly, or for having slipped through the social safety net. It’s a desperate, miserable place with no escape. Mairin discovers one saving grace, though: locked up together, the girls have each other. The strong friendships forged in that dismal asylum will help them survive…and even though it might take decades, the women find a way to seek justice.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

• To let the light in, sometimes you have to break the rules.
• In her life, she’d made many friends who were precious to her, but she’d never had friends like these.
• Sometimes you have to look back in order to find your way forward.
• We’re stronger than anything that happened to us in the past.
• Everything that happens is there to teach you–if you pay attention.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

It’s not exactly a “fun” book, but a few things that surprised me:

• There were at least 38 Magdalene laundries in the U.S., patterned after the notorious workhouses in Ireland.
• In 1969, Niagara Falls dried up. In the book, the nuns deemed it a miracle, but Mairin, the main character, knew how it really happened.
• In 1967, there was a race riot in Buffalo that was so intense that baseball star Jackie Robinson was sent to help quell it.
• In the 60s in some Catholic schools, girls were not allowed to listen to male voices singing.
• In 2024, the Diocese of Buffalo declared bankruptcy and its properties were put up for sale due to the many claims of clergy abuse.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Although not a romance, there is a big love story in WAYWARD GIRLS. Flynn is drawn to Mairin’s compassion for her best friend, who is dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Later, he falls in love with her irrepressible spirit, unruly red hair, and the way she’s looked at him ever since she was a kid. Vice versa—Mairin always hero-worshipped her best friend’s older brother, and when he gave her a Mercury dime “for luck,” she kept it all through her ordeal at the Good Shepherd. At a key moment, that dime actually saves her, and strengthens her lifelong bond to this quiet, compassionate man.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

There are moments of humor in the book, like when Mairin tries to convince her mom to let her go to the movie “The Graduate” by claiming it was educational. Or when her teenage crush, serving as an altar boy in church, catches his sleeve on fire from the incense thurible at High Mass.
There are quite a few “ugly cry” but rewarding moments—like when Angela discovers what happens to her baby, or when the girls find each other again, years after surviving their ordeal.
For me, the most emotional moment comes at the very end, when Mairin hosts a gathering of the girls of the Good Shepherd, and she’s standing among them at sunset, feeling grateful for all they had survived:

 

“Mairin drew in a breath, steadying herself. She knew that healing would not come all at once, and they were only at the beginning. But the world was new and fresh, she thought. She looked at the others, sipping their welcome drinks and chatting together. They were light and shining, like her. They were old, like her. They were confident and beautiful. Like her. They would forever be wayward girls. Like her.”

Readers should read this book….

…because everybody knows somebody. I can’t tell you how many early readers have said they knew a girl who “went away.” A girl whose child was placed for adoption against her will. A girl who had to fight to find her voice.
At its heart, the book is not dark and depressing, but a shining light of hope, thanks to the power of sisterhood and the human spirit.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

Reading! It is summer, and my book is out, and I’m taking a reading break. I’m currently reading SO FAR GONE by Jess Walters.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: We are giving away two copies of WAYWARD GIRLS by Susan Wiggs

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: How did the 1968 setting shape your understanding of the girls’ choices—and could a story like this happen today?

 
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Excerpt from WAYWARD GIRLS:

Prologue

On November 14, 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation (S3419/A5494), allowing adoptees to receive a copy of their pre-adoption birth certificate when they turn 18 years old. The application process began on January 15, 2020.

February 17, 2020
Buffalo

“Evelyn–er, Everly Marie Barrett Lasko,” called a clerk from one of the desks in the county records office.
She arranged her face in a smile and greeted the clerk, a guy with thinning hair and hands that stayed busy on his ergonomic split keyboard. He glanced up, then did a double take. Even though her modeling days were behind her, she still got that reaction sometimes.
“Er, unusual name,” he commented.
“My mother’s favorite group was the Everly brothers. Her favorite song was ‘All I Have to Do is Dream,” she said, holding the smile in place.
“Please, have a seat,” he said, his voice and his gaze warming. “I’ve been reading your file, and I want to help.”
“Thank you for seeing me.” She glanced at the name bar on his desk. “Mr. Harris.”
“I’m afraid it’s not good news,” he said. “There’s no documentation of your birth in our state or county records.”
Her stomach sank, even though she had been bracing herself for the news. Her own search had been equally fruitless. She’d only been able to access her amended birth certificate, created when Roy and Shirley Barrett had adopted her as a newborn. At that moment, her true origin had been automatically and permanently sealed. Her past was a secret locked in a vital records room somewhere. “Isn’t there anything more you can do? Anywhere else you can look? Some other agency, or–”
“Here’s a list of all the inquiries I’ve made so far. I’m sorry to say, there’s no other place to look.”
She studied the page-long list of offices and agencies. “I’m already registered in the Adoption Information Registry,” she said.
“I understand, ma’am. But that’s a mutual consent registry for adoptees and birth parents to facilitate a reunion between registered parties. They can’t issue pre-adoption certificates.”
He pursed his lips and scrolled with his mouse. “Your certificate of adoption is from…looks like a girls’ home in Buffalo that no longer exists.”
“I’m aware of that. I traced the Sisters of Charity to a location in Astoria, New York, but they have no records. They tried to refer me to–”
“Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna,” he said. “Yep, they didn’t have anything, either. Nothing from Catholic Charities. Mrs. Lasko, are your adoptive parents still living?”
She shook her head. “They were older,” she said. “They’ve both passed away. And before you ask, they were open about my adoption. But they were not sophisticated people. The nuns told them only that the birth mother was underage and wanted the records sealed. My parents simply accepted the documents they were given when they adopted me. They didn’t realize there was a pre-adoption certificate.”
“There were a number of irregular adoptions back in the 1960s,” he said. “I wish I could give you more information. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t get a passport without a pre-adoption certificate. Did you know that? I’m fifty-one years old, and I’ve never left the U.S.”
“Have you applied to the Department of State for a variance?” he asked.
“Several times,” she said. “I keep being told my documents are ‘irregular,’ like you said. They keep insisting I need to produce my original birth certificate.”
“Could be you weren’t born in this state. It’s clear you were adopted here, but this probably means you were born in another state. We can’t access records from other states.”
“But I know for a fact I was born in New York State. Saint Francis Hospital, right here in Buffalo. It was torn down in the seventies when the new medical complex was built.”
He tapped his keyboard and wiggled his mouse. “The records would have been moved, then. Could be they were lost, mislabeled, or damaged somewhere in that process.”
She struggled for patience. The document she sought was just a piece of paper, but its power was about ensuring equal rights for adoptees–the right to know the most fundamental truth about themselves. “I understand that, but birth records can’t just disappear. They can’t.”
“I’ve checked and double checked.” He shook his head. “Mrs. Lasko, I’ve accessed all the records I could find from March and April 1969. But everything’s a dead end. I’m truly sorry.”
“So according to your records, I was never born,” said Everly. “I don’t exist.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

“After decades of bestsellers, Wayward Girls might be Susan Wiggs’ opus. A gut-wrenching story of survival, friendship, and justice. Masterful.”–Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

“The magnificent Susan Wiggs takes a leap into the history of women..a page-turner, replete with mystery and suspense.”—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

From New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs, a wrenching but life-affirming novel based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption. Set in the turbulent Vietnam era in the All-American city of Buffalo, New York, six girls are condemned to forced labor in the laundry of a Catholic reform school.

In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd—a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns—locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.

Mairin— free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, committed to keep her safe from her stepfather.

Angela—denounced for her attraction to girls, sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.

Helen—the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, she saw her “temporary” stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.

Odessa—caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, she found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.

Denise—sentenced for brawling in a foster home, she dared to dream of a better life.

Janice—deeply insecure, she couldn’t decide where her loyalty lay—except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.

Sister Bernadette—rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.

Wayward Girls is a haunting but thrilling tale of hope, solidarity, and the enduring strength of young women who find the courage to break free and find redemption…and justice.

“Compelling…This powerful and unforgettable novel is a poignant and enlightening look into a sad chapter of recent history.”–Library Journal (starred review)

“Heart-wrenching…sweeping. This one lingers long after the last page.”–Publishers Weekly

“Wayward girls is all about the power of female bonds…this isn’t just a moment in time—it’s a cautionary tale.”—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name

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Meet the Author:

Susan Wiggs is the author of more than fifty novels, including the beloved Lakeshore Chronicles series and the recent New York Times bestsellers The Lost and Found Bookshop, The Oysterville Sewing Circle, and Family Tree. Her award-winning books have been translated into two dozen languages. She lives with her husband on an island in Washington State’s Puget Sound.
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