We librarians often witness how life and literature interact, as topics of real world interest to our patrons swiftly show up in requests for reading material, and especially in titles for book clubs. One of the best things about such groups is how the focus on a book can help people to discuss a topic they might not otherwise broach. It comes as no surprise then that lately discussion groups have been requesting fiction that spans the spectrum of the abortion experience. Here are some of the books we’ve been suggesting.
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
After graduating from nursing school, Civil Townsend returns home to Montgomery, Alabama, and takes a job at a family planning clinic. She soon meets the Williams sisters and is assigned to provide them with birth control – though neither have started their periods nor are sexually active. Civil questions this practice and vows to make a difference. Based on the court case RELF V. WEINBERGER this novel shines a light on the history of coerced sterilizations and the struggle for reproductive rights, especially for women of color.
Daddy’s Gone A-hunting by Penelope Mortimer
Originally published in 1958, this novel was just reprinted. Ruth struggles with being a housewife in the suburbs of London. With the children off to boarding school, the house is stifled by her marriage and her struggle for freedom in an era where a women’s place was her home. When her daughter comes home pregnant, Ruth is terrified that the same life will befall her daughter and tries to arrange an illegal abortion.
Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro
Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab’s friendship begin in 1983 while attending university in their country of Nigeria. It’s been a few decades since these friends have been in the same room, but here they are at Funmi’s daughter’s wedding in Lagos. The history of their friendship unfolds for the reader – filled with the ups and downs of long friendships and the relationships mothers have with their daughters.
The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donn Freitas
When Rose and Luke first got married, neither of them wanted children. As time goes by, Luke slowly changes his mind, which sets off an argument when he finds the bottle of prenatal pills full. The story then splits into nine different versions of Rose’s life – with Luke, without Luke, with a child and without children. A thought-provoking novel of societal pressure, motherhood, marriage, divorce, family, and body autonomy.
Swimming in the Deep End, by Christina Suzann Nelson
Four women struggling with various aspects of motherhood, including shame over past abortions and the grief of losing a child, find their lives intersecting at A Child’s Home, a facility for women with unplanned pregnancies. This moving and sensitive story tackles difficult questions around pregnancy and motherhood from a faith-based perspective.
We, Jane by Aimee Wall
The author was inspired by the Jane Collective of the 1960s, who in Chicago created an underground movement to help women get access to safe abortions. In the novel, we meet two women who are set about creating Jane for the women of Newfoundland, but contending with a small town has its burdens. A beautiful story of female friendship, the care of women by women, and a story of coming home again.
Jubilee: A Novel by Jennifer Givhan
Bianca arrives at the the home of her brother, Matty, bleeding and holding onto a childlike doll called Jubilee. For Bianca, Jubilee is not just a doll, but her child, whom she loves and cares for. The novel alternates view points with Bianca narrating life before Jubilee and from her new love Joshua with Bianca and Jubilee in his life – through their voices we see the trauma that has brought Bianca to this moment, but also the path to heal.
~posted by Chris
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