Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publish Date: September 3, 2013

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 368

ISBN: 978 1250010698

After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm.  As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.

When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County’s newest social worker, she doesn’t realize just how much her help is needed.  She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients’ lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband.  But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm – secrets much darker than she would have guessed.  Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them. Or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.

Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy.  Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it’s wrong?

My Thoughts:

WOW! Where has Diane Chamberlain been all my life?!  Set in the rural deep south of the 1960's comes this compelling read that blew me away from the beginning.  I had never heard of the Eugenics Sterilization Program before reading this book and to think that something like this existed is horrifying.  Between 1929 and 1975 over 7000 North Carolina residences who were considered "feeble minded" were sterilized for the "good of the public."  The way the story was beautifully woven with fact and fiction - I found myself quickly wrapped up in the lives of these families.

I absolutely devoured this book, my first of Chamberlain's in just a few sittings.  The characters are deeply developed and believable.  I found much of the book to be very sad, both for Ivy and Mary Ella and the lives they lived but also for Jane and the tough position she was put in by "caring too deeply."  Although it was sad there was never a depressing tone to the book and I think that is something very difficult to do.  And just when I thought my emotions were in tact something would happen that would infuriate me.  I loved the alternating voice between Ivy and Jane and seeing both perspectives of these girls.  Everything about this story was powerful and I really liked the subtle twists in the story.

I've found myself telling everyone who will listen about this book and saying "Please, please read it!"  This is defiantly a book I will re-read again and again and I'm sure Ivy and Jane will stay with me for a very long time - if not forever. 

My Rating: «««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.