Hypertext Magazine asked D.W. Hogan, author of Unbroken Bonds, “What are you hoping to accomplish by telling the fictional story about four pregnant teenagers who were sent to a home for unwed mothers sixty-five years ago?”
By D.W. Hogan
Firstly, I’m exposing a forgotten and rarely talked about time in American History when societies norms about illegitimate pregnancy subjected women to a culture of shame and ostracization. My intent is for mainstream readers to understand that 1.5 million young women were sent away secretly to homes that coerced them into relinquishing their babies to sealed adoptions. These institutions profited, under the guise of benevolence, by placing the adoptees with mainly white wealthy families.
Next, my thought is, because the book is fiction, it will appeal to a wide audience. While the story itself is made up, the research that went into the book is extensive. It captures the actual emotions and attitudes that were pervasive during the Baby Scoop Era. I’m also hoping the readers fall in love with the four main characters and root for them as they navigate adulthood during the 1960’s and 70’s when society was going through major cultural enlightenment.
Lastly, I want people to remember a time when women didn’t have rights when it came to their own reproductive autonomy. Birth control was limited back then and doctors often decided to whom it was dispensed. Abortion was illegal, pressuring many women to resort to dangerous back-alley solutions. Being that most adults under the age of 60 don’t consider that there was ever a time when reproductive options were limited, invites history to repeat itself. I don’t believe any of us what to go back to a system that denies women anything but the best for their reproductive health.
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D.W. Hogan majored in English at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She’s the mother of four grown children and grandmother to two. She is a full-time author and lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband. Dawn would be thrilled to join your book club for the discussion of her debut novel Unbroken Bonds. You can contact her at dwhogan@comcast.net Check out DWHogan.com for more information. You can follow her on Facebook D.W. Hogan author and on Instagram dawnhoganauthor.