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    The Home for Unwanted Girls: The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken - inspired by true events
    The Home for Unwanted Girls: The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken - inspired by true events
    The Home for Unwanted Girls: The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken - inspired by true events
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Home for Unwanted Girls: The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken - inspired by true events

    Written by Joanna Goodman

    Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Philomena meets The Orphan Train in this suspenseful, provocative novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit—the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other.

    In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility—much like Maggie Hughes’ parents. Maggie’s English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don’t include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life ‘back on track’.

    Elodie is raised in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. It’s a precarious enough existence that takes a tragic turn when Elodie, along with thousands of other orphans in Quebec, is declared mentally ill as the result of a new law that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages. Bright and determined, Elodie withstands abysmal treatment at the nuns’ hands, finally earning her freedom at seventeen, when she is thrust into an alien, often unnerving world.

    Maggie, married to a businessman eager to start a family, cannot forget the daughter she was forced to abandon, and a chance reconnection with Gabriel spurs a wrenching choice. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie realizes she must take what she wants from life and go in search of her long-lost daughter, finally reclaiming the truth that has been denied them both.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 17, 2018
    ISBN9780062799371
    The Home for Unwanted Girls: The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken - inspired by true events
    Author

    Joanna Goodman

    Joanna Goodman is the author of the bestselling novels The Forgotten Daughter, The Home for Unwanted Girls,and The Finishing School. Originally from Montreal, she now lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

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    Reviews for The Home for Unwanted Girls

    4.5/5

    714 ratings66 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Great book. Heart wrenching and shows secrets are never really secret.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      So good. The fact that these things actually happened in Quebec makes it all the more interesting, sad, real and bittersweet.
    • 4/5
      Eye opening and well crafted. The tension kept me going right to the end and left me basking in the resolution. Wow. This book highlights a very dark stain in the history of my country, Canada.
    • 5/5
      I was intrigued by the story from the start and recommend the book.
    • 5/5
      I couldn’t stop listening!! Enjoyed the time period and it wasn’t war related!
    • 4/5
      Sad,but happy! Wonderful characters. Very enjoyable listening. I like ed it!
    • 5/5
      Excellent, couldn't stop listening. Listening to her next book immediately
    • 5/5
      Great book! I’ll be looking for more from this author!
    • 5/5
      Beautifully told and the characters were so well developed; I felt entrenched in this story from the beginning and had a hard time putting it down. Tragic to think of the truth underneath this story in our Canadian history
    • 5/5
      I love the narrator! She made the story more interesting and captivating.
    • 5/5
      Really made you want to keep listening! Great book!!
    • 5/5
      I can’t believe how great this book is and was. I could not put it down. When I did have to stop reading the story stayed in me. I wondered anxiously to find out what would happen next. This is now one of the most powerful and amazing stories I have ever read. It deserves a movie production!
      This author is fantastic and I am a new fan forever!
    • 5/5
      Lovely read! I feel like I know the characters so well
    • 3/5
      It's a nice enough read but predictable if you pay attention.
    • 5/5
      Loved it very much. My first book to try on Scribd.
    • 5/5
      Loved the narration & accents were spot on! Great job.
    • 1/5
      Disappointing. No plot. Kept waiting for something exciting to happen.
    • 4/5
      I appreciated the story, and getting to know history through a story like this. When you start to relate to characters and also start to "see" the times through their eyes it opens up for understanding and empathy. Glad to read/listen to such a tale with a happy ending, there are too many that did not end well. The writing was good and the narration calm but still lively.
    • 5/5
      Good book. Took way to long for the then to get back together
    • 5/5
      Such a moving book. I seriously enjoyed listening to this & the audio is incredible. I really put myself in their lives and felt it. I definitely cried a couple of times. The way they described everything and went through their lives was written well, I was on the edge of my seat with everything that I was happening. I couldn't put it down.
      The ending was good, being who I am though I wanted a little more to the story to see how else the characters would go on living. So good.
    • 4/5
      Very captivating and kept me wanting more. Hope there is a sequel!
    • 5/5
      A fantastic, very well written book! The characters get into your heart and bring you to tears! ☆☆☆☆☆
    • 5/5
      I really love this book but it was hard to listen to. I thought it was well done but I wish they would have talked a little bit more about the relationship at the end
    • 5/5
      Fantastic fantastic fantastic book! I am really at a loss for words! Very well written. Well developed character stories. Great context and historical background. Top 5 books I have read this year
    • 5/5
      Awesome story, beautifully written. Loved learning about the French province and its history too.
    • 3/5
      Interesting, but it became a bit too melodramatic when Gabrielle got so angry and left Maggie. His reaction was too extreme. The book didn’t need that twist. Then, it seemed like a romance novel. The best thing was the narrator who did the French Canadian accent well.
    • 5/5
      Good read. interesting and heart wrenching in many areas. enjoyed every moment of it
    • 3/5
      Narration was disappointing. The Quebec French accent was atrocious! ?
    • 5/5
      Wow I wasn’t expecting this to be so good! I read this in 2 days. Such a moving story of perseverance
    • 5/5
      This was an amazing story. One I will likely listen to again in the future.