What parts of the book struck a particular chord with you? Are there any sections that moved you more than others? Are there any that made you especially angry?

What parts of the book struck a particular chord with you? Are there any sections that moved you more than others? Are there any that made you especially angry?

Her mother's lack of empathy was particularly sad to me.

The epilogue was not what I had in mind. It certainly shows how life can be SO unfair. I had to stop reading to re-read what I had just read to make sure I knew what happened to Richard. So so sad! I was angry that Laura paid such a high price and Clay just went on with his life never to find out about the child that was his. It touched me so that Laura rebuilt her life without bitterness.

this entire book struck a chord with me. as i mentioned in an earlier post, i am laura's age, so i was living through the time she was when we were both teenagers. also, i was adopted. people often expect reunited "families" end up happily ever after. not so. i met my bio-mom when i was 36 and a parent of 2. we lived in different states and although we had a pleasant first meeting, she did not want to continue a relationship with me. my bio-dad (from what i understand) "pulled a chad"and had nothing more to do with the girl he impregnated after he found out. as much as you want the baby to stay with the mother, that wouldn't have been the best for the baby, despite the difficulties of not knowing your origins - and in those days, records were closed and you knew nothing!

I think the one thing that made me especially angry was the fact that no one addressed Laura's bleeding! Her mother's insensitivity around this, in particular, really struck me as awful.

The rest of it, well, I just kind of thought "there but for the grace of God..." When I was young I was pretty stupid about birth control, and I feel fortunate that I somehow dodged the pregnancy bullet.

I was so angry with her mother. What was she thinking, wasn't she young at one time? Every woman has been faced with it monthly, especially in the 1950's when birth control was not readily available to young women as it is now.

I was upset about how Laura’s mother reacted toward the whole situation. No compassion at all. I was angry at how little information Laura and the other girls knew about pregnancy and childbirth. They were not at all prepared and knew absolutely nothing about what to expect. That made a scary situation even more so for them. When I was pregnant, I wanted to know everything! And the epilogue, where we found out about Richard’s suicide? That was heartbreaking.

A good friend of mine gave up a baby when she was in her early twenties. I hesitated to loan her the book because it might upset her. Finally, I did. She didn't feel the same way that Laura did, probably because her daughter contacted her almost 20 years ago. They have an excellent relationship, and she is a wonderful grandmother to her grandsons.

The death of Laura's son was so sad. She worked tirelessly to find him and to create a wonderful relationship with him and with his family. Losing him to suicide was tragic.

I was angry through the book at Laura's Mother. She was very uncaring, selfish and not there for Laura on any level. Also, she provided little information for Laura before the birth, during and after. She did show up to "support" Laura during the birth but disappeared shortly after and had no real interest in being there for her daughter emotionally. I wonder what kind of mother she was for her younger children. Also, i wondered what her own Mother was like to raise such a shallow and disinterested daughter.

The part of the book that affected me the most was when she said goodbye to the baby the first time and had to leave with her parents. It brought tears to my eyes! The ride home must have been torturous.

I thought it was terrible that her mother implied that she would raise the baby and she just dropped off Laura and wouldn't even come out of the car. Both parents, ice cold, only cared about how it looked.

I was particularly struck by Laura’s dedication to the son that was taken from her. She was encouraged by almost everyone to forget about it or move on, but she refused to deny the child that she wanted and loved. Only her second husband supported her, and her reunion with her son and the acceptance by everyone (these things don’t always go well) was amazing.

There were so many things that angered me: her parents cold attitude, the home that gave the girls absolutely no information about childbirth, the concerted effort to force her to give up the child, the general attitude toward girls who became pregnant.

I think it was when her brother drove her back to the Home and Delli snuck her into the nursery to spend time with her baby. And then she had to let him go and walk away. As a mother, I can only imagine how hard that must have been for Laura to do.

What touched me:
- mentioning what was going on as it relates to race relations during this time period
- mentioning the songs she liked/listened to (Sonny & Cher, The Mamas and Papas, the Rolling Stones, the Supremes, and the Beatles)

What angered me:
- the way Laura's parents treated her
- the way the girls were treated at the home

What moved me:
-Laura's perseverance
-Laura's ultimate loss

I worked with a young woman this happened to, she came to the city to work and felt she could not let her parents know what happened to her. She went to a Catholic home, had her baby, gave it up and came back to work. So much the same. I felt bad for her at the time and everyone was certainly good to her when she came back. Until I read this book, I did not understand how deeply she must have been hurting. I have been thinking about that a lot since I read the book.

To add to my previous answer, when I read about the Mother, I thought about my Mother and I know in my heart that she would not have treated me that way. I am so thankful for having her.