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Springwater Public Library

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THE DEFENDER: Katherine Wallis

Katherine Wallis is a retired college librarian, resident of Elmvale, grandma, quilter, lover of all things vintage, and an avid reader.  She enjoys mysteries, historical fiction and Canadian writing.  She is pleased to be defending The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE BOOK: The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman

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 the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents send the baby Elodie to an orphanage where she receives horrible treatment. Seventeen years later, 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.