Chicago, 1932; All of a sudden, Nora and her younger sister Patsy are brought by a woman unknown to them, to the Park Ridge School for Girls, a strict and horrible orphanage. Nora has no clue why they are brought there, has she and her sister been that bad that her mom wanted to get rid of them? The school's matron, Mrs Morris is strict and mean and locks up the free spirited Patsy often in the dark celler for days and makes hints at them that their mother was a fallen woman and a prostitute. There are visiting hours every other week, but their mother never shows up, not even after all of Nora's letter pleading for her to visit or to take them home again. Nora fears that she will never see her again.
Years earlier, their mother Gertie, who was from a poor rural coal miners town in Iowa. She runs away with Lorenzo, who works at the traveling carnaval that visit town, and seduces her in a bad way, and Gertie falls for it. An abusive marriage with the violent and alcoholic Lorenzo follows, until Lorenzo dies and Gertie lands in another abusive relationship. Gertie has always been told that her two daughters where send to a posh boarding school where they would get a good education and also extra activities like art classes and ballet. Which is not true. Gertie can not read and therefore never knew where Nora and Patsy where sent to, and never could read Nora's letters. She goes on a search though to find them years later and when she finds them Nora and Patsy finally hear why they where send away and find out the false stories they both where told. And now they have to find a way to make peace with each other, but that is not so easy as it seems, and we follow the three women for the next years of their life with ups and downs..
The Fallen Women's Daughter is a gripping, tragic and moving novel. The characters and the storyline are fantastic. Somehow it reminded me a bit of the movie Annie because of the strict orphanage-like school Nora and Patsy where sent to, witch a cruel headmisstress who punishes the girls for the smallest things. The character of Nora was fabulous, she truly is desperate for her mom to get them back to home, but Gertie, I don't know what to think of her. She was not a responsible woman, and why did she not want to get her daughters back earlier in her life? It was like she did not miss them at all, which was strange. Later in life Nora and Patsy find it difficult to trust her again, which is logical, and their life after they leave the school and with their mother again is anything but easy.
But the novel itself is moving and entertaining, and full unexpected plot twists and turns. I really liked reading it and I recommend reading it!
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