Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Women of a Promiscuous Nature

Women of a Promiscuous Nature

Everhart, Donna

Paperback

General FictionHistorical FictionLiterary Fiction

Publisher Price: $18.95

ISBN10: 1496740726
ISBN13: 9781496740724
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Published: Jan 27 2026
Pages: 368
Weight: 0.70
Height: 1.10 Width: 5.40 Depth: 8.20
Language: English
Girl, Interrupted meets The Handmaid's Tale in 1940s North Carolina, as a young woman is accused of promiscuity and unjustly incarcerated at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women...

Based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, this powerful and shockingly timely story of resistance and resilience exposes the real government program designed to regulate women's bodies and sexuality throughout the first half of the 20th century.

A Publishers Marketplace BUZZ BOOKS Selection Indie Next Pick LibraryReads Selection Goodreads Top 10 Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction Titles of the Year

Both a cautionary tale and a deeply compassionate rendering of women wrongly imprisoned in a system designed to break them, Everhart's propulsive story is filled with injustice, intrigue, and the determination to fight back. --LISA WINGATE, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shelterwood

On a brisk February morning while walking to the diner where she works, 24 year-old Ruth Foster is stopped by the local sheriff. He insists she accompany him to a health clinic, threatening to arrest her if she doesn't undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease.

Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day's end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some are there because they were reported for promiscuity by neighbors, husbands, strangers. Some were accused of prostitution. Others were just pretty and unmarried. Or poor and suspicious. One was eating dinner alone in a restaurant. Another spoke to a soldier.

Josephine's sin was running a business as a single woman. Maude's was trying to drown her sorrows. Frances had lost her mind. Opal married a man with a mean streak. Some, like 15-year-old Stella, are brought in because they're victims of assault. She's too naive and broken to understand how unjust this imprisonment is.

Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she's transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women's medical treatment and training until they're deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker's rule book or face the consequences--solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.

But some refuse to be cowed. Some find ways to fight back - at any cost...

A remarkable fusion of research and imagination [with] vivid scenes, compelling characters, perfect pacing--but most impressive of all is Everhart's creation of Dorothy Baker. She is one of the most memorable characters I've read in recent fiction, and further proof of Donna Everhart's immense talent. --Ron Rash, award-winning author of Serena

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