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Women of a Promiscuous Nature
Accused of “promiscuity” in 1940s North Carolina, a young woman unjustly incarcerated and subjected to involuntary medical treatment at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women decides to fight back in this powerful, shockingly timely novel based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, the government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality throughout the first half of the 20th century.
The day Ruth Foster’s life changes begins the same way as many others—with a walk through her North Carolina hometown toward the diner where she works. But on this day, Ruth is stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. Women like Ruth—young, unmarried, living alone—must 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, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.
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. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost . . .
The day Ruth Foster’s life changes begins the same way as many others—with a walk through her North Carolina hometown toward the diner where she works. But on this day, Ruth is stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. Women like Ruth—young, unmarried, living alone—must 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, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.
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. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost . . .
15 pages, Audiobook
First published January 27, 2026
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About the author
Donna Everhart
10 books2,396 followersDonna Everhart is a USA Today bestselling author known for vividly evoking the challenges of the heart and the complex heritage of the American South in her acclaimed novels When the Jessamine Grows, The Saints of Swallow Hill, The Moonshiner’s Daughter, The Forgiving Kind, The Road to Bittersweet, and The Education of Dixie Dupree.
She is the recipient of the prestigious SELA Outstanding Southeastern Author Award from the Southeastern Library Association and her novels have received a SIBA Okra Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and two Publishers Marketplace Buzz Books selections.
Born and raised in Raleigh, she has stayed close to her hometown for much of her life and now lives just an hour away in Dunn, North Carolina. Please visit Donna Everhart online at DonnaEverhart.com.
She is the recipient of the prestigious SELA Outstanding Southeastern Author Award from the Southeastern Library Association and her novels have received a SIBA Okra Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and two Publishers Marketplace Buzz Books selections.
Born and raised in Raleigh, she has stayed close to her hometown for much of her life and now lives just an hour away in Dunn, North Carolina. Please visit Donna Everhart online at DonnaEverhart.com.
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November 24, 2025
“That the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy are hereby authorized and directed to adopt measures for the purpose of assisting the various States in caring for civilian persons whose detention, isolation, quarantine, or commitment to institutions may be found necessary for the protection of the military and naval forces of the United States against venereal diseases. “ - -From the Chamberlain-Kahn Act of 1918
The civilian persons referred to were women and course, no such program existed for men. Women victimized at institutions, in some cases sent by their own families, others being taken off the streets by the government established American Plan in 1940’s North Carolina , and held against their will at The State Industrisl Farm Colony for Women in North Carolina . Donna Everhart in this eye opening and chilling story tells us about this plan through the experiences of two main characters . Stella , 15 abused by her father and pregnant, sent there under the guise of being a bad girl . Sent to this place where abortion and sterilization were common place . Ruth , 24 on her way to work stopped by the sheriff on the suspicion of being promiscuous because she lived on her own and wasn’t married and taken in to make sure she “don’t get others sick”. Ruth has never been with a man sexually, yet she is held and treated with harsh medications for a venereal disease she doesn’t have.
Alternating with these points of view is that of Mrs. Baker , the superintendent of the institution who believes she’s doing right by the inmates . I found the cruel treatment difficult to read about and my heart was broken and I felt sickened at times for Stella and Ruth and other inmates who suffered at the hands of doctors and administrators. A fictionalized account of a real place , well researched as are all of Everhart’s novels reflecting on North Carolina history. Chilling because I could see shades of this dominance over women’s freedoms even today. This is the sixth novel by Donna Everhart I’ve read and I keep reading them because they are gripping and moving and well written and I couldn’t wait to know the fate of these characters I came to care for.
I received a copy of this book from Kensington through Edelweiss.
The civilian persons referred to were women and course, no such program existed for men. Women victimized at institutions, in some cases sent by their own families, others being taken off the streets by the government established American Plan in 1940’s North Carolina , and held against their will at The State Industrisl Farm Colony for Women in North Carolina . Donna Everhart in this eye opening and chilling story tells us about this plan through the experiences of two main characters . Stella , 15 abused by her father and pregnant, sent there under the guise of being a bad girl . Sent to this place where abortion and sterilization were common place . Ruth , 24 on her way to work stopped by the sheriff on the suspicion of being promiscuous because she lived on her own and wasn’t married and taken in to make sure she “don’t get others sick”. Ruth has never been with a man sexually, yet she is held and treated with harsh medications for a venereal disease she doesn’t have.
Alternating with these points of view is that of Mrs. Baker , the superintendent of the institution who believes she’s doing right by the inmates . I found the cruel treatment difficult to read about and my heart was broken and I felt sickened at times for Stella and Ruth and other inmates who suffered at the hands of doctors and administrators. A fictionalized account of a real place , well researched as are all of Everhart’s novels reflecting on North Carolina history. Chilling because I could see shades of this dominance over women’s freedoms even today. This is the sixth novel by Donna Everhart I’ve read and I keep reading them because they are gripping and moving and well written and I couldn’t wait to know the fate of these characters I came to care for.
I received a copy of this book from Kensington through Edelweiss.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
North Carolina, 1940’s. Ruth Foster is twenty four and walking to work one February morning when a police car stops and the sheriff insists she goes with him. Ruth has no choice but to get in the car, she’s sure he’s made a terrible mistake and it will be quickly sorted out. Ruth has done nothing wrong, she’s targeted because she’s pretty and lives alone and is not married.
Stella Temple is fifteen, she attends school because it gets her out of the house, she’s young and has no real idea of what's happening to her and but she knows it’s wrong and hates her father and lazy mother.
Both are sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women run by Superintendent Dorothy Baker, here she’s transforming them into upstanding members of society, she oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Miss Baker has her own rule book, which inmates must abide by and if they don’t they have to face the consequences, including harder work assignments or meditation which is a fancy term for solitary confinement and kept in a tiny room and given the minimum food and water to keep a person alive.
Ruth and others including Frances, Josephine, Opal and eventually Stella take part in small acts of defiance and are determined to regain their freedom and health.
Based on true facts Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart is a story that will stun you, based around the American Plan, forced examinations, detention, and incarceration of women suspected of carrying sexually transmitted diseases, and in some cases sterilization.
These ladies were often in the wrong place at the wrong time, accused of being promiscuous and many had no idea what that meant, couldn’t defend themselves and victims of a government program that ran for almost three decades.
I received a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss+ and Kensington Publishing, Ms Everhart shares a shocking time in American history, one I wasn’t aware of prior to reading, she’s an advocating for the victims and many would no longer be alive. Five stars from me and I highly recommend.
Stella Temple is fifteen, she attends school because it gets her out of the house, she’s young and has no real idea of what's happening to her and but she knows it’s wrong and hates her father and lazy mother.
Both are sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women run by Superintendent Dorothy Baker, here she’s transforming them into upstanding members of society, she oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Miss Baker has her own rule book, which inmates must abide by and if they don’t they have to face the consequences, including harder work assignments or meditation which is a fancy term for solitary confinement and kept in a tiny room and given the minimum food and water to keep a person alive.
Ruth and others including Frances, Josephine, Opal and eventually Stella take part in small acts of defiance and are determined to regain their freedom and health.
Based on true facts Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart is a story that will stun you, based around the American Plan, forced examinations, detention, and incarceration of women suspected of carrying sexually transmitted diseases, and in some cases sterilization.
These ladies were often in the wrong place at the wrong time, accused of being promiscuous and many had no idea what that meant, couldn’t defend themselves and victims of a government program that ran for almost three decades.
I received a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss+ and Kensington Publishing, Ms Everhart shares a shocking time in American history, one I wasn’t aware of prior to reading, she’s an advocating for the victims and many would no longer be alive. Five stars from me and I highly recommend.
February 6, 2026
Whenever I read one of Donna Everhart’s books, I’m always in awe of her insight and research, no matter what she is writing about. In the past, she’s written about some difficult subjects: sexual abuse, bigotry, eating disorders, hardscrabble lives, the Civil War; and this book, which explores the plight of young women who are unjustly incarcerated by the government’s plan to regulate women’s bodies and their sexuality. In Women of a Promiscuous Nature, we hear the grim story of life at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women from the points of view of two of the women being held in the facility, Stella and Ruth, as well as that of the colony’s supervisor, Mrs. Baker. Hearing the stories from their very different perspectives, formed by their own families, by the things they’ve endured, by the circumstances and cruelty that brought them to this place, gave me insight and compassion for all of them. I didn’t have to approve of what they did—a lot of it was abhorrent—especially in the case of Mrs. Baker and the staff, but those insights provide important layers to the story. While I was reading, I kept thinking about POWER, as if it were lit up in lights. The power of the government to implement the American Plan; the power of the doctors, housemothers, and supervisors over the women who found themselves at the colony; the power of one person, then two, maybe more, to fight back and speak up. My heart broke for young Stella, whose home life was so repugnant that life at the Colony represented stability and safety and a way out of her old life. I wept for Ruth, whose life was upended in a way she’d never expected, and I cheered for her and worried for her when she bravely took a stand against the conditions at the Colony. I had just a modicum of sympathy toward Mrs. Baker, whose beginnings had their own share of tragedy, shaping her feelings toward the women and her own misguided ambitions. Once again I thank author Donna Everhart for giving her readers an intriguing, heart wrenching story; for giving us characters with layers upon layers; and for providing us the chance to view different perspectives from a very grave moment in our history. I received an advance reader copy of this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⭐⭐⭐.5
Pre-Read Notes:
Couldn't resist that title and I'm not even a little bit embarrassed about it!😂
"“Tell me what you know.” “If I knew anything, I’d say so.” “You’ve been a difficult one, Miss Foster.” “Maybe. But I’ve always told the truth.”" p302
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) The material is harrowing and triggering but the plot is weak, which makes the text feel punishing. As though all this suffering is pointless from a literary standpoint. While this might have been the actual condition of these women's lives -- pointlessness -- it makes for a miserable read.
Having experienced forced institutionalization at more than one point in my life, I can say the author is quite accurate with the shape of violence these sorts of institutions perpetrate, and the characters' reactions to said violence. Trigger warnings are needed here.
For me, it would have been more engaging if there was a stronger spine of plot to hold up the moral and emotional weight of the content. But no one in this book seems to want anything. They're all just reacting to each other and the circumstances they share. This may be historically accurate in the sense that life was pretty much arrested during these women's confinements, but it's dreadful to read.
I recommend this one to fans of historical fiction, history of women in the US, and books about equity and social justice.
A Few Things:
✔️ "Mrs. Maynard, of the crooked spine, sorts through papers, signs something, and hands them to Mrs. Baker. Stella would like to read what’s been written about her, but maybe it’s best she doesn’t. She’ll have a good idea based on how they treat her anyway. That’s what official papers created by those in charge tend to do, make people treat you this way or that. Mrs. Baker scans the first few pages." p30 I think making this character disabled is fine and not morally significant. I think making this character capable of overcoming her disabilities during acts of violence is terribly ableist, as are descriptions like this: "The housemother’s curved stature gives the impression of a child sitting at a grownup’s desk." p302
✔️ Well how very racist of them both. "She’s kept her hair as it was back then too, the cut as precise as a paper’s edge, the color like glossy black paint. It’s a standout trait, the same as her father’s. He said they had Cherokee blood in them somewhere down the line." p81 I wish the author had made something more of this as she has with other issues of this story's day.
✔️ *trigger warning SA* "“Decorum? What does decorum have to do with rape?”" p303. Too much unfortunately, and that hasn't improved in the last 75 years.
Content Notes: confinement, isolation, misogyny, emotional and psychological abuse, public shaming, group punishment, beatings of adults with a switch, welts, eugenics/forced sterilization, infertility, child SA, incest, forced surgery
Thank you to Donna Everhart, Kensington Publishing Corp., and NetGalley for an accessible digital copy of WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE. All views are mine.
Pre-Read Notes:
Couldn't resist that title and I'm not even a little bit embarrassed about it!😂
"“Tell me what you know.” “If I knew anything, I’d say so.” “You’ve been a difficult one, Miss Foster.” “Maybe. But I’ve always told the truth.”" p302
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) The material is harrowing and triggering but the plot is weak, which makes the text feel punishing. As though all this suffering is pointless from a literary standpoint. While this might have been the actual condition of these women's lives -- pointlessness -- it makes for a miserable read.
Having experienced forced institutionalization at more than one point in my life, I can say the author is quite accurate with the shape of violence these sorts of institutions perpetrate, and the characters' reactions to said violence. Trigger warnings are needed here.
For me, it would have been more engaging if there was a stronger spine of plot to hold up the moral and emotional weight of the content. But no one in this book seems to want anything. They're all just reacting to each other and the circumstances they share. This may be historically accurate in the sense that life was pretty much arrested during these women's confinements, but it's dreadful to read.
I recommend this one to fans of historical fiction, history of women in the US, and books about equity and social justice.
A Few Things:
✔️ "Mrs. Maynard, of the crooked spine, sorts through papers, signs something, and hands them to Mrs. Baker. Stella would like to read what’s been written about her, but maybe it’s best she doesn’t. She’ll have a good idea based on how they treat her anyway. That’s what official papers created by those in charge tend to do, make people treat you this way or that. Mrs. Baker scans the first few pages." p30 I think making this character disabled is fine and not morally significant. I think making this character capable of overcoming her disabilities during acts of violence is terribly ableist, as are descriptions like this: "The housemother’s curved stature gives the impression of a child sitting at a grownup’s desk." p302
✔️ Well how very racist of them both. "She’s kept her hair as it was back then too, the cut as precise as a paper’s edge, the color like glossy black paint. It’s a standout trait, the same as her father’s. He said they had Cherokee blood in them somewhere down the line." p81 I wish the author had made something more of this as she has with other issues of this story's day.
✔️ *trigger warning SA* "“Decorum? What does decorum have to do with rape?”" p303. Too much unfortunately, and that hasn't improved in the last 75 years.
Content Notes: confinement, isolation, misogyny, emotional and psychological abuse, public shaming, group punishment, beatings of adults with a switch, welts, eugenics/forced sterilization, infertility, child SA, incest, forced surgery
Thank you to Donna Everhart, Kensington Publishing Corp., and NetGalley for an accessible digital copy of WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE. All views are mine.
August 27, 2025
An intriguing yet sad historical fiction story about the 1940’s when women were imprisoned under the charge of being “promiscuous.” If you’re paying attention, this book should make you angry and concerned for the way things are going.
Stella was sent to the detention center by her parents at the age of 15, Ruth was taken off the street on her way to her job at a diner. Despite not having any sexual experience beyond a chaste kiss at the end of a date, Ruth is tested and treated for all manner of sexually transmitted diseases and imprisoned.
There are no such detention centers for men.
The narrative allows for secrets to be revealed and things get worse before they get better. The positive aspect of a book like this is that there are many strong female characters. This would be a compelling book to choose for a book club as there are sure to be great conversations.
Some books with similar themes
The Girls Who Grew Big
Wayward Girls
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC. Book to be published January 26, 2026.
Stella was sent to the detention center by her parents at the age of 15, Ruth was taken off the street on her way to her job at a diner. Despite not having any sexual experience beyond a chaste kiss at the end of a date, Ruth is tested and treated for all manner of sexually transmitted diseases and imprisoned.
There are no such detention centers for men.
The narrative allows for secrets to be revealed and things get worse before they get better. The positive aspect of a book like this is that there are many strong female characters. This would be a compelling book to choose for a book club as there are sure to be great conversations.
Some books with similar themes
The Girls Who Grew Big
Wayward Girls
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC. Book to be published January 26, 2026.
June 19, 2025
Intense, disturbing yet riveting historical tale of women deemed promiscuous or 'loose' in the 1940s. This story is based on the Chamberlain-Kahn Act or the American Plan. That alone makes this story frightening. This cautionary tale is more like a 1930-1940s Handmaid's Tale when the government decides to 'treat' those it thinks are spreading sexual infections to servicemen.
Told in three different POVs, readers meet Dorothy Baker, who is passionate about reform but hides her own secret. Teen Stella Temple, who is sexually abused by her father, and sent to the colony by her parents to get 'better.' Ruth Foster, who lives independently and is picked up by the sheriff and taken to the colony.
Baker's story is one of a woman who has her own tragic past and finds some redemption in her part of the colony. Her zeal to try to find good in what she does is overshadowed by the thought that some don't agree and that she might lose the only quest she believes in.
Stella's story is beyond tragic, but is realistic because no one spoke out loud about sexual abuse at that time. If anything, it was the young girl's and sometimes the young boy's fault. Some people were thought of as fallen and worse. Stella tries to be the 'good' girl. Anything to not be sent back home.
Ruth's story is one of those who are threatened by women who refused to fit the role society had for them. Add to that those young women who were attractive and confident. I really felt for Ruth as she struggles to find sense in why she's being held. She's strong even when others in the farm colony beat her down.
This story had me glued. What's horrifying is the justifications the government at the time used to round up and send these women to the colony. The treatments were before penicillin and were mercury and materials likened to today's chemotherapies. The side effects are shown in graphic details. What's beyond horrific is that most of those subjected to these inhumane treatments didn't have venereal diseases.
At the end, there is a mention of how the government's stand on eugenics was used to separate the so-called less than from the others in the population.
Haunting historical where women are rounded up and deemed a threat to those men who fight the war, but in reality is a chilling case of the overextension of power and control. This is one story that will stay with me for some time.
Told in three different POVs, readers meet Dorothy Baker, who is passionate about reform but hides her own secret. Teen Stella Temple, who is sexually abused by her father, and sent to the colony by her parents to get 'better.' Ruth Foster, who lives independently and is picked up by the sheriff and taken to the colony.
Baker's story is one of a woman who has her own tragic past and finds some redemption in her part of the colony. Her zeal to try to find good in what she does is overshadowed by the thought that some don't agree and that she might lose the only quest she believes in.
Stella's story is beyond tragic, but is realistic because no one spoke out loud about sexual abuse at that time. If anything, it was the young girl's and sometimes the young boy's fault. Some people were thought of as fallen and worse. Stella tries to be the 'good' girl. Anything to not be sent back home.
Ruth's story is one of those who are threatened by women who refused to fit the role society had for them. Add to that those young women who were attractive and confident. I really felt for Ruth as she struggles to find sense in why she's being held. She's strong even when others in the farm colony beat her down.
This story had me glued. What's horrifying is the justifications the government at the time used to round up and send these women to the colony. The treatments were before penicillin and were mercury and materials likened to today's chemotherapies. The side effects are shown in graphic details. What's beyond horrific is that most of those subjected to these inhumane treatments didn't have venereal diseases.
At the end, there is a mention of how the government's stand on eugenics was used to separate the so-called less than from the others in the population.
Haunting historical where women are rounded up and deemed a threat to those men who fight the war, but in reality is a chilling case of the overextension of power and control. This is one story that will stay with me for some time.
February 5, 2026
5 stars. This takes place during World War ll in North Carolina, 1941—and follows three women and their experiences within a U.S. government eugenics program. The program involved placing teen girls/women in state run reform academy’s or a “Colony” that would perform sterilizations in order to “cleanse” them. They were established to protect American servicemen from promiscuous women/venereal disease. Back then promiscuity could mean something as simple as a woman not wanting marriage as most were not prostitutes. Parental placement, being poor, talking to a serviceman, or just being pretty and unmarried could also land you in the program.
It’s utterly heartbreaking to learn this is based on true life with these facilities existing all around the U.S. I can’t imagine the trauma caused. And to be left barren is incomprehensible—their choice taken/their lives changed forever.
Ms. Everhart tells of a raw, unjust, and emotionally crippling situation that our main characters Ruth and Stella were placed in.. as for superintendent Dorothy Baker, she believed what she was doing, forcibly—was for the greater good, and that I’ll never understand. A remarkable story. Pub. 1/27/26
Many thanks to Kensington Publishing via NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.
It’s utterly heartbreaking to learn this is based on true life with these facilities existing all around the U.S. I can’t imagine the trauma caused. And to be left barren is incomprehensible—their choice taken/their lives changed forever.
Ms. Everhart tells of a raw, unjust, and emotionally crippling situation that our main characters Ruth and Stella were placed in.. as for superintendent Dorothy Baker, she believed what she was doing, forcibly—was for the greater good, and that I’ll never understand. A remarkable story. Pub. 1/27/26
Many thanks to Kensington Publishing via NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.
January 28, 2026
The Women of a Promiscuous Nature is historical fiction set in the 1940s about three woman. This novel had a Girl Interrupted meets The Handmaid’s Tale feel to it. Yikes!
Ruth was locked up in a “reform school”, The State Industrial Farm Colony For Women, for being independent enough to have a job and live alone. She was stopped by the local police who had her checked for an STD and even though she’d never been with a man, was deemed promiscuous and taken away.
Stella was being visited by her evil father every night beginning at age 12 and when she became pregnant at 15, her parents allowed her to be taken away to the Colony to end the pregnancy and then to be reformed.
Mrs. Baker was the strict Superintendent of the Colony who believed in what they were doing was actually working to reform these women and girls.
This reads as dystopian fiction, and was so disturbing! This story is not dystopian fiction but based on true events that really happened in our history between the 1920’s and 1940’s.
Many of the women taken away all across the nation during this time period were actually tortured, some even sterilized as Eugenics was also being practiced.
Our nation’s dirty little secret was long buried and Donna Everhart’s immaculate research brings it all to light in her amazing novel.
*Thanks so much to the author, Kensington Books, and to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the gifted ARC and wonderful PR box, and for including me on the book tour.*
Ruth was locked up in a “reform school”, The State Industrial Farm Colony For Women, for being independent enough to have a job and live alone. She was stopped by the local police who had her checked for an STD and even though she’d never been with a man, was deemed promiscuous and taken away.
Stella was being visited by her evil father every night beginning at age 12 and when she became pregnant at 15, her parents allowed her to be taken away to the Colony to end the pregnancy and then to be reformed.
Mrs. Baker was the strict Superintendent of the Colony who believed in what they were doing was actually working to reform these women and girls.
This reads as dystopian fiction, and was so disturbing! This story is not dystopian fiction but based on true events that really happened in our history between the 1920’s and 1940’s.
Many of the women taken away all across the nation during this time period were actually tortured, some even sterilized as Eugenics was also being practiced.
Our nation’s dirty little secret was long buried and Donna Everhart’s immaculate research brings it all to light in her amazing novel.
*Thanks so much to the author, Kensington Books, and to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the gifted ARC and wonderful PR box, and for including me on the book tour.*
February 15, 2026
Trigger Alerts:
– Sexual content
– Social stigma
– Domestic conflict
– Emotional manipulation
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart is a historical Southern fiction novel set in North Carolina, spanning the mid-20th century (primarily the 1960s–1970s). The story centers on women whose reputations define and often confine them in a small Southern town where judgment travels fast and forgiveness doesn’t. What stood out to me is the hypocrisy in society as the book explores shame, double standards, and how differently men and women are treated for the same behavior. The small-town setting really amplifies that tension. It’s character-driven and leans more into emotional fallout than plot twists. There’s drama, but it feels amplified in double standards and unfair treatments.
– Sexual content
– Social stigma
– Domestic conflict
– Emotional manipulation
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart is a historical Southern fiction novel set in North Carolina, spanning the mid-20th century (primarily the 1960s–1970s). The story centers on women whose reputations define and often confine them in a small Southern town where judgment travels fast and forgiveness doesn’t. What stood out to me is the hypocrisy in society as the book explores shame, double standards, and how differently men and women are treated for the same behavior. The small-town setting really amplifies that tension. It’s character-driven and leans more into emotional fallout than plot twists. There’s drama, but it feels amplified in double standards and unfair treatments.
November 18, 2025
This is my first book by Donna Everhart and I was completely into this story. A historical fiction taking place during the 20’s- 40’s. Women who lived alone, dined alone and were seen having conversations with men, were picked up by the government and sent to be tested for venereal disease at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. These independent women were seen as being promiscuous. Men were experiencing STD’s at a higher rate than usual and of course they'd blame the women for this. Our main character Ruth is picked up and taken to the clinic because she lives on her own, and works to support herself. She tests positive even though she's never been with a man and is forced to stay there until she tests negative. Reading the things that women endured while at these facilities, was so disturbing to say the least. You gotta read this one. Donna has definitely done her research about this and reading about it was so fascinating yet infuriating at the same time. Truly unreal. This is quite a thought provoking novel.
Thank you to the publisher, netgalley, and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the publisher, netgalley, and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
August 12, 2025
After being wrongfully accused of being promiscuous, Ruth Baker is sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. "The Colony" is designed to transform the women into upstanding members of society that abide by societal rules - marriage, children, submission. The Colony, however, is a place of rules and severe consequences, where women are punished for asking questions, and where deviance can lead to disaster.
Donna Everhart did a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life. The Colony's women - Ruth, Stella, Josephine, Lucy, Frances, Opal - are so endearing. My heart broke for all they endured. Even Dorothy Baker, the superintendent of the Colony, while a hated character throughout the novel, inspired some empathy for her role in "educating" these women.
I really liked how the story was told in multiple voices. Sometimes for me, this format doesn't work as well, but in this case it was brilliant. It's really three very different tellings of the same story; Ruth who pushes back on the requirements of the Colony, Stella, the 14 year old girl who sees the Colony as a respite from her terrible home life, and Baker, who honestly thinks the Colony, and her role in it, are benefitting society. I think doing it this way allows the reader to see the complex emotions that these women faced, especially relating to some of the more questionable rules and punishments.
My one complaint about this book was that the ending felt very rushed. While I was not expecting a perfectly happy ending, I did feel like there could have been more resolution for some of the characters. The book is 368 pages, and it was only in the last 30 pages or so that the author starts resolving some of the story line. I would have liked to see the final outcome of the Colony, what happened to Frances, what happened to the other women who left the Colony.
The author did a ton of research for this novel. Regrettably, places like the Colony existed between WWI and WWII. The America Plan was passed by the federal government as a way to control the spread of syphillis through the military. These institutions, however, became places of shame and horror as women and girls were subjected to abhorrent treatment, forced sterilization, and incarceration for not abiding by societal standards. I had never heard of these places, and the links the author provides in the afterward provided fascinating, though depressing, additional information.
Overall, 4.5 ⭐s rounded up. If you like historical fiction based on actual events, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advanced copy of this novel. It's scheduled to be published on January 27, 2026.
Donna Everhart did a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life. The Colony's women - Ruth, Stella, Josephine, Lucy, Frances, Opal - are so endearing. My heart broke for all they endured. Even Dorothy Baker, the superintendent of the Colony, while a hated character throughout the novel, inspired some empathy for her role in "educating" these women.
I really liked how the story was told in multiple voices. Sometimes for me, this format doesn't work as well, but in this case it was brilliant. It's really three very different tellings of the same story; Ruth who pushes back on the requirements of the Colony, Stella, the 14 year old girl who sees the Colony as a respite from her terrible home life, and Baker, who honestly thinks the Colony, and her role in it, are benefitting society. I think doing it this way allows the reader to see the complex emotions that these women faced, especially relating to some of the more questionable rules and punishments.
My one complaint about this book was that the ending felt very rushed. While I was not expecting a perfectly happy ending, I did feel like there could have been more resolution for some of the characters. The book is 368 pages, and it was only in the last 30 pages or so that the author starts resolving some of the story line. I would have liked to see the final outcome of the Colony, what happened to Frances, what happened to the other women who left the Colony.
The author did a ton of research for this novel. Regrettably, places like the Colony existed between WWI and WWII. The America Plan was passed by the federal government as a way to control the spread of syphillis through the military. These institutions, however, became places of shame and horror as women and girls were subjected to abhorrent treatment, forced sterilization, and incarceration for not abiding by societal standards. I had never heard of these places, and the links the author provides in the afterward provided fascinating, though depressing, additional information.
Overall, 4.5 ⭐s rounded up. If you like historical fiction based on actual events, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advanced copy of this novel. It's scheduled to be published on January 27, 2026.
December 14, 2025
This story is dark, unsettling and hard to believe this ever happened. In 1927 to the 1940’s all around the United States had State Industrial farm colonies or reform schools. Everyday women were stalked, pursued, and the local Sheriff sees a local woman walking down the street, stop and question her, haul her to jail, and end up in a reform school. These women would be degraded to humiliating exams, undergo painful treatments for STI’s. The tests were sent out for testing, come back positive even though the girl never had sex.
Sexually transmitted diseases started in Europe in the 1870’s and then United States became involved to control or eliminate STI’s. It was WWI, WWII servicemen were getting infected in their own communities. Women of all backgrounds were being checked, their lifestyles and accused of promiscuity.
Sexually transmitted diseases started in Europe in the 1870’s and then United States became involved to control or eliminate STI’s. It was WWI, WWII servicemen were getting infected in their own communities. Women of all backgrounds were being checked, their lifestyles and accused of promiscuity.
December 30, 2025
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart. Thanks to @suzyapprovedbooktours for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fictional stories of women’s accounts during the true story of the American Plan, a government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality in the first half of the 20th century.
I had no idea about the Chamberlain-Kahn Act and the American Plan, allowing US law enforcement and health officials to detain and examine women deemed at risk of transmitting venereal disease to US troops. I love books like this that teach me of a shameful part of our history; these acts are not taught in school, at least not when I was in school. The book circled through a few different women’s stories, as well as an official of the institution they were kept at. The stories were shocking, and it’s a difficult one to read but important. I liked how the ending stayed with the characters and not with the historical track in later times. Not every woman affected saw justice or immediate closure of these institutions, and that’s true history.
Read this if you like:
-US women’s history
-Women’s rights and historical oppression stories
-Historical fiction
-Institution setting stories
Women of a Promiscuous Nature comes 0ut 1/27.
Fictional stories of women’s accounts during the true story of the American Plan, a government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality in the first half of the 20th century.
I had no idea about the Chamberlain-Kahn Act and the American Plan, allowing US law enforcement and health officials to detain and examine women deemed at risk of transmitting venereal disease to US troops. I love books like this that teach me of a shameful part of our history; these acts are not taught in school, at least not when I was in school. The book circled through a few different women’s stories, as well as an official of the institution they were kept at. The stories were shocking, and it’s a difficult one to read but important. I liked how the ending stayed with the characters and not with the historical track in later times. Not every woman affected saw justice or immediate closure of these institutions, and that’s true history.
Read this if you like:
-US women’s history
-Women’s rights and historical oppression stories
-Historical fiction
-Institution setting stories
Women of a Promiscuous Nature comes 0ut 1/27.
November 26, 2025
Wow! Donna Everhart has written an eye-opening, thought-provoking, and unique Historical Fiction Novel. The Genres for this well written and extraordinary are : Historical Fiction, Thriller, Feminism, Adult Fiction, Eugenics, Suspense, and Psychological Thriller. The timeline for this story is 1940-ish in North Carolina. It seems like the Twilight Zone, or Science Fiction to believe that a single woman walking to work, could be stopped by the sheriff and accused of “promiscuity” and" sent to The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women and “subjected to involuntary medical treatment”. This was based on the “American Plan”, the government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality throughout the first half if the 20th century.”(from the Goodreads Blurb)
Donna Everhart vividly describes the depressing and dark environment, and the dramatic, complex, and complicated characters. Ruth is one of the women who was walking to work, and found herself imprisoned. Another one of the women was raped and impregnated by her stepfather, and finds herself blamed and imprisoned. There are other “difficult” or impoverished girls sent there as well.
Some of the staff is unbalanced and believe that they are doing society and the girls a favor. If the girls break the rules there are sadistic and cruel consequences. If any of the girls try to run away. there is severe punishment. There is involuntary sterilization, and medications that make the girls sick. I found it difficult to believe practices could exist in this country that allowed for such torture. There is betrayal, twists and turns, surprises, and danger.
My heart goes out to many of those girls, and I found them to be courageous, and determined. When some of the girls work out a plan together, I was on pins and needles. This is a book that should be read, and that I highly recommend. I appreciate that Donna Everhart brings these historical events to our attention, so they can permanently be stopped forever.
Donna Everhart vividly describes the depressing and dark environment, and the dramatic, complex, and complicated characters. Ruth is one of the women who was walking to work, and found herself imprisoned. Another one of the women was raped and impregnated by her stepfather, and finds herself blamed and imprisoned. There are other “difficult” or impoverished girls sent there as well.
Some of the staff is unbalanced and believe that they are doing society and the girls a favor. If the girls break the rules there are sadistic and cruel consequences. If any of the girls try to run away. there is severe punishment. There is involuntary sterilization, and medications that make the girls sick. I found it difficult to believe practices could exist in this country that allowed for such torture. There is betrayal, twists and turns, surprises, and danger.
My heart goes out to many of those girls, and I found them to be courageous, and determined. When some of the girls work out a plan together, I was on pins and needles. This is a book that should be read, and that I highly recommend. I appreciate that Donna Everhart brings these historical events to our attention, so they can permanently be stopped forever.
September 9, 2025
This story was inspired by the hidden horrific abuse and torment that many woman suffered through the hands of those in charge of reform centers and the American Plan. It was beyond devastating and at times painful to read even though this was fiction. This is a great story that explores how the abuse of woman many times is hidden away. Even decades later it’s difficult to understand why and how people are capable of committing these atrocities.
The characters were so well developed and the author did a great job at creating an emotional yet powerful story. They were very easy to love and I desperately wanted to be able to help them through out the story. The evil characters were also so well written that I hated all of the evil ones.
The ending left me wanting to know more about the characters future but it was a great ending.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The characters were so well developed and the author did a great job at creating an emotional yet powerful story. They were very easy to love and I desperately wanted to be able to help them through out the story. The evil characters were also so well written that I hated all of the evil ones.
The ending left me wanting to know more about the characters future but it was a great ending.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Want to read
September 3, 2025This feels so timely and relevant. Can't wait to learn more about our troubled history. . .
** Update : ARC REC'D THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
** Update : ARC REC'D THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
February 14, 2026
This is a novel based on an ACTUAL event called "The American Plan" where in order to protect WW1 troops from STIs, "promiscuous" girls and women were sent away, many innocent and simply captured off the streets and put in institutions where they were imprisoned and abused. And STERILIZED. The modern Salem witch trials of the time. Today we have Project 2025. In the cloak of protecting our country and following religion, there will always be those wanting to hold abusive power over others.
It was a well written story with good characters, and uncomfortably relevant.
It was a well written story with good characters, and uncomfortably relevant.
Read
January 18, 2026Set against the backdrop of 1941 North Carolina, WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE by master Southern storyteller Donna Everhart unfolds as a poignant and gripping historical novel.
This compelling narrative delves into the dark realities of the "American Plan," a draconian government initiative that wrongfully imprisoned women under the pretense of safeguarding public health.
Through vividly drawn characters and richly textured settings, Everhart exposes the harsh injustices faced by these women, illuminating a haunting chapter of history that resonates with themes of resilience and courage. Her best yet!
About...
My thoughts...
Set in 1940s North Carolina, the novel brilliantly explores the dark and disturbing historical "American Plan," a government program that regulated women’s bodies under the guise of public health. With historical accuracy, Everhart bases the story on real aspects of the early 20th-century American system for controlling women's bodies, making it a powerfully moving historical novel.
Told from three distinct POV:
~Ruth Foster:
~Stella Temple:
~Superintendent Dorothy Baker:
Donna Everhart skillfully depicts the brutal and dark State Industrial Farm Colony for Women as a facility that functions more like a prison than a reform school. The conditions and treatments described in the novel are based on actual historical records of the American Plan.
Characterized by isolation, grueling menial labor, and a strict rule book enforced with harsh punishments like solitary confinement, the women are forced with involuntary medical interventions, subjected to invasive testing and toxic mercury treatments for diseases they often do not have. The novel also addresses the horrific practice of forced sterilization and more, with horrific living conditions, hard labor, and harsh discipline.
The primary themes are the regulation of women's bodies and sexuality, the abuse of power, the historical injustice of the American Plan, and the enduring themes of resistance and resilience.
~Regulation of Women's Bodies and Sexuality
~Abuse of Power and Injustice
~Resistance and Resilience
~Challenging Societal Norms
A major theme is shedding light on a "long-buried history" of American social injustice that many people are unaware of, emphasizing how fear and stigma can influence policy and violate civil rights.
The historical figures associated with the "American Plan" (established via the 1918 Chamberlain-Kahn Act) range from high-level government architects to the women who legally challenged the system's abuses. From reformers and activists to victims who resisted, those who opposed the American Plan challenged it on constitutional, moral, and humanitarian grounds.
The bonds formed between the women demonstrate that even in a system designed to break the spirit, solidarity and resistance provide a path toward regaining one's humanity.
By shedding light on this "shadow history," Everhart challenges the reader to acknowledge a period where the American government legally kidnapped and poisoned its own citizens, ensuring that the victims’ stories are no longer ignored.
The "American Plan" did not have a single, definitive end date, as it was a decentralized system of state and local laws rather than one federal operation. Its dissolution occurred in phases between the 1950s and 1970s.
The central takeaway of WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE is a searing indictment of how fear and moral panic can be weaponized by the state to strip away the civil liberties of the vulnerable. Through the lens of the "American Plan," Donna Everhart delivers several key messages:
~The Fragility of Rights
~The Danger of Moral Certainty
~The Injustice of the Gender Double Standard
~The Strength of Unlikely Alliances
Despite the harrowing conditions, the ultimate message is one of human resilience.
The title is a direct reference to the vague and weaponized legal language used by officials to justify the state-sponsored kidnapping of women under the American Plan. The novel seeks to reclaim the individual stories of characters like Ruth and Stella from under this dehumanizing historical blanket.
While the state accused the women of being "promiscuous" (immoral), the novel argues that the true immorality lay with the government officials who authorized forced medical testing, toxic poisonings, and the theft of years of these women's lives. The "promiscuous nature" in the book is less about the women’s behavior and more about the government's promiscuous (unrestricted and indiscriminate) use of power.
A central focus is the "sisterhood" formed among inmates. Women like Ruth and a misunderstood inmate work together secretly to sabotage authority and fight for their freedom. The book explores how the legal system targeted women for arbitrary reasons: being "too pretty," living alone, or eating dinner in a restaurant without a male companion, while highlighting the endurance of women in a system designed to break them.
Sadly, the health consequences these women suffered include neurological, mental health, organ damage, chronic illness, reproductive, and social consequences. As a native of North Carolina, I enjoy books set in the area and history, even though it is sad to think women had to experience such horrific actions in nearby Kinston, NC.
Thought-provoking, rich in history, and meticulously researched with resources and further reading as well as discussion questions for your book club (an ideal pick). Unfortunaely this program that used public health as a justification for mass detention and bodily control resonates with several significant contemporary debates today in 2026.
As an avid admirer of the author, I have delved into every one of her captivating works, each time emerging with invaluable insights and profound takeaways that resonate deeply. This particular book stands out as my absolute favorite, leaving me in awe of her exceptional talent and masterful storytelling. She has an extraordinary ability to breathe life into the courageous women of history, celebrating their strength and resilience in a way that is both moving and inspiring. I highly recommend.
Recs...
Readers interested in the themes of institutional abuse, the "American Plan," and women's historical fight for autonomy will find several powerful historical fiction and non-fiction books on similar subjects.
Non-Fiction
~The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison "Promiscuous" Women by Scott W. Stern
Several novels set in North Carolina and the South share themes of institutional abuse, injustice, the policing of women's bodies, and resilience in the face of systemic injustice.
~Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
~The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church
~The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church
~The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman
~Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
~The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart
~When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart
Special thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for graciously providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Jan 27, 2026
Jan Newsletter
This compelling narrative delves into the dark realities of the "American Plan," a draconian government initiative that wrongfully imprisoned women under the pretense of safeguarding public health.
Through vividly drawn characters and richly textured settings, Everhart exposes the harsh injustices faced by these women, illuminating a haunting chapter of history that resonates with themes of resilience and courage. Her best yet!
About...
Ruth Foster:
24-year-old Ruth Foster is walking to her job at a diner when the local sheriff stops her. Because she is a single woman living alone, she is accused of "promiscuity" and forced into medical testing for venereal diseases.
The Colony:
Despite being innocent, Ruth is sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. There, she meets other women held for arbitrary reasons: being "too pretty," eating alone in a restaurant, or being reported by spiteful neighbors.
The "American Plan" Treatments:
Inmates are subjected to "curative" treatments, including grueling physical labor and toxic mercury treatments for diseases they often do not have. And the horrific practice of forced sterilization.
The Superintendent’s Vision:
Dorothy Baker, the Colony’s superintendent, believes she is patriotically "reforming" degenerate souls. However, as her own past is revealed, her humanity and secrets complicate her role as a villain.
Stella’s Respite:
15-year-old Stella Temple is sent to the Colony by her family after being a victim of assault. Unlike others, she initially views the Colony as a respite from her nightmarish home life because she finally has regular meals and a safe bed.
The Path to Resistance:
Ruth refuses to be broken by the system. She and other inmates, including a misunderstood woman named Frances, eventually begin to work together secretly to sabotage the Colony's authority and find a way back to their freedom.
My thoughts...
Set in 1940s North Carolina, the novel brilliantly explores the dark and disturbing historical "American Plan," a government program that regulated women’s bodies under the guise of public health. With historical accuracy, Everhart bases the story on real aspects of the early 20th-century American system for controlling women's bodies, making it a powerfully moving historical novel.
Told from three distinct POV:
~Ruth Foster:
~Stella Temple:
~Superintendent Dorothy Baker:
Donna Everhart skillfully depicts the brutal and dark State Industrial Farm Colony for Women as a facility that functions more like a prison than a reform school. The conditions and treatments described in the novel are based on actual historical records of the American Plan.
Characterized by isolation, grueling menial labor, and a strict rule book enforced with harsh punishments like solitary confinement, the women are forced with involuntary medical interventions, subjected to invasive testing and toxic mercury treatments for diseases they often do not have. The novel also addresses the horrific practice of forced sterilization and more, with horrific living conditions, hard labor, and harsh discipline.
The primary themes are the regulation of women's bodies and sexuality, the abuse of power, the historical injustice of the American Plan, and the enduring themes of resistance and resilience.
~Regulation of Women's Bodies and Sexuality
~Abuse of Power and Injustice
~Resistance and Resilience
~Challenging Societal Norms
A major theme is shedding light on a "long-buried history" of American social injustice that many people are unaware of, emphasizing how fear and stigma can influence policy and violate civil rights.
The historical figures associated with the "American Plan" (established via the 1918 Chamberlain-Kahn Act) range from high-level government architects to the women who legally challenged the system's abuses. From reformers and activists to victims who resisted, those who opposed the American Plan challenged it on constitutional, moral, and humanitarian grounds.
The bonds formed between the women demonstrate that even in a system designed to break the spirit, solidarity and resistance provide a path toward regaining one's humanity.
By shedding light on this "shadow history," Everhart challenges the reader to acknowledge a period where the American government legally kidnapped and poisoned its own citizens, ensuring that the victims’ stories are no longer ignored.
The "American Plan" did not have a single, definitive end date, as it was a decentralized system of state and local laws rather than one federal operation. Its dissolution occurred in phases between the 1950s and 1970s.
The central takeaway of WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE is a searing indictment of how fear and moral panic can be weaponized by the state to strip away the civil liberties of the vulnerable. Through the lens of the "American Plan," Donna Everhart delivers several key messages:
~The Fragility of Rights
~The Danger of Moral Certainty
~The Injustice of the Gender Double Standard
~The Strength of Unlikely Alliances
Despite the harrowing conditions, the ultimate message is one of human resilience.
The title is a direct reference to the vague and weaponized legal language used by officials to justify the state-sponsored kidnapping of women under the American Plan. The novel seeks to reclaim the individual stories of characters like Ruth and Stella from under this dehumanizing historical blanket.
While the state accused the women of being "promiscuous" (immoral), the novel argues that the true immorality lay with the government officials who authorized forced medical testing, toxic poisonings, and the theft of years of these women's lives. The "promiscuous nature" in the book is less about the women’s behavior and more about the government's promiscuous (unrestricted and indiscriminate) use of power.
A central focus is the "sisterhood" formed among inmates. Women like Ruth and a misunderstood inmate work together secretly to sabotage authority and fight for their freedom. The book explores how the legal system targeted women for arbitrary reasons: being "too pretty," living alone, or eating dinner in a restaurant without a male companion, while highlighting the endurance of women in a system designed to break them.
Sadly, the health consequences these women suffered include neurological, mental health, organ damage, chronic illness, reproductive, and social consequences. As a native of North Carolina, I enjoy books set in the area and history, even though it is sad to think women had to experience such horrific actions in nearby Kinston, NC.
Thought-provoking, rich in history, and meticulously researched with resources and further reading as well as discussion questions for your book club (an ideal pick). Unfortunaely this program that used public health as a justification for mass detention and bodily control resonates with several significant contemporary debates today in 2026.
As an avid admirer of the author, I have delved into every one of her captivating works, each time emerging with invaluable insights and profound takeaways that resonate deeply. This particular book stands out as my absolute favorite, leaving me in awe of her exceptional talent and masterful storytelling. She has an extraordinary ability to breathe life into the courageous women of history, celebrating their strength and resilience in a way that is both moving and inspiring. I highly recommend.
Recs...
Readers interested in the themes of institutional abuse, the "American Plan," and women's historical fight for autonomy will find several powerful historical fiction and non-fiction books on similar subjects.
Non-Fiction
~The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison "Promiscuous" Women by Scott W. Stern
Several novels set in North Carolina and the South share themes of institutional abuse, injustice, the policing of women's bodies, and resilience in the face of systemic injustice.
~Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
~The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church
~The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church
~The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman
~Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
~The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart
~When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart
Special thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for graciously providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Jan 27, 2026
Jan Newsletter
February 3, 2026
A somewhat disturbing book that really drags.
November 1, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Donna Everhart’s impeccable research and storytelling unfolds a dark time in U. S. history in her novel, Women of a Promiscuous Nature that tells how the government’s “ American Plan” berated and controlled women during the 1930’s & 1940’s. The program allowed and encouraged the detention and incarceration of women who were suspected of having sexually transmitted diseases. These women were then subjected to invasive medical treatments, drugged and sent to work farms or ‘colonies’ as a way to “cure” these women of promiscuity.
This horrifying and powerful novel is told from different points of view to reveal the terrors these women faced and the fact that others were convinced that this was necessary and would help America. Ruth, one of the narrators, lives in an apartment by herself, works as a waitress and relies on no one until one day she is accosted by the sheriff, taken into custody and sent to a colony. She was not told why, not allowed an attorney, and unable to call anyone. Baker, a 2nd narrator, is the director of one of these work farms and believes that what she is doing is patriotic, making her job honorable.
Readers will not only be horrified by the atrocities committed, they will also cheer for the determination and strength of the women who fought for answers and a way to escape.
Everhart’s at the top of her craft with this unforgettable historical novel!
This horrifying and powerful novel is told from different points of view to reveal the terrors these women faced and the fact that others were convinced that this was necessary and would help America. Ruth, one of the narrators, lives in an apartment by herself, works as a waitress and relies on no one until one day she is accosted by the sheriff, taken into custody and sent to a colony. She was not told why, not allowed an attorney, and unable to call anyone. Baker, a 2nd narrator, is the director of one of these work farms and believes that what she is doing is patriotic, making her job honorable.
Readers will not only be horrified by the atrocities committed, they will also cheer for the determination and strength of the women who fought for answers and a way to escape.
Everhart’s at the top of her craft with this unforgettable historical novel!
November 18, 2025
Ruth is a young, independent woman in 1940s North Carolina. She lives alone, which raises suspicion amongst others, including the sheriff. One day, she’s forcibly taken to be tested for STIs at the health clinic. Despite her insistence, Ruth is not believed when she says there’s no possibly way she could be infected, and she’s carted off to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. There, women are given medical treatment and taught how to be “productive” members of society. While at the Colony, Ruth meets 15-year-old Stella and Superintendent Dorothy Baker Told from all three perspectives, this story gives a detailed account of a shameful part of American history.
Women of a Promiscuous Nature had me entranced from start to finish. The story was so shocking and alarming, especially considering that it’s based on true events. I think it’s also a timely tale, as parallels can be drawn to modern-day women fighting to maintain bodily autonomy. One of the starkest moments for me was when Ruth asked what happened to the men who tested positive for syphilis- were they sent away to a reform facility too? I’ll bet you can guess the answer to that one. This is a remarkable story, and one I highly recommend!
Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for this e-ARC!
Women of a Promiscuous Nature had me entranced from start to finish. The story was so shocking and alarming, especially considering that it’s based on true events. I think it’s also a timely tale, as parallels can be drawn to modern-day women fighting to maintain bodily autonomy. One of the starkest moments for me was when Ruth asked what happened to the men who tested positive for syphilis- were they sent away to a reform facility too? I’ll bet you can guess the answer to that one. This is a remarkable story, and one I highly recommend!
Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for this e-ARC!
September 29, 2025
Such a unique and interesting plot - this book is a must read for women. Taking place in the 40s it reminds me of The Handmaids Tale with the way women are treated. Stella is an amazing main character with a lot of relatable traits. This book made me proud and empowered as a woman.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 10, 2025
"what's more unnerving is the knowledge they believe they're doing a good job and helping individuals toward what they envision as a new and bring future. they've been doing this so long they can't see beyond what they've been taught or trained themselves. they have their views, adopted and accepted by others of like minds, as to what's suitable and then mandated. a woman living independently, like she was, means she wasn't properly aligned to their idea of what society expects, and immediately categorizes her as depraved, corrupt, or immoral. she's a woman who must be changed, made to behave and live in an acceptable manner..."
i wish i could add this to my dystopian shelf but alas this is based on real events.
this book made me deep dive into the history of the American Plan and the Chamberlain-Kahn Act of 1918 and now I have two more books on hold. what a horrifying time in history, among so many others, where one group of people decides another one is "dangerous" and deserve to be locked up. it makes you wonder how the hell this happened while others just sat by and watched but we're seeing this today with ICE taking people off the street and locking them up or deporting them to God knows where.
in this case, women who were deemed as "promiscuous" (which could literally mean having a job or living alone) were subject to invasive and degrading tests that would almost always result in a positive result of some sort of venereal disease or as we would refer to them today, STIs. the "doctors" did not have to show the women positive results, they were simply shipped off to the nearest facility to be "treated". they had no choice in the matter concerning the treatment or how long they needed to stay. many women became sick, lost increasing amounts of weight, lost hair, teeth, etc. all in the promise of being treated. i was disgusted and shocked and scared for these women who were fictional but based on real individuals.
fantastic story, fantastic research, fantastic writing. i was engrossed the whole time especially due to the differences in all the POVs. one believed in the mission as a director of the institution, one detained young girl flip flopped many times in support of the institution and the director herself, and the last detained woman was fighting for her freedom and in protest of the treatments. each POV was invigorating and well written. i cannot wait to force my friends to read this so we can discuss every detail.
it only lost a star due to the ending. i was expecting more of a dramatic ending but it was rather uneventful. not necessarily a bad ending but i was just caught off guard by the "easy" ending.
i wish i could add this to my dystopian shelf but alas this is based on real events.
this book made me deep dive into the history of the American Plan and the Chamberlain-Kahn Act of 1918 and now I have two more books on hold. what a horrifying time in history, among so many others, where one group of people decides another one is "dangerous" and deserve to be locked up. it makes you wonder how the hell this happened while others just sat by and watched but we're seeing this today with ICE taking people off the street and locking them up or deporting them to God knows where.
in this case, women who were deemed as "promiscuous" (which could literally mean having a job or living alone) were subject to invasive and degrading tests that would almost always result in a positive result of some sort of venereal disease or as we would refer to them today, STIs. the "doctors" did not have to show the women positive results, they were simply shipped off to the nearest facility to be "treated". they had no choice in the matter concerning the treatment or how long they needed to stay. many women became sick, lost increasing amounts of weight, lost hair, teeth, etc. all in the promise of being treated. i was disgusted and shocked and scared for these women who were fictional but based on real individuals.
fantastic story, fantastic research, fantastic writing. i was engrossed the whole time especially due to the differences in all the POVs. one believed in the mission as a director of the institution, one detained young girl flip flopped many times in support of the institution and the director herself, and the last detained woman was fighting for her freedom and in protest of the treatments. each POV was invigorating and well written. i cannot wait to force my friends to read this so we can discuss every detail.
it only lost a star due to the ending. i was expecting more of a dramatic ending but it was rather uneventful. not necessarily a bad ending but i was just caught off guard by the "easy" ending.
January 29, 2026
every time i think i couldn’t possibly be more ashamed of america’s dark history, i’m proven wrong. what an appalling and completely under-taught piece of history the chamberlain-kahn act is. i am horrified to say that i had never even heard of these disturbing events, and i’m so thankful to the author for writing such a thoughtful representation of what life looked like for women subjected to internment in these facilities.
this book is not for the faint of heart (i teared up several times), but what an incredible read. the author provides us with the perspectives of three incredibly different women in one of these north carolina “farm colonies”, and i found all three to be really complex and authentically written characters. i specifically was impressed with the depiction of dorothy baker, whose character speaks to the women of the time that helped to uphold this unjust violence against other women, because they truly believed in the goodness of what they were doing. there are obvious parallels that can be drawn to so many women in positions of power today.
this story served as a reminder to be grateful for even the smallest of liberties i can have as a woman today- choosing to live alone, be unmarried at 23, dine alone at a restaurant, “appear promiscuous”, etc.- all things that permitted women during the WWI/WWII era to be taken from the streets and thrown in these facilities with no due process.
this book is not for the faint of heart (i teared up several times), but what an incredible read. the author provides us with the perspectives of three incredibly different women in one of these north carolina “farm colonies”, and i found all three to be really complex and authentically written characters. i specifically was impressed with the depiction of dorothy baker, whose character speaks to the women of the time that helped to uphold this unjust violence against other women, because they truly believed in the goodness of what they were doing. there are obvious parallels that can be drawn to so many women in positions of power today.
this story served as a reminder to be grateful for even the smallest of liberties i can have as a woman today- choosing to live alone, be unmarried at 23, dine alone at a restaurant, “appear promiscuous”, etc.- all things that permitted women during the WWI/WWII era to be taken from the streets and thrown in these facilities with no due process.
January 24, 2026
This book is heartbreaking. I know it's fiction, but being as it's based on a real place and real events, it made me feel absolutely sick to read at times. Women are accused of promiscuity based on nothing at all, taken to a farm colony for treatment, and are abused at the hands of people who claim to be concerned about reform. These women are never the same. Just the stigma of having been sent away changes their lives, not to mention the PTSD from all they experience. And forced sterilization! Don't get me started. Ugh. This book is obviously well researched but also compulsively readable. Pick it up; you'll learn something.
February 13, 2026
I’ll admit, at first I thought Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart was strange and difficult to sink into. I didn’t even realize it was based on real historical events. Watching Ruth Foster be forced into the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women simply for existing as a young, unmarried woman was infuriating. As the stories of Josephine, Maude, Stella, and the others unfolded, the injustice became heartbreakingly clear. By the end, I truly appreciated this novel. It’s a sobering reminder of how fragile women’s rights have been—and how fiercely we must protect autonomy over our futures and our bodies.
February 9, 2026
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by receiving this copy.
4.5 stars.
If you love Kristen Hannah you will LOVE this.
If you want a nice happy tied up ending, you will hate this.
The store is fantastic. It's dark and deeply troubling, and honestly a warning (in my opinion). It doesn't have the nice happy resolution, it sort of just ends and you're left to draw your own conclusions about some aspects (with some being written out on the page for us as well).
My feminine rage is BOILING.
I don't even know how to put my feelings into words. But you should read this book.
4.5 stars.
If you love Kristen Hannah you will LOVE this.
If you want a nice happy tied up ending, you will hate this.
The store is fantastic. It's dark and deeply troubling, and honestly a warning (in my opinion). It doesn't have the nice happy resolution, it sort of just ends and you're left to draw your own conclusions about some aspects (with some being written out on the page for us as well).
My feminine rage is BOILING.
I don't even know how to put my feelings into words. But you should read this book.
December 10, 2025
WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE was a very though provoking story in the historical fiction genre. The title is a little bit misleading, so I went in blind and it was a wild story. The writing is superb and will definitely pull at your heart strings. I loved it!
Many thanks to Donna Everhart for my gifted copy.
This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the future.
Many thanks to Donna Everhart for my gifted copy.
This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the future.
February 8, 2026
It's basically Shawshank Redemption meets Orange is the New Black. Very brutal stuff in here, worth investigating trigger warnings (I'm sure other reviews have done a more thorough job than I would, but you can absolutely expect rape and sexual assault to be brought up given the setting). More character-based than plot.
January 28, 2026
this slice of history is so crazy! I enjoyed how the writing made me feel almost empathetic for Baker before quickly reminding me of what a psycho she was- and i HATED Mrs Maynard. it did just seem to drag on a bit and probably could have been a little shorter
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