The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt

by Audrey Clare Farley

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2021 BY THE NEW YORK POST AND BOOK RIOT NAMED A BEST TRUE CRIME BOOK OF 2021 BY CRIMEREADSFor readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, "a sensational story told with nuance and humanity" (Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author) about the sordid court battle between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother.  At the turn of the twentieth century, emboldened American women began to seek passion and livelihood outside the home. This alarmed authorities, who feared "over-sexed" women could destroy civilization, either by crossing the color line or passing their evident defects on to their children. Set against this backdrop, The Unfit Heiress chronicles the fight for inheritance between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother Maryon, who had her daughter sterilized without her knowledge. A sensational court case ensued, and powerful eugenicists saw an opportunity to restrict reproductive rights in America for decades to come. This riveting story unfolds through the brilliant research of Audrey Clare Farley, who captures the interior lives of these women on the pages and poses questions that remain relevant What does it mean to be "unfit" for motherhood? How do racial anxieties continue to influence who does and does not reproduce? In the battle for reproductive rights, can we forgive those who side against us? And can we forgive our mothers if they are the ones who inflict the deepest wounds?

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, True Crime, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Crime

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 20, 2021

About the author

Audrey Clare Farley is a scholar of twentieth-century American culture. She earned a PhD in English literature from University of Maryland, College Park, and now teaches at Mount St. Mary's University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Atlantic, Washington Post, New Republic, and many other outlets. She lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt
by Audrey Clare Farley

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for this very informative and emotional book! The review is all my own opinion.

This book really showed that a lot of research went into this! It is very informative, very frustrating, agitating, and emotional. It not only tells the story about Ann Cooper Hewitt, her horrid mother, her inventive father, but the deliberate laws to make America a white only population!

I would never have guessed that legal laws were on the books to sterilize minorities, "imbeciles", epileptics, rape victims, and the poor. The upper middle class white and rich could also have their children sterilized if they were one of the undesirable.

"Why did the Pilgrims come to America? What is the duration of a presidential term? What is the longest river in the United States? When was the Battle of Hastings fought?"
If you couldn't answer these questions, regardless of age, education, language, disability, well you are an " imbecile " and could be sterilized without your consent. Hundreds of thousands were. These were some of the questions asked to Ann who was not in school often.

The book briefly touches on a couple of other cases to make a few points. One case involved a girl of 18 in foster care which only had a 6th grade education because the foster family took her out of school and made her work the fields. The nephew of the foster family raped the girl and got her pregnant. She was deemed oversexed ( because she was raped), imbecile (because she didn't pass the tests because she wasn't educated enough), and untruthful (probably told about the rape which the foster family was hiding the nephew). The attorney for both sides felt she needed the sterilization! Even her own attorney was against her.

Later, 1940's- 1960's, pressure was put on white women to reproduce. Thus, the baby boom. The sterilization keep going on the undesirables!

Ann Cooper Hewitt was born to a female con artist that was pretty, Maryon. Maryon wanted material things and power. She went through several husbands to get it. Ann was a mistake to Maryon. She didn't want her and let her know constantly. I won't tell you about it except to say she did as the title of the book says, arranged for Ann to be sterilized. The will left by her husband said Maryon gets all the money if Ann is childless. Read the evidence for yourself and decide.

It also goes through a very through look a Maryon's life and Ann's life separately. Each one is extremely sad and pitiful. It seems to me that Maryon was seeking material and Ann was seeking someone just to love her.

In a strange way, Ann's case reminds me of the young Kennedy girl's case. Lobotomy to correct a mental embarrassment to the famous father. A socially excepted thing to do with your undesirables at the time. So sad! What has society turned us into?

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok I’m only 6% in and I’m horrified and disgusted! This is scandalous and sadly so so true. I would have been in the same boat. I admit it. And I do not know how I would have survived.
Ok I know I’ve read other books about this subject EUGENICS somehow this one is really getting under my skin. I want to scream “ I hate men” but that’s not fair because the well I was going to say the world but that’s not at all accurate. I am speechless. MY State-Indiana passed the first sterilization laws! I just want to cry! Maybe it’s just time to pops my meds…
56% in- SON OF A%-$&++
Just finished. I rated it 5stars simply because it roused my emotions unlike any book I’ve read this year. I especially appreciated the legally focused historical portions in the last few chapters which moved away from Ann’s case. Her mother was just a horrid woman. She deserved what she got but I’d hoped she’d get much more. The whole book was corrupt. And to think this is still happening just in different circumstances and environments. Just tragic and inexcusable

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you've never read about the history of sterilization in the US, then there is lots to learn here. If, however, you have already read the same books that Farley did in order to write this one, then there is not a lot new. The central story--about Ann Cooper Hewitt--is certainly interesting, but it's also possible it could have remained the original article upon which the book was based. There is a good deal of filler halfway through that doubles back to explore Hewitt's father's life that felt unnecessary.

Also, as a historian I just can't get behind the author's invention of dialogue and her imputing certain thoughts and feelings to figures in the book when the evidence doesn't really exist to support the claims. And, given that nothing is actually footnoted, one doesn't know which parts are invented and which reflect the historical record.

[Creolecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giveaway win.
3.5
What little history of eugenics is covered was very interesting, especially California history. The story of Ann Cooper Hewitt is noteworthy because of the reason for the sterilization, but became repetitive. I remember hearing about Ann very briefly years ago, I believe on American Experience, and I wondered why a book had never been written on the case (only essays). Not to diminish Ann's story, I think I would prefer a book on the history of eugenics/forced sterilization with in depth details of people like Ann, the Relf sisters, and indigenous nations.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise--an heiress alleging that her mother had plotted to sterilize her to secure the family money--was enough to rivet readers on its own. (PG 40)

In 1936, many Americans didn't know that tens of thousands of individuals had been sterilized in state institutions nationwide. (PG 41)

3.5… This book brings up many legit questions. American eugenics giving the data to Nazi Germany and then acting surprised when they use it for evil? Interesting book. I would need to look into some facts but overall it is a scary situation.

It had too many topics in the second half (feminism, race inequality etc) and made it less enjoyable. I know it ties into eugenicist theories but the book is about Ann Cooper Hewitt and the scandal. Author needed to stick to the story and at times not integrate her own thoughts. Facts not feelings.

The mother was a slutty gold-digging immoral bitch and then turns around to say her little daughter was the real "slut" and got her a, at the time, legal sterilization without Ann's knowledge. The readers ate this up. It was a wild story that I, sadly, enjoyed learning about but it's also a little crappy knowing it was less than a 100 years ago that Americans were practicing eugenics. Have they stopped though?

What is the obsession with population control? What's wrong with having babies? The government should love procreation right? because it creates tax payers, more men for war? It baffles me how stupid these "educated" elite oligarchies really are but goes to show how much power 'they' want.

[Jeffrey Chassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was utterly blown away by this book. The amount of information that Audrey Farley has been able to fit into one book is a feat unto itself. I was so frustrating reading about what happened to Ann, but even more frustrated when i realized that we are largely still having a very similar argument over 100 years later, regarding women's reproductive rights and autonomy to their bodies. There is certainly a gossipy/taudry angle to this story, but more importantly, I think it's a very important insight into US politics and the influence it has no world social issues, even to this day. I had no idea that California, the state in which I live, was the leader in the eugenics movement, and actually assisted in providing studies and theories to the Nazis! This book had my attention right until the end when it got into the men's politics of business, which I think it could have done without. Let this one be about the ladies. I will absolutely recommend this book, but I also want to recommend that it be taught in schools. There is a perspective here that I have never seen anywhere else. I applaud Audrey Clare Farley for digging it up and making it so palatable.

[Rama Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

The case of heiress Ann Cooper Hewitt

This book narrates the sad tale of Ann Cooper Hewitt, the daughter of famed engineer and inventor Peter Cooper Hewitt, and how her case about eugenics, arranging human reproduction to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable. This was not only common but widely accepted in the United States and it targeted poor women and racial minorities. When Ann was caught with her hands down her under-garment by her mother Maryon Hewitt, she 3 years old girl. Her mother became overly concerned that her little girl has inherent deformities that may lead to promiscuity. The doctors back in 1920 confirmed the anxiety of her mother and later sterilized without the knowledge of Ann Hewitt. Much of the book discusses the legal and medical scholarship that worked to expose the inequities in the system regarding eugenics.

When Peter Cooper Hewitt died in 1921, his estate was worth over $4 million, the future equivalent of about $200 billion in 2021, compounded at 4% interest rate. According to his will, Ann would receive two-thirds of this amount, and her mother would receive one-third. A caveat, however, stipulated that should Ann die childless, her share would revert to her mother. At this time forced sterilizations was widely accepted. Involuntary sterilization of poor, disabled, and wayward individuals gained quick acceptance to reduce the number of unsound people in the population. Ann’s mother Maryon Hewitt was first charged with “mayhem” in 1936 for her daughter’s sterilization, but charges were dropped, and Ann filed the civil suit against her mother for $500,000 in January 1936, alleging that she paid the doctors to remove her fallopian tubes without Ann’s knowledge. Soon after, the San Francisco district attorney charged Maryon and both doctors with “mayhem,” a rare charge that was reserved for cases involving the act of disabling or disfiguring an individual.

Judge Tuttle dismissed the case against her mother and declared. “The prosecution has completely failed to make a case against the defendants, mother Maryon and the two doctors. According to the judge, sterilization in California was not a crime; therefore, mayhem had not been committed, and there had been no conspiracy to commit it. The judge disagreed with the prosecution that the timing of Ann’s sterilization (occurring within a year of her 21st birthday) was meaningful. He claimed, “The law makes no distinction between a case where the minor is 19 years of age and where the minor is five years of age.” From a legal perspective, “both are under the identical disability so far as consent to an operation is concerned, and the parents or guardian have the same power to consent in each case.” If this reality leads to situations that are unjust, “then the remedy is with the legislature and not the courts.” At that time, there was not a single protest, riot or even op-ed written to criticize the decision, recalls author Audrey Farley. In doing so, the ruling lessened the burden of proof to demonstrate a woman’s unfitness for motherhood. Also, in denying that mayhem had been committed, the case might have affirmed individuals’ right to sexual pleasure. Prior to 1936, legal scholars had struggled to apply the definition of mayhem (the “unlawful and malicious removal of a member of a human being or the disabling or disfiguring thereof or rendering it useless”) in sterilization cases because they couldn’t pinpoint the primary purpose of the female sex organs. If the organs’ primary purpose was reproduction, these scholars reasoned, then a case of mayhem could indeed be made. However, if the organs’ primary purpose was gratification of sexual desires, then there was no case for mayhem. Which was it? The defense suggested that pleasure was a right of all women, but procreation is a privilege of the certain few that hurt Mexican Americans in California who were branded as reckless breeders. This meant that now more than ever, eugenicists needed to emphasize societal interests over individual ones. Rather than simply claiming that sterilization was protective or even curative, they needed to stress the impact to society when defective individuals reproduced.

Author Farley offers a fascinating discussion of medical ethics and legal responsibilities of the legislatures and judicial systems. This exposes the hypocrisy that existed 100 years ago when it was believed that upper class and wealthy have more rights with regards to reproduction because they have healthy hereditable characteristics.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars and has included research. Sad tales all around upon sterilizations and in this particular case done on a woman without her own knowledge that it will occur. She thought she was having her appendix removed.

I couldn't round it up because of what was NOT included in this book. And that is the wide spread of other eugenics theory and practice at the times of these centuries. It includes several, maybe all, that back one slanted (IMHO) theory (2020/21 era perceptions)to the role eugenics played without giving you the wider medical practice states and picture of the reality of those times. Also it rather conflates the issue to bad/bad in one sense and "not so bad" in the others as to birth control and abortion. Which mostly arising from eugenics enthusiasts and movements such as Sanger led. And how that plays out now with the racial balance of aborted babies in 2021 so skewed too. That reality of data is very relevant to this topic. Essentially so.

What about how /why/ for most entire medical practices of all kinds- were doctors given authority to operate? I believe in this guise you need to relate that wider context. Doctors had far more leeway in all kinds of life altering treatments then, not just on the OB/GYN. All practice pressured or performed at these times is assumed by the author to be race or class based or for convenience of the family person in power (like that gold digger mother). It wasn't. And even in my own lifetime it was common practice not to tell a patient the most dire news they could hear. So many, many scenarios played out in treatments and in placements that were NOT of the patient choice or knowledge. Most cancer deaths I knew before I was 40 years old myself- those people were never told they had cancer.

Mental illness operations and "cures" etc. etc. Yes, eugenics also focused on going "toward" a better supposed future, but it also was done with supposedly empathetic and supportive "feeling" proponents. This doesn't give enough sense and nuance to how the "help" so guised in glory, like Sanger and other "liberators" really were not so compassionate at all.

[Jamie Canaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a shocking story to start with about a mother, Maryon Cooper Hewitt, who had her daughter, Ann Cooper Hewitt, sterilized without her consent or knowledge for an inheritance. It gives you the story of Maryon and Ann along with the court case that followed when Ann realized what had been done to her. But the book has a much wider and horrifying scope because laws that allowed this to happen are still in place and still function to control mostly people with uteruses by controlling their reproductive rights. Think of Britney Spears saying in court that she’s being forced to keep an IUD (it is worth the time to read the New York article Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Nightmare) and women coming forward last year to say hysterectomies were performed on them while in immigration custody.

The book takes a dive into the history of eugenics and how these laws were devised, the tests used to determine who was “unfit” to have children, and how certain communities—including disabled people and people of color—were targeted because white wealthy women went from having six children to three. This is not a history that we’re far removed from, this is a horrifying and terrifying practice in the here and now.

(TW child abuse/ suicide, detail/ attempted suicide treated as criminal case/ ableism/ eugenics–racism, misogyny, homophobia)

--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed, fascinating, and shocking!

The Unfit Heiress is the candid, expository tale of Ann Cooper Hewitt, a young woman who sued her mother in 1936 for involuntarily having her sterilized in order to acquire her inheritance, as well as an inside look into her infamous parent’s history and relationship, and the horrifying practice of forced sterilization.

The writing is intensive and insightful. And the novel is an intriguing tale of one woman’s personal experiences, legal battles, and struggles to find compensation, justice, love and happiness.

Overall, The Unfit Heiress is a thought-provoking, comprehensive debut by Audrey Clare Farley that does a remarkable job of highlighting her incredible knowledge and research into this monumental case, the eugenics movement, and the evolution of society’s perception and acceptance of women’s sexuality.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[MM Suarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting work of creative non fiction and it is much more than the tragic story of a sterilized heiress, it also sheds light into how sterilization has been used with eugenics to control population growth, specially in minority and immigrant communities, as well as to continue to exercise control over the reproductive rights of women in America. Recommend to anyone interested in history, eugenics, reproductive rights and women's issues in general.

[Richard Propes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt" is, at least for the first first half to two-thirds of its pages, an immersive and intriguingly written work of creative nonfiction that explores eugenics and women's reproductive rights framed by the then sordid court battle between heiress Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother.

It's only when "The Unfit Heiress" deviates from this framework, and it does so especially toward its anti-climactic chapters, that it begins to falter as author Audrey Clare Farley's fact-finding can't replace early immersion into Hewitt's life and a retro-style of writing that fits perfectly within a story timed within the early 20th century and the early years of America's legalized journey into eugenics.

As noted, "The Unfit Heiress" is set at the turn of the 20th century, a time when Victorian values and traditional gender roles were giving way to women seeking passion and livelihood outside the home. Authorities, and society at large really, began to be alarmed at this development and the potential for "over-sexed" women to taint society by reproducing. Against this backdrop, socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her "promiscuous" daughter Ann declared feebleminded and sterilized without her knowledge.

Many argued the choice was justified, though it would eventually be learned that she did so just shy of Ann's coming of age and reaching a point where she could potentially acquire millions of dollars left to her by her inventor father who had left her this money dependent upon her eventually bearing children. It was 1934 and Maryon had seen the California eugenics laws as a way to preserve her own inheritance while eugenicists saw it as a way to boost their already floundering movement. The court case that would eventually follow captivated the American public and media at the time.

For a good majority of "The Unfit Heiress," Farley captures this remarkable story with a mix of engaging writing, brilliant research, and a way of structuring story that weaves together elements of fact with her creative nonfiction storytelling. As an adult with a disability whose life has been at least modestly influenced by Indiana's own eugenics laws, I found myself most captivated by the exploration of eugenics laws and some of the key players at the time along with Farley's exploration of the attitudes of the time even from those whose very job it is to protect us.

It's worth noting that "The Unfit Heiress" is, in fact, about much more than Hewitt herself as Farley devotes at times entire chapters to other key players in the story including Hewitt's father, Maryon, key players within eugenics, and even other eugenics cases toward the end of the book that help to illustrate how the Hewitt case would eventually influence the future and eventual relative demise of eugenics as a movement.

Trust me, it's still alive just in different forms.

The court battle itself is portrayed rather quickly, though perhaps this is inevitable considering its rather anti-climactic facts and the almost surprisingly timid way in which it transpired. To her credit, Farley doesn't sugarcoat the story or try to turn Hewitt into something she wasn't. The simple truth here is that "The Unfit Heiress" risks coming off as sympathetic in telling its story because Hewitt wasn't exactly a crown jewel of humanity and one could say that she shared with her mother a decided lack of maternal instinct. I'd dare say that more than a few people will read "The Unfit Heiress" and decide that Hewitt experienced the right outcome.

Read deeper.

The closing chapters, largely centered around subsequent eugenics-tinged court cases, are intriguing yet lack the style of cohesion of the earlier chapters of "The Unfit Heiress" and while containing valuable material lead to a weird lack of resolution as the book winds down. It's a modestly disappointing end to an otherwise compelling literary journey.

If I could, I'd like go 3.5 stars here but I can't and I found myself engaged, educated, and even entertained by so much of "The Unfit Heiress" that I'm deferring upwards as I can easily recommend the book for those attracted to its story and subject matter.

"The Unfit Heiress" will be released by Grand Central Publishing in April 2021.

[Jamie Jones Hullinger]

No doubt this is a very intriguing story but I do recommend reading Imbeciles by Adam Cohen. It is a more comprehensive history of the involuntary sterilization in America.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This non-fiction novel is a dark and thought provoking account of the lawsuit in 1936 by wealthy 22 year old heiress, Ann Cooper Hewitt, suing her abusive mother, Maryon, for having her sterilized only months before her 21st birthday. Without producing any children her mother stood to inherit that portion of her wealthy husband’s estate that would have otherwise been left to his daughter.

At this point in history eugenics was believed to be an appropriate manner to better the world and rid it of lesser desired progeny. This went hand in hand with sterilization. Add to the mix the burgeoning rise in feminism and women’s desire for control over the life and bodies.

Maryon had, for years, portrayed her daughter as “feebleminded”, when nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps Ann was somewhat socially awkward but her mother had stifled her educational and social advancement for her entire life… a challenged “domestic environment” of sorts.

Having bought off doctors and a psychologist to complete a necessary report and surgery, Maryon continued her crippling plan.

The history of sterilization in California and other states as a means of preventing the “feebleminded” from reproducing, with the expectation that a smarter, stronger population would result, led to much abuse of the medical system.

This account is really quite interesting and although the California courts didn’t buy Ann’s arguments, the Hewitt family drama brought the politics and ethics of the use of sterilization across the country into question.

What followed for years was rife with scandal and conflict. Truly a sad commentary on the thoughts of the time. Yet it makes one wonder how much progress has really been made.

Nonetheless, an opportunity to learn of the history and progress of medical thoughts, ideologies and challenges.

[Juli Rahel · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are moments in your life where you hear something and simply can't believe it's true. For me, that is usually related to women's issues. Today's topic of 'Please No' is: forced sterilization. I know, hardly the happiest of topics and yet so important to read about, think about, and die mad about. Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Eugenics movement is at the root of a lot of the evil we've seen in the last and the current century. At its most basic, the Eugenics movement advocates for the improvement of the human race by eliminating "unwanted" hereditary traits. Although the argues mission behind this is to eliminate human suffering, it (almost) always turns out racist, ableist and sexist. Eugenics meant encouraging desirables to breed and "dissuade" undesirables from the same. The Eugenics movement in the US was a big inspiration for the Nazis in Germany and informed their attacks on Jewish people and the mentally handicapped. These attacks often took the form of forced sterilization and this is something we still see. We see this thought pattern appear in many things we might consider everyday. Looking into the history of the SATs, for example, shows how deeply rooted their creation was in Eugenic and racist thought. Farley does her best to cover these historic aspects in The Unfit Heiress, shining a light not just on Ann Cooper Hewitt's story, but also the story of the people who most often fall victim to forced sterilization: women of colour.

Ann Cooper Hewitt was a young heiress and her mother thought her promiscuous and had her declared feebleminded. When she went to the hospital for what she was told was appendicitis, she came out sterilized. Farley starts The Unfit Heiress with what comes next, Ann's press conference and the beginning of her lawsuit against her mother and the accompanying doctors who sterilized her. From here, Farley unravels the stories of Ann and her mother, Maryon, while also covering the lives and stories of the people around them. We get an insight into the way America's view of young women evolved. We get an idea of the mindset of the cultural elites. We come to understand, slowly but surely, the amount of crimes that have been committed agains women's bodies, especially the bodies of women of colour. As Farley details the later life of Ann, we come to understand she was a traumatized woman, but also a wealthy, white woman. From here, the narrative moves away from Ann which I understood. While Ann's story is important, it is also a gateway to other people's stories who have been kept quiet. For some readers this may fall flat, as the first half of the book is a great biographic effort. But for me, I felt that The Unfit Heiress really hit its stride once it began addressing the current struggles women still face when it comes to controlling their own bodies.

Audrey Clare Farley is a great writer. In The Unfit Heiress she combines biographic detail with detailed research, adding in touches of fictional story telling to elevate the emotions and themes she is working with. It is a brilliant combination and the fact that it works is really all due to Farley. I found myself very engaged with Ann and her story, moving between pity and abhorrence at what is happening to her. I was glad, however, as I mentioned above, that Farley threw her net wider and looked beyond just Ann. These last few chapters might not fit as cohesively to the rest of the narrative but they are crucial to contextualizing the issue and making readers realize this isn't something we left behind at the turn of the century. Many of these antiquated attitudes continue to exist and Eugenicist thought leaders remain behind many current movements, so it is important we keep being reminded about them. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for other books by Farley as I loved her writing style and her approach to this difficult topic.

The Unfit Heiress was a fascinating read, a book that gripped me almost from the very start. With comprehensive research, Farley presents not just Ann's story but also the story of many other women who were forcibly sterilized.

URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a mess of organization, I think. It jumped back and forth in Ann’s life and her mother’s and then her father’s and then back to Ann and it became a confusing jumble that could have been presented more linearly and not lost anything. Also, this book was more about reproductive rights and sterilization than it let on. The last part of the book focused more on the changes in the reproductive rights movement and tried (weakly) to tie it back to Ann’s court case. Of course, I do not want to detract from the importance of this story. Ann was subjected to a horrible procedure that changed her life completely without her consent. So did the hundreds of thousands of women of color throughout this time period. It was utterly horrifying to read about how deeply insidious the eugenics movement was in American history and catastrophically impinged on the lives and rights of people of color in the country. One thing that stuck out to me was how some doctors would obtain “consent” for sterilization from Spanish-speaking patients by simply asking “más niños? (More children?) and waiting for the patient to say no so that they could perform what they often misrepresented as a reversible procedure. Anyway, this history is extremely important and ended up playing a large part of this book even though it wasn’t necessarily billed as such. So, while the book was a bit of an organized mess, I appreciated the thorough introduction to this terrifying part of American history that, as the end of the book showed, isn’t entirely in the past just yet either.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think eugenics are a thing of the past, this book will horrify you in how wrong you are. Meticulously researched, compellingly written, Audrey Clare Farley tells the tragic story of Ann Cooper Hewitt's involuntary sterilization. Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother, Maryon, were like the Kardashians of the 20s and 30s, and Maryon scheming to sterilize her daughter in order to secure an inheritance shocked the nation. The court cases that followed became not just a verdict on Ann's medical abuse but the justification of eugenics more broadly.

Farley weaves in the story of the larger eugenics movement (including how Hitler's eugenic plan was based on California's eugenic programs!). While Ann's treatment by her mother, by the courts and doctors, and the press was heartbreaking, what actually kept me up at night was Farley's superb work showing how Ann's case continues to be used to justify the forced sterilization of women deemed unfit to be mothers (Latinx women, women inmates, disabled women, poor women, Indigenous women, and more). This is still happening today!

I usually don't read nonfiction outside of work, but I know Audrey and I'm interested in the topic, so I decided to give this book a try. The storytelling and the fullness of the people profiled hooked me instantly, and I'm hoping to assign this book in my future classes on gender and disability.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Haven't read it, don't plan to. I usually like stories from history, but this just sounds like a back drop for trying to push the Leftist abortion agenda.

Today, in America, women have Reproductive Rights. There is literally no law that tells a woman she can or can't reproduce.
You want a baby, have a baby.
You don't want a baby, don't get pregnant.

China has laws like that. China limits the number of children a couple can have. Up until recently women could face forced abortions. Single women who get pregnant face censure, fines, and their child being denied household registration which they need to be able to attend school or get health care.
And Leftist Americans have the gall to cry and whine that their "reproductive rights" are being violated?

Killing a child is not a reproductive issue. It's murder.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wealth, jealousy, and eugenics. This was an interesting story about an heiress who is sterilized without her knowledge by her mother and how eugenicists used forced sterilizations in an attempt to control the number of children in certain populations. I wanted more about Ann and how she saw herself as a woman after she was robbed of the opportunity to become a mother.

[Jackie Latham · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok. I cant finish cause the author repeats herself a lot & at times she just droned on about the same thing over and over. There is A LOT of information regarding eugenics which makes sense of course but for a novice it way to complicates at times.

[Abby Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting story! I like how the author gave so much background information about the family!

[Julia Métraux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, thorough book.

[Sarah R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fascinating case study of the role of eugenics and the use of force sterilization. I don’t agree with all the conclusions the author came to in this book, but I was still engaged and horrified at the details of forced sterilization that was federally sanctioned. The history of eugenics is one American likes to pretend never happened, but eugenic ideas are still woven into United States ideology under a different vocabulary.

[Drew K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating, fantastic book on a deeply unjust topic, forced sterilization. I seriously can't believe this book has so few ratings on here compared to how many I think it deserves. Although ultimately there are no happy endings in a non-fiction book like this, I benefitted immensely from reading this book, both personally and professionally. I truly recommend this book!

[Booksandchinooks (Laurie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so well written and researched. The case of Ann Cooper Hewitt and her forced sterilization was captivating. Her mother had the sterilization done so her daughter, Ann, couldn’t be the beneficiary of money from her father’s estate. This was an interesting story of what was considered okay to be done to women in 1934. The case set an example of questioning what constitutes how women could be considered not capable of being a mother. All of these issues were very interesting and horrific. This was such an interesting story involving eugenetics and reproductive rights for women.

[Cari Smith in Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unbelievable what is considered legal by the white middle classes

[Rhiannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.



The Unfit Heiress by Audrey Clare Farley paired perfectly with Million Dollar Ravioli Casserole from Plain Chicken



Are you pissed about Britney not having reproductive freedom?
Are you pissed that her parent is controlling that aspect of her life in order to continually profit?
Then you need to meet Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon.

As you can see from the summary above, there are some striking similarities. In addition to learning the continually scandalous details of these women's lives (Maryon's much more so than her daughter's,) I also learned so much about the shocking history of American eugenics. I think #1 for me was that California's sterilization practices were held as models for the Nazi regime. Here are a few more statistics and points of note (there are so many that I could go on and on, but I feel like these really show a timeline.) It is estimated that over 60,000 people (most of them women) were sterilized against their will following the 1927 Buck v Bell Supreme Court ruling (a legal precedent allowing states to sterilize inmates of public institutions.) Between 1997 and 2010 more than 1,400 women were sterilized in California prisons and as recent as last year, unnecessary hysterectomies were being performed on immigrants in custody at an ICE detention center in Georgia.

This is one of the best nonfiction books I've read this year and is now at the top of my all-time best list, too. A necessary read for anyone interested in reproductive freedoms and/or 1930's American tabloid backstories.

**note: while this book did not delve into the full scope of those affected by forcible/coerced sterilizations, it is important to note that Latina, Black, and Native American women have been disproportionately affected.

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[Tanja ~ KT Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

At some point in my life, I am going to learn to stop being horrified at the treatment some dole out under the guise that they know what's best for other people. Especially when those people are backed by the government. Audrey Clare Farley gives us a well-researched and critical look into a family, their need for greed, and the audacity to think they had a right to make decisions about someone's body without consent.

The Unfit Heiress by Audrey Clare Farley is a powerful read and it's stuck with me.

~Tanja


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[Mallory (onmalsshelf) Bartel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to read a nonfiction book that will have you wanting to throw the book or your phone when you listen to an audiobook, please pick this one up. I personally picked this one up after a friend mentioned it to me after we discussed what exactly is going on with Britney Spears (Free Britney btw).

This was extremely frustrating in the sense that once again, I am learning historical information about the United States from a book. Facts that will probably never be taught in school. Who know President Harding was a proponent of eugenics and sterilization? I sure didn't - take him off your list of favorite presidents (I sure hope he wasn't but take him off).

This tragic story follows Ann Cooper Hewitt and her fight against her mother in court after her mother has her sterilized right before Ann turns 21 plus the history of the Cooper Hewitt family and Ann's mother's dalliances (of which there are many).

We also got information on the history of eugenics and sterilization in both the United States and Europe (including who exactly did Hitler and the Nazis get inspiration from for their disgusting and deplorable eugenics).

I’m giving this 4 out of 5 stars because I feel like some of the chapters could’ve been put in a different order in order for this to flow better.

Definitely recommend!

[John P. Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historian Audrey Clare Farley's book about Ann Cooper Hewitt is comprehensive and well written. Hewitt's life was unfortunately during the time before women had rights over their own bodies, and also at a time when, at the smallest of defiant gestures or shows of moving toward independence, women were labeled as something deviant. In 1936, Ann Cooper Hewitt, only 22 years old, sued her mother in court for having her sterilized. Physicians had removed Ann's fallopian tubes during an appendectomy, rendering her unable to bear children. The disputed part of the case was the reason why: her mother claimed Ann was oversexed and mentally challenged but Ann and her supporters claimed Ann's mother's real reason was that Ann's fortune reverted to her mother if Ann did not have children. A fascinating real life story that deals with morality, ethics, the eugenics movement, and civil rights. I recommend it.