Susan Wiggs is known for novels with relatable characters and narratives that hook the reader from the start. Her latest book, WAYWARD GIRLS, is historical fiction at its best. In this gripping story, we meet young girls who were forced to leave school, their homes and their families to work at a Catholic laundry masquerading as a charity home for wayward girls in New York.

When Mairin's father died, she was only 10 years old. Her mother --- a staunch Irish Catholic who was afraid of not being able to provide for Mairin and her older brother, Liam --- remarried quickly. Her choice was unfortunate, and within a few years, Mairin's stepfather seemed interested in being more than a stepfather to her. Liam intervened and beat him. He then taught Mairin self-defense, but he was drafted in the Vietnam War and was going to leave soon. Mairin would be unprotected. Her stepfather didn't want her around because she wasn't going to be an easy victim, and her mother was worried about her safety.

"...historical fiction at its best.... I definitely will continue to think about this book because of the characters and the shocking historical facts."

Their answer was to put Mairin in the Home of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic institution that took in wayward girls to educate them and teach them morals and manners. However, no one outside the walls of the building knew that no education was going on there. The girls did not study reading or math, were not up on current events, and did not enter any classrooms. Instead, they worked long hours in the laundry, always behind locked doors. They were severely punished for the slightest infraction, fed poorly (while the nuns ate lavish meals), and isolated from everything outside the walls.

Mairin was spunky and determined to escape. Time after time, harsh punishment after severe beating, she kept trying, planning and thinking about how to leave. She finally did succeed, but the secrets, the cruelty and the depredations of living enslaved left their marks on her. And while she was able to build a happy life with a loving family, she always felt the weight of the secrets she carried with her from her hidden past.

While Mairin is the main character, we also meet and grow close to three other girls who bonded with her there and helped in the escape. When they meet again, decades after their imprisonment, they decide to get justice.

While immediately engrossing and informative (I didn't know that adopted people needed a pre-adoption birth certificate in order to get a passport), this book is also difficult to read at times. The events that occur and the cruelty of life behind the church walls are painful to read about. And knowing they are based on real events makes it even harder to stomach. That such horrors were inflicted on girls with no family or who had been mistreated is unconscionable and heartrending. And that these things were done under the auspices of the Catholic Church is even more terrible.

But Wiggs presents us with girls filled with fortitude, resourceful young ladies who become women to be respected. WAYWARD GIRLS is about surviving and friendship, determination and courage, and ultimately getting justice. Fans of Susan Wiggs' work also will appreciate a few tongue-in-cheek references to at least one of her previous novels. I definitely will continue to think about this book because of the characters and the shocking historical facts. I also plan to use it as a future book club read.