During book clubs and events, I often get asked about how I conduct my research and how I find source materials. The short answer is that I follow one rabbit hole after another. But I thought I’d explain a bit more by sharing real examples from my latest book The Girls We Sent Away.
Set in the 1960s, this is the story of the-teen-girl-next-door who has everything going for her until she becomes pregnant and is sent away to a maternity home to hide what her parents consider to be her secret shame. Let’s just say that some of these rabbit holes became quite interesting…I’m looking at you, Lysol-as-a-Birth-Control-Method.
First of all, I always like to point out that I didn’t intend to write historical fiction. I fell into it because of an idea that wouldn’t let go of me. Everything I had written prior had been modern and contemporary. I resisted the historical idea for a while because of the amount of research I’d need to do. Don’t get me wrong; I love research. I am a content nerd who likes to absorb as much info as possible, every waking minute of the day (enneagram 5, here…IYKYK). My hesitation was in getting all the facts right, even if I was creating a fictional story because, trust me, readers will let you know if you get something wrong.
Well, the story wouldn’t let go of me, so I started the research and that idea became my debut novel, The Last Carolina Girl, a story about an orphan attempting to fight for her future in the era of eugenics and forced sterilization. My second novel, The Girls We Sent Away, also fit the historical genre. And now I’m wrapping up my third historical fiction novel. (There’s a fun, but not tasty, peek at some research for that book at the end of this post.)
Inspiration and information can be found in many places, and it’s surprising how much is available at our fingertips, which was especially essential since I wrote most of this during covid when restrictions were in place. Thankfully most of the information I needed could be accessed from my home office, just another way I am grateful to be a writer in this current era.
Books
While Lorraine’s story is fiction, I often describe it as an amalgamation of multiple women’s stories that I read thanks in large part to the work that Ann Fessler and Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh did in writing their books. These two works of non-fiction were essential research for my work on The Girls We Sent Away. If you want to know more about the Baby Scoop Era, and to hear first-hand stories of those who experienced maternity homes, check out these books:
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler
The Baby Scoop Era: Unwed Mothers, Infant Adoption and Forced Surrender by Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh
Articles
Search engine rabbit holes provided me with a wealth of information from various articles, posts, publications, blogs, and more. Here are just a couple that helped answer questions for me:
“Under coercion of social workers, parents and sometimes even the courts, by the mid-1960s more than 80 percent of those who entered maternity homes surrendered their babies for adoption.”
“This Early Use For Lysol Is Wild” via Huffpost
“Lysol manufacturer Lehn & Fink once marketed its antiseptic disinfectant as a vaginal douche, according to vintage advertisements from the early to mid-20th century.
“Women, the ads suggest, were having marital problems because of feminine hygiene issues and genital odors that repulsed their husbands, and thus, they needed to clean themselves using Lysol.”
And, as if that’s not shocking enough, Lysol was also used as birth control. Let’s just say results weren’t favorable.
YouTube
This platform has been an unexpected wealth of information, to watch interviews and hear first-hand stories. This one in particular, is the story of one woman who became pregnant at the age of 15. The adults in her life made decisions for her, and now she shares the long-term effects and the continued life-long search to find that baby.
Image Searches
To help paint pictures in my mind, I searched for various images, including toys, floorplans, medical devices, and more. Here’s a small sample of inspiration I found:
Music
To put me in the era of my writing, I always create a Spotify playlist. Here’s the one that I curated for Lorraine’s world:
Mom and Dad
Let me be clear; this story is not my parents’. But they were in high school in the mid-1960s, so you better believe I called and texted them with a whole variety of questions to help add authenticity.
What’s Next…
While all of the above were some highlights of what went into the making of my second novel, how would you like a sneak peek at my next one? It’s still too early to say much, but at the bare minimum, I can say it’s the story of a 1950s housewife whose carefully-constructed life begins to crack after the birth of her second child and an enigmatic new neighbor challenge her picture-perfect existence.
Molded foods play a role in this book, which means I’ve been reading through some rather…ahem…interesting recipes from the day. Recently, I needed to conduct an experiment to make sure the way I described a food failure was accurate. So, for your viewing pleasure, here’s my attempt at a freezer-assisted, quick-set gelatin dessert. Spoiler alert: it’s the texture—chunky meets gritty with a side of slimy fruit—that got me.
Side note: yes, you can find me on TikTok (@mchurchwriter), but it’s not a platform I spend much time on. Call me old school, or simply old, but I still prefer text and static images to video content.
The Girls We Sent Away is available most places books are sold. It’s the story of Lorraine Delford, the girl-next-door who seems to have it all – an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, an idyllic home complete with a white picket fence, and the ambition to become an astronaut – until she finds herself pregnant out of wedlock and is sent away to a maternity home to hide her secret shame. Set in the 1960s during the intersection of the Baby Scoop Era and Space Race, this powerful and affecting story explores autonomy, belonging, and a quest for agency when the illusions of life-as-you-know-it fall away.
Love the “peek behind the curtain.” And definitely added your book to my TBR!
I wasn't in high school until the 70s, but I sure do remember many of these songs! Great playlist, and I always enjoy it when an author adds one. It certainly does enhance the reading experience!