Counting Backwards
Jacqueline Friedland
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
4.20
· 10 ratings · 336 pages · Published: 11 Mar 2025
Jessa Gidney is a woman on the edge. Passed over for partner at her Manhattan law firm, she reevaluates her priorities, focusing on her deep desire to become a mother and her newfound interest in pro bono work. Her first case? An incarcerated woman named Isobel Perez fighting against a deportation order. An unsettling revelation about Isobel's health leads Jessa to uncover a horrifying pattern of medical malpractice within the detention facility. With her corporate law firm unsupportive and her husband, Vance, only concerned about the added stress while they're trying for a baby, Jessa is torn about whether to intervene. But when a shocking secret about her own family history comes to light, she is propelled to fight for these women, no matter the cost.
Nearly a century earlier in Virginia, seventeen-year-old, real-life Carrie Buck dreams of escaping her life as an unpaid laborer for her foster family. She yearns for a family of her own, a dream that seems within reach when she attracts the attention of her foster mother's handsome nephew. But he soon abandons her, and she's cast out, pregnant and completely alone. As a ward of the State, she is designated "feebleminded" and left to the mercy of a corrupt and heartless legal system. Her courageous fight for her own destiny leads to a landmark Supreme Court case.
As the novel alternates between these two women's stories, a startling connection is revealed. Tackling complex topics such as reproductive injustice, immigration law, eugenics, and societal expectations of women, the story is a compelling exploration of empowerment and self-determination. With a gripping investigation reminiscent of Erin Brockovich woven throughout, the tale is a testament to the courage it takes to stay true to oneself.
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