All Waiting Is Long
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Suspenseful . . . startling plot twists and incisive commentary on the social unrest of a coal-mining town during the Great Depression . . . a breathtaking ending.” —Publishers Weekly
In 1930, twenty-five-year-old Violet travels with her sixteen-year-old sister, Lily, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to the Good Shepherd Infant Asylum in Philadelphia, so Lily can deliver her illegitimate child in secret. In doing so, Violet jeopardizes her engagement to her sweetheart, Stanley Adamski. Meanwhile, Mother Mary Joseph, who runs the Good Shepherd, has no idea the asylum’s physician is involved in eugenics and experimenting on girls with various sterilization techniques.
Five years later, Lily and Violet are back in Scranton, one married, one about to be, each finding her own way in a place where a woman’s worth is tied to her virtue. Against the backdrop of the sweeping eugenics movement and rogue coal mine strikes, the Morgan sisters must choose between duty and desire. Either way, they risk losing their marriages and each other.
The follow-up to Barbara J. Taylor’s debut, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night—named one of the Best Summer Books of 2014 by Publishers Weekly—All Waiting is Long continues her Dickensian exploration of the Morgan family.
“Taylor’s characters—a cast of nuns and prostitutes, mobsters and miners, social activists and church busybodies—reflect the varying pressures and expectations of small-town life with rich, insightful prose and dialogue that rings true to each character’s voice. Will the web of lies the two sisters weave around themselves survive? You’ll have to read it yourself to find out. Recommended.” —Historical Novel Review
“Powerful . . . Every page is saturated with the 1930s milieu as the sisters navigate the adversities of their reality . . . The overall result is a thought-provoking book club discussion cornucopia.” —Booklist (starred review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the 1930s, Taylor's suspenseful and intricate follow-up to Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night tells the story of sisters Violet and Lily Morgan. When 16-year-old Lily becomes pregnant out of wedlock, Violet follows her to the Good Shepherd Infant Asylum in Philadelphia. The nuns promise good homes to all babies born under their roof, but unbeknownst to them, the lead physician at the asylum is practicing eugenics and sterilizing the expecting mothers who pass through their doors. As the girls' visit comes to a close, Violet makes a rash decision that will alter not only her relationship with her sister, but her future with her fianc , and her entire existence in her hometown of Scranton, Pa. Taylor delivers startling plot twists and incisive commentary on the social unrest of a coal-mining town during the Great Depression. Covering a six-year span, the novel reveals the consequences of arduous labor and widespread sterilizations that came with the eugenics movement. Among the prostitutes, mobsters, and miners is a web of interconnected lives that come together for a breathtaking ending in Taylor's fine sequel.