Wayward Girls [Audiobook]
By (Author) Susan Wiggs
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
15th July 2025
Audiobook
United States
General
Fiction
Narrative theme: Love and relationships
Family life fiction
Historical fiction
CD-Audio
From New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs comes a wrenching but life-affirming novel based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption. Set in the turbulent Vietnam era in the All-American city of Buffalo, New York, six girls are condemned to forced labor in the laundry of a Catholic reform school.
In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd--a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns--locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.
Mairin--free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, committed to keep her safe from her stepfather.
Angela--denounced for her attraction to girls, sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.
Helen--the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, she saw her "temporary" stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.
Odessa--caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, she found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.
Denise--sentenced for brawling in a foster home, she dared to dream of a better life.
Janice--deeply insecure, she couldn't decide where her loyalty lay--except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.
Sister Bernadette--rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.
Wayward Girls is a haunting but thrilling tale of hope, solidarity, and the enduring strength of young women who find the courage to break free and find redemption...and justice.
Susan Wiggs is the author of more than fifty novels, including the beloved Lakeshore Chronicles series and the recent New York Times bestsellers The Lost and Found Bookshop, The Oysterville Sewing Circle, and Family Tree. Her award-winning books have been translated into two dozen languages. She lives with her husband on an island in Washington State's Puget Sound. Susan Wiggs is the author of more than fifty novels, including the beloved Lakeshore Chronicles series and the recent New York Times bestsellers The Lost and Found Bookshop, The Oysterville Sewing Circle, and Family Tree. Her award-winning books have been translated into two dozen languages. She lives with her husband on an island in Washington State's Puget Sound. Jane Oppenheimer is an experienced narrator, voiceover artist, and actress with a bachelor's degree in theater from Carnegie Mellon University. She has narrated numerous audiobooks and has performed on stage in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Her voiceover work can be heard on commercials as well as corporate campaigns and short documentaries. Cynthia Farrell, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a singer and voice actor best known for her roll as Catalina in the video games Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. She has also performed off Broadway and has released a number of records.