Books like The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler


Ann Fessler’s memoir and investigative work combines autobiographical narrative with interviews of more than a hundred birth mothers to uncover the hidden history of adoption in mid‑20th‑century America. Drawing on her own experience as an adoptee, Fessler presents intimate accounts of the pressures, stigma, and trauma that led families to surrender children, while examining the lasting impact on mothers, adoptees, and society. The book offers a rare insight into the psychological aspects of adoption and mother‑child relationships, illuminating the complex dynamics that shaped this significant social phenomenon.
First publish date: 2006
Genre: Psychology/Social Psychology
Authors: Ann Fessler
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5.0 (1 community ratings)

The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.


Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to The Girls Who Went Away (15 similar books)

Reading Lolita in Tehran by 5195492|Azar Nafisi book cover

📘 Reading Lolita in Tehran

In Tehran, Azar Nafisi secretly hires seven female students each week to read banned Western classics, revealing the personal and political struggles of women under Iran’s revolutionary regime.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.6 (14 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Half the sky by 10105417|Nicholas D. Kristof book cover

📘 Half the sky

A non‑fiction work that shines a light on the oppression of women in developing countries, offering case studies of survivors and exploring how empowering women drives economic progress.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (3 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Backlash by 12673314|Susan Faludi book cover

📘 Backlash

A classic of feminism, *Backlash* exposes the backlash against women's rights.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.5 (2 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Why We Can't Sleep by 11091182|Ada Calhoun book cover

📘 Why We Can't Sleep


★★★★★★★★★★ 3.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Girl Who Lived by 11843434|Christopher Greyson book cover

📘 The Girl Who Lived

289 pages ; 21 cm

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Sex, Time and Power by 6596463|Leonard Shlain book cover

📘 Sex, Time and Power

Leonard Shlain explores how reproductive biology and the structure of the female pelvis shaped the rise of complex societies, linking sex, time, and power to human evolution and the development of patriarchal cultures.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Female Thing by 8819564|Laura Kipnis book cover

📘 The Female Thing

Laura Kipnis examines how modern women navigate feminism, femininity, and self‑improvement, revealing the internal contradictions that both empower and constrain the female experience.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Frailty Myth by 8370737|Colette Dowling book cover

📘 The Frailty Myth

Colette Dowling challenges the long‑standing myth of female frailty, presenting research that shows women can match or exceed men in physical strength through training, and arguing for bodily empowerment as a key to gender equality.

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The lost girls by 11645792|John Glatt book cover

📘 The lost girls
 by John Glatt


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
International Library of Psychology by 6984093|Routledge book cover

📘 International Library of Psychology
 by Routledge


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Mother Dance by 7264611|Harriet Goldhor Lerner book cover

📘 The Mother Dance

From the celebrated author of The Dance of Anger comes an extraordinary book about mothering and how it transforms us -- and all our relationships -- inside and out. Written from her dual perspective as a psychologist and a mother, Lerner brings us deeply personal tales that run the gamut from the hilarious to the heart-wrenching. From birth or adoption to the empty nest, The Mother Dance teaches the basic lessons of motherhood: that we are not in control of what happens to our children, that most of what we worry about doesn't happen, and that our children will love us with all our imperfections if we can do the same for them. Here is a gloriously witty and moving book about what it means to dance the mother dance.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
America's Women by 6946233|Gail Collins book cover

📘 America's Women

America's Women traces how women shaped the United States from the early days of the Mayflower through wars, the pioneering era, the suffrage movement, the Depression, Rosie the Riveter, civil rights, and the feminist activism of the 1970s.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Girls Who Disappeared by 8283388|Claire Douglas book cover

📘 Girls Who Disappeared


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The girls in the garden by 13456841|Lisa Jewell book cover

📘 The girls in the garden

A dark mystery unfolds in a London garden square where a young sister's disappearance sparks suspicion and fear among the neighbors.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The girls of Atomic City by 6922697|Denise Kiernan book cover

📘 The girls of Atomic City

The Girls of Atomic City chronicles the lives of the women who worked in Oak Ridge, Tennessee during WWII, revealing how their quiet labor helped enrich uranium for the Manhattan Project and shaped the town’s history.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Some Other Similar Books

Hidden Mother by Grace Talusan
Mother of All Secrets by Debbie Macomber
Leaving Before the Rains Come by Alexi Zentner
Unexpected Joy by Susan Lewis
The Girls in the UV by Katherine Standefer
The Girls of Good Day by Marian McMahon
The Girls in the Chartreuse Skirt by Dianne Dixon

Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!

Please login to submit books!