Audio only
The Home for Unwanted Girls
The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken - inspired by true eventsBy Joanna GoodmanNarrated by Saskia MaarleveldLength9h 58m
About this audiobook
Philomena meets The Orphan Train in this suspenseful, provocative novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit—the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other.
In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility—much like Maggie Hughes’ parents. Maggie’s English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don’t include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life ‘back on track’.
Elodie is raised in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. It’s a precarious enough existence that takes a tragic turn when Elodie, along with thousands of other orphans in Quebec, is declared mentally ill as the result of a new law that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages. Bright and determined, Elodie withstands abysmal treatment at the nuns’ hands, finally earning her freedom at seventeen, when she is thrust into an alien, often unnerving world.
Maggie, married to a businessman eager to start a family, cannot forget the daughter she was forced to abandon, and a chance reconnection with Gabriel spurs a wrenching choice. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie realizes she must take what she wants from life and go in search of her long-lost daughter, finally reclaiming the truth that has been denied them both.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.3 (77.5K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreGeneral Fiction, Dystopia
Length9 hrs 58 mins
Narrated bySaskia Maarleveld
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateApr 17, 2018
LanguageEnglish
More from Joanna Goodman
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
The Consequences of FearJacqueline Winspear10h 28m4.4 (26.1K)$29 · $0.00
At the Foot of the Cherry Tree: The bestselling, heart-warming novel based on a true story of forbidden love & heartbreak SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYMOCKS 2023 BOOK OF THE YEARAlli Parker10h 8m4.4 (5.6K)$29 · $0.00
Counting Lost StarsKim van Alkemade13h 55m4.4 (22.7K)$33 · $0.00
The German WifeKelly Rimmer13h 49m4.3 (70.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Tattooist of AuschwitzHeather Morris7h 26m4.3 (1.4M)$24 · $0.00
1984Eric Arthur Blair12h 41m4.3 (6.1M)$1 · $0.00
The Unbreakable Heart of Oliva DenaroViola Ardone8h 57m4.3 (14.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Pearl That Broke Its ShellNadia Hashimi13h 47m4.3 (125.6K)$8 · $0.00
Lord of the SilentElizabeth Peters6h 7m4.3 (14.9K)$24 · $0.00
The Little LiarMitch Albom7h 41m4.3 (122.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Benevolent Society Of Ill-Mannered LadiesAlison Goodman15h 33m4.3 (25.5K)$33 · $0.00
The Flight GirlsNoelle Salazar10h 21m4.3 (49.9K)$29 · $0.00
Scandalous WomenGill Paul10h 46m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
Daughters of the OccupationShelly Sanders10h 59m4.3 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Woman in the White KimonoAna Johns11h 55m4.3 (47.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Keeper of Hidden BooksMadeline Martin10h 53m4.3 (42.9K)$29 · $0.00
The Complete Western Stories of Elmore LeonardElmore Leonard6h 49m4.3 (4K)$24 · $0.00
Reminiscences of a Stock OperatorEdwin Lefèvre10h 39m4.3 (50.9K)$29 · $0.00
Notes from UndergroundFyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky4h 37m4.3 (313.6K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Uncharted Flight of Olivia WestSara Ackerman10h 33m4.3 (4K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
The Stone HomeCrystal Hana Kim10h 9m3.8 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Magdalen GirlsV. S. Alexander11h 19m3.9 (14.9K)$20 · $0.00
Beasts of No NationUzodinma Iweala4h 13m3.9 (10K)$20 · $0.00
FireDeborah Challinor9h 35m4.1 (550)$29 · $0.00
Wayward GirlsSusan Wiggs15h 17m4.4 (2.1K)$8 · $0.00
Adam BedeGeorge Eliot22h 17m3.9 (31.9K)$3.50 · $0.00
Workhouse Girl & the Veiled LadyDolly Price5h 1m4.4 (716) Only with Ultra
Goodbye, Sweet GirlKelly Sundberg6h 18m4.1 (3.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Polygamist’s DaughterAnna LeBaron8h 54m4.2 (4.3K)$20
The Hidden Life of Cecily LarsonEllen Baker13h 55m4.0 (21.3K)$33 · $0.00
AuēBecky Manawatu10h 54m4.4 (9.7K)$20
THE GREATEST DICKENS CLASSICS (Illustrated Edition)Charles Dickens337h 30m4.5 (1.2K)$1 · $0.00
That Bird Has My WingsJarvis Jay Masters9h 49m4.4 (13.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Rib KingLadee Hubbard10h 8m3.6 (3.4K)$29 · $0.00
Cult TripAnke Richter9h 34m4.2 (983)$29 · $0.00
The Seamstress of SardiniaBianca Pitzorno8h 5m4.0 (8.8K)$26 · $0.00
Daughters of Smoke and FireAva Homa11h 6m4.4 (2.9K)$20
Never BrokenJewel10h 20m4.3 (10.7K)$20
Sex Cult NunFaith Jones13h 11m4.0 (14.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Good ChildrenKate Wilhelm8h 3m3.8 (1.2K)$17