Women of a Promiscuous Nature
- Judith D Collins
- Jan 27
- 9 min read
By: Donna Everhart
Narrator: Lisa Larsen
Tantor Media
ISBN: 9781496740724
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: 01/27/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars + (ARC)
*A Publishers Marketplace BUZZ BOOKS Selection*
Accused of “promiscuity” in 1940s North Carolina, a young woman unjustly incarcerated and subjected to involuntary medical treatment at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women decides to fight back in this powerful, shockingly timely novel based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, the government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality throughout the first half of the 20th century.
If The Handmaid’s Tale was a true story that took place in 1940s America, it would be WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE.
The day Ruth Foster’s life changes begins the same way as many others—with a walk through her North Carolina hometown toward the diner where she works. But on this day, Ruth is stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. Women like Ruth—young, unmarried, living alone—must undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease.
Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.
Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences—solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.
But some refuse to be cowed. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost.
My Review
Set against the backdrop of 1941 North Carolina, WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE by master Southern storyteller Donna Everhart unfolds as a poignant and gripping historical novel.
This compelling narrative delves into the dark realities of the "American Plan," a draconian government initiative that wrongfully imprisoned women under the pretense of safeguarding public health.
Through vividly drawn characters and richly textured settings, Everhart exposes the harsh injustices faced by these women, illuminating a haunting chapter of history that resonates with themes of resilience and courage. Her best yet!
About...
Ruth Foster:
24-year-old Ruth Foster is walking to her job at a diner when the local sheriff stops her. Because she is a single woman living alone, she is accused of "promiscuity" and forced into medical testing for venereal diseases.
The Colony:
Despite being innocent, Ruth is sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. There, she meets other women held for arbitrary reasons: being "too pretty," eating alone in a restaurant, or being reported by spiteful neighbors.
The "American Plan" Treatments:
Inmates are subjected to "curative" treatments, including grueling physical labor and toxic mercury treatments for diseases they often do not have. And the horrific practice of forced sterilization.
The Superintendent’s Vision:
Dorothy Baker, the Colony’s superintendent, believes she is patriotically "reforming" degenerate souls. However, as her own past is revealed, her humanity and secrets complicate her role as a villain.
Stella’s Respite:
15-year-old Stella Temple is sent to the Colony by her family after being a victim of assault. Unlike others, she initially views the Colony as a respite from her nightmarish home life because she finally has regular meals and a safe bed.
The Path to Resistance:
Ruth refuses to be broken by the system. She and other inmates, including a misunderstood woman named Frances, eventually begin to work together secretly to sabotage the Colony's authority and find a way back to their freedom.
My thoughts...
Set in 1940s North Carolina, the novel brilliantly explores the dark and disturbing historical "American Plan," a government program that regulated women’s bodies under the guise of public health. With historical accuracy, Everhart bases the story on real aspects of the early 20th-century American system for controlling women's bodies, making it a powerfully moving historical novel.
Told from three distinct POV:
~Ruth Foster:
~Stella Temple:
~Superintendent Dorothy Baker:
Donna Everhart skillfully depicts the brutal and dark State Industrial Farm Colony for Women as a facility that functions more like a prison than a reform school. The conditions and treatments described in the novel are based on actual historical records of the American Plan.
Characterized by isolation, grueling menial labor, and a strict rule book enforced with harsh punishments like solitary confinement, the women are forced with involuntary medical interventions, subjected to invasive testing and toxic mercury treatments for diseases they often do not have. The novel also addresses the horrific practice of forced sterilization and more, with horrific living conditions, hard labor, and harsh discipline.
The primary themes are the regulation of women's bodies and sexuality, the abuse of power, the historical injustice of the American Plan, and the enduring themes of resistance and resilience.
~Regulation of Women's Bodies and Sexuality
~Abuse of Power and Injustice
~Resistance and Resilience
~Challenging Societal Norms
A major theme
is shedding light on a "long-buried history" of American social injustice that many people are unaware of, emphasizing how fear and stigma can influence policy and violate civil rights.
The historical figures associated with the "American Plan" (established via the 1918 Chamberlain-Kahn Act) range from high-level government architects to the women who legally challenged the system's abuses. From reformers and activists to victims who resisted, those who opposed the American Plan challenged it on constitutional, moral, and humanitarian grounds.
The bonds formed between the women demonstrate that even in a system designed to break the spirit, solidarity and resistance provide a path toward regaining one's humanity.
By shedding light on this "shadow history," Everhart challenges the reader to acknowledge a period where the American government legally kidnapped and poisoned its own citizens, ensuring that the victims’ stories are no longer ignored.
The "American Plan" did not have a single, definitive end date, as it was a decentralized system of state and local laws rather than one federal operation. Its dissolution occurred in phases between the 1950s and 1970s.
The central takeaway
of WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE is a searing indictment of how fear and moral panic can be weaponized by the state to strip away the civil liberties of the vulnerable. Through the lens of the "American Plan," Donna Everhart delivers several key messages:
~The Fragility of Rights
~The Danger of Moral Certainty
~The Injustice of the Gender Double Standard
~The Strength of Unlikely Alliances
Despite the harrowing conditions, the ultimate message is one of human resilience.
The title
is a direct reference to the vague and weaponized legal language used by officials to justify the state-sponsored kidnapping of women under the American Plan. The novel seeks to reclaim the individual stories of characters like Ruth and Stella from under this dehumanizing historical blanket.
While the state accused the women of being "promiscuous" (immoral), the novel argues that the true immorality lay with the government officials who authorized forced medical testing, toxic poisonings, and the theft of years of these women's lives. The "promiscuous nature" in the book is less about the women’s behavior and more about the government's promiscuous (unrestricted and indiscriminate) use of power.
A central focus
is the "sisterhood" formed among inmates. Women like Ruth and a misunderstood inmate work together secretly to sabotage authority and fight for their freedom. The book explores how the legal system targeted women for arbitrary reasons: being "too pretty," living alone, or eating dinner in a restaurant without a male companion, while highlighting the endurance of women in a system designed to break them.
Sadly, the health consequences these women suffered include neurological, mental health, organ damage, chronic illness, reproductive, and social consequences. As a native of North Carolina, I enjoy books set in the area and history, even though it is sad to think women had to experience such horrific actions in nearby Kinston, NC.
Thought-provoking, rich in history, and meticulously researched with resources and further reading as well as discussion questions for your book club (an ideal pick). Unfortunaely this program that used public health as a justification for mass detention and bodily control resonates with several significant contemporary debates today in 2026.
As an avid admirer of the author, I have delved into every one of her captivating works, each time emerging with invaluable insights and profound takeaways that resonate deeply. This particular book stands out as my absolute favorite, leaving me in awe of her exceptional talent and masterful storytelling. She has an extraordinary ability to breathe life into the courageous women of history, celebrating their strength and resilience in a way that is both moving and inspiring. I highly recommend.
Recs...
Readers interested in the themes of institutional abuse, the "American Plan," and women's historical fight for autonomy will find several powerful historical fiction and non-fiction books on similar subjects.
Non-Fiction
~The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison "Promiscuous" Women by Scott W. Stern
Several novels set in North Carolina and the South share themes of institutional abuse, injustice, the policing of women's bodies, and resilience in the face of systemic injustice.
Historical Fiction
~Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
~The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church
~The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church
~The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman
~Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
~The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart
~When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart
Special thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for graciously providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Jan 27, 2026
Praise
*A Publishers Marketplace BUZZ BOOKS Selection*
“Both a cautionary tale and a deeply compassionate rendering of women wrongly imprisoned in a system designed to break them, Donna Everhart’s propulsive story is filled with injustice, intrigue, and the determination to fight back. Book clubs will find themselves discussing Women of a Promiscuous Nature late into the night, and readers will long remember the remarkable women so aptly rendered within its pages.”
—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shelterwood
“Eye-opening…Everhart writes movingly about the American Plan (a real government program that tried to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality) and its consequences in the first part of the 20th century. With its strong women characters, the novel is a brutal but unforgettable read.” —Library Journal on Women of a Promiscuous Nature
“A remarkable fusion of research and imagination, all that we hope for in the best historical fiction, but there is much more to admire here--vivid scenes, compelling characters, perfect pacing—but most impressive of all is Everhart’s creation of Dorothy Baker, a woman who, as her past is slowly revealed, becomes so multifaceted that even in her most appalling moments we cannot ignore her humanity. She is one of the most memorable characters I’ve read in recent fiction, and further proof of Donna Everhart’s immense talent.”
—Ron Rash, award-winning author of Serena on Women of a Promiscuous Nature
“In a time when the darkest chapters in American history are being erased, books are being banned, and women’s bodies policed, Women of a Promiscuous Nature is a must-read. I learned so much from Everhart’s larger-than-life characters, whose stories will make you gasp and wonder if this could ever happen again in America. The best and most important historical novel I’ve read in years!”
—Minrose Gwin, author of Beautiful Dreamers on Women of a Promiscuous Nature
“Donna Everhart writes like your neighbor who has come over to tell you of folks she’s worrying about. She infuses textbook history with ragged humanity. Detailing shocking injustices, she also begs a nuanced consideration of the most dreadful consequences of mankind’s often misguided motivations. Most importantly, she puts the three women before us, with their individual circumstances in the face of the unthinkable, and inspires courage through their remarkable endurance. Everhart's readers always expect they will come away from the last page with the dirt of her stories under their nails. There's some heart’s blood, here, too.”
—Kimberly Brock, author of The Fabled Earth on Women of a Promiscuous Nature
About the Author
Donna Everhart is a USA Today bestselling author known for vividly evoking challenges of the heart and the complex heritage of the American South in her acclaimed novels Women of a Promiscuous Nature, When the Jessamine Grows, The Saints of Swallow Hill, The Moonshiner’s Daughter, The Forgiving Kind, The Road to Bittersweet, and The Education of Dixie Dupree. A finalist for the Southern Book Prize, she is the recipient of the prestigious North Carolina Society of Historians Award of Excellence, the SELA Outstanding Southeastern Author Award from the Southeastern Library Association, and her novels have received a SIBA Okra Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and three Publishers Marketplace Buzz Books selections. Born and raised in Raleigh, she has stayed close to her hometown for much of her life and now lives just an hour away in Dunn, North Carolina. Please visit her online at DonnaEverhart.com
