The Mind of a Deviant Woman

Carrie Buck, whose life is little more than that of an indentured servant in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the early 1920s gives birth to a daughter out of wedlock. Because of that, she, along with epileptics, prostitutes, criminals, and other "undesirables" are considered deviant and must be sterilized, according to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decision in the 1920s. New York socialite Louisa Van Patten is involved in the eugenics movement that brings about the decision. Louisa is writing a college dissertation on deviants. Carrie is her primary source for her research. Louisa will not allow either Carrie or Ben Newman, a reporter for the New York Times, to change her mind about the need for sterilization of those who deviate from the norm. She is engaged to marry an up and coming lawyer with political ambitions, but Ben threatens to derail her plans. As she delves deeper and deeper into her research, she uncovers a dark secret that further complicates her life. That secret, along with Carrie and Ben, sends her life and her research spinning off course. Ultimately, she needs Carrie to save her life and help her find a new course. Using, in part, authentic letters and documents from the era, Paula Paul has crafted a mesmerizing fictionalized story that reveals a little-known chapter of life in America and the story of an American court decision that eventually influenced some of the actions taken against citizens in Nazi Germany.