Lilli De Jong by Janet Benton

Lilli De Jong by Janet Benton

A young woman finds the most powerful love of her life when she gives birth at an institution for unwed mothers in 1883 Philadelphia. She is told she must give up her daughter to avoid lifelong poverty and shame. But she chooses to keep her.
Pregnant, left behind by her lover, and banished from her Quaker home and teaching position, Lilli de Jong enters a charity for wronged women to deliver her child. She is stunned at how much her infant needs her and at how quickly their bond overtakes her heart. Mothers in her position face disabling prejudice, which is why most give up their newborns. But Lilli can't accept such an outcome. Instead, she braves moral condemnation and financial ruin in a quest to keep herself and her baby alive.
Confiding their story to her diary as it unfolds, Lilli takes readers from an impoverished charity to a wealthy family's home to the streets of a burgeoning American city. Drawing on rich history, Lilli de Jong is both an intimate portrait of love and loss and a testament to the work of mothers. So little is permissible for a woman, writes Lilli, yet on her back every human climbs to adulthood.

JANET BENTON's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Glimmer Train, and many other publications. She has cowritten and edited historical documentaries for television. She holds a B.A. in religious studies from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and for decades she has taught writing and helped individuals and organizations craft their stories. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter. Lilli de Jong is her first novel.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780385541459
ISBN 10	0385541457
Title	Lilli De Jong
Author	Janet Benton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Nan A Talese
Year published	2017-05-16
Number of pages	352
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.