In nonfiction writer Kate Schatz’s fiction debut, Where the Girls Were (11.5 hours), she takes listeners to 1968 San Francisco, in the time before Roe v. Wade when “free love” was freer for some than for others. High school valedictorian Baker Phillips is an only child eager to please her conventional, suburban parents—until her cousin acquaints her with a worldly new crowd and an older man who introduces her to sex. By the time Baker realizes she’s pregnant, the baby’s father is out of the picture, and Baker’s parents construct a cover story while secretly sending her to a home for unwed mothers. There, Baker befriends other pregnant girls from different walks of life. Narrator Saskia Maarleveld adeptly voices each of these characters—no mean feat considering they’re all the same gender and age—with particularly keen characterizations of Baker’s tough-as-nails roommate and a manipulative social worker. Along the way, listeners are introduced to a time of illegal word-of-mouth abortion networks, forced adoptions and disorienting “twilight sleep” during labor. Schatz herself reads her author’s note about her personal and political connection to the material, emphasizing the importance of preserving this history for future generations—which may make listeners want to share Where the Girls Were with mature teens in their lives.
