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    Necessary Lies: A Novel
    Necessary Lies: A Novel
    Necessary Lies: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Necessary Lies: A Novel

    Written by Diane Chamberlain

    Narrated by Alison Elliott

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty years ago, and the darkest—and most hopeful—places in the human heart

    After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm. As she struggles with her grandmother's aging, her sister's mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.

    When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County's newest social worker, she doesn't realize just how much her help is needed. She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband. But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm—secrets much darker than she would have guessed. Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.

    Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it's wrong?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateSep 3, 2013
    ISBN9781427232922
    Author

    Diane Chamberlain

    Diane Chamberlain is the bestselling author of twenty novels, including The Midwife's Confession and The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. Diane lives in North Carolina and is currently at work on her next novel. Visit her Web site at www.dianechamberlain.com and her blog at www.dianechamberlain.com/blog and her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Diane.Chamberlain.Readers.Page.

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    Reviews for Necessary Lies

    4.5/5

    418 ratings52 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Wow! Seriously, it is that good and no, I am not giving any more of the book away than what is already in the synopsis, so trust me on tis one and get a copy of the book. Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain is a must-read this autumn.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The story and characters were very realistic, I remember hearing about sterilization of women who had mental and physical handicaps. The fact that it was not the choice of the girls /women, that in fact, choices where completely removed from them and made and determined by the state and physicians paid by the state to sign off on them. Scary time back then.
    • 5/5
      Very easy read and interesting topic. I enjoy Diane's books
    • 5/5
      Fantastic! I had no idea that went on in real life. My heart breaks for those who dealt with it. What a beautifully written book!
    • 5/5
      Excellent read. Great characters to follow. Narrator was fantastic also
    • 5/5
      Such a tragic story but one everyone should hear. We tend to think of unspeakable atrocities only happening in “those” countries and never our own.
    • 5/5
      Unforgettable. To live in North Carolina and read this novel based on true events...well, I was shocked and amazed and appreciate the author's research and insight. Beautifully written with great sensitivity. It made me cry.
    • 5/5
      As my first Diane Chamberlain book, all I can say is what took me so long?!?!

      It was highly entertaining, a page turner (heard she's known for these) and definitely the type of story I would think about during the day, and eager to get back to at night. (only time I read)

      I loved how she had the POV's of Jane, Ivy, and the beginning/ending with Brenna. Such a great, great way to lay out a story. I wondered who Brenna was, and when we get to find out, it's VERY satisfying. Chamberlain does such a good job of telling Jane and Ivy's story, that we sort of forget about Brenna until she's necessary again.

      She captured the time frame so well, the poverty, the way wives were supposed to dote on husband's, and with her own social work background, I feel some of the storytelling was very authentic.

      I have BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN (signed no less!), but I almost want to hold off reading that one and grab a couple others of hers to read first. I'm hooked!
    • 4/5
      This is a fast-paced book that kept me reading until I finished. It's set in 1960 with Jane, a social worker, starting her first job and her first marriage. Jane's focus is Ivy, a 15-year-old. Jane is expected to file papers to have Ivy sterilized. The Eugenics Program was a real program used to cut-down the number of people on welfare or for those with illness or low abilities by sterilizing sometimes without their knowledge. Jane struggles with how to do the right thing when almost everyone around her disagrees with her. The novel tells a compelling story, but I found it lacking beautiful language. The story was 5 stars, but the lack of imagery and vocabulary was 3 stars. However, it's a book I will readily recommend to others.
    • 5/5
      Moving story of a social worker in NC and her involvement with the poor families who are her clients.
    • 5/5
      If you don't know anything about NC history, you'll probably be horrified to hear that they were still practicing eugenics and forced sterilization in the 1960's. As a former social work student who loves reading books that deal with social issues, I picked this book up and didn't stop reading until I was finished. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I definitely loved it. It made me think, and it made me cry. Wow. Highly recommend!
    • 5/5
      Ivy Hart is fifteen. Her parents are gone and she’s become the one looking after her grandmother, her older sister, and her nephew. Tenants on a small tobacco farm, their life is difficult and, although the women earn a pittance working in the tobacco field, the family survives only because of the welfare they receive.Jane Forrester is a new social worker for Grace County; despite her newlywed husband’s objection to her job, she soon becomes emotionally invested in the lives of her clients, particularly the Hart women. The more Jane learns, the more difficult it becomes for her to turn her back on the things she believes to be wrong even as her supervisor, Charlotte, explains the necessity of the decisions she and the others in the agency make. Will Jane become a heroine for Ivy, or is she destined to be the enemy? With well-drawn characters, the story delves into the issues of the time: discrimination, poverty, the marginalization of a segment of society. As the story unfolds, drawing readers into Ivy’s narrative and Jane’s story, tension builds around the seemingly-impossible and keeps the pages turning. Historically accurate, the narrative is set in North Carolina in the 1960s and focuses on the eugenics program and its impact, particularly on the disenfranchised women sterilized without their consent. It’s a powerfully-told story, one that will stay with the reader long after reaching the final page.Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Wow! If I could only give this book 10 stars. Amazing! This book is definitely compelling, tear jerker, engaging and heart warming. This was also an eye-opener for me regarding Eugenics Sterilization Program and it's impact to the people affected of it in that era.

      The story revolved around a newly married and newly employed Welfare Social Worker Jane Forrester and her clients, most especially Ivy Hart. Set in a time (1960) and place (North Carolina) of racial tension and the controversial Eugenics Sterilization Program. And how Jane fought so hard to protect and helped her client.

      I highly recommend this book and will definitely read more books from Diane Chamberlain.
    • 5/5
      Forced sterilization for the good of the people is the idea eugenic programs are based on. The programs set into place have long been discontinued and many would prefer the shameful policies were not brought out into the light but history often repeats itself and it is important that these secrets are no longer hidden. Diane Chamberlain does an excellent job allowing the reader to experience what the eugenics program was about and how one family was affected by it. This book made me open my eyes to the horrors of such a program. My heart hurts for all the people who because of mental health issues, low intelligence, low income and other health issues were sometimes unknowingly sterilized.
    • 3/5
      I did learn something by reading this book, but I found it to be one of the most depressing books I've ever read. The feeling of hopelessness really started to pull me down after a while. The year is 1960, and in North Carolina, the state would sterilize individuals that were intellectually delayed, epileptic, or even just for being poor and on welfare. The Eugenics Board really existed, but this story is fictional. Jane is a middle classed, newly married social worker who gets caught up in the problems of the Hart family and is faced with making decisions she thought she would never have to make. Some factual information about the program is included at the end of the book. Some of the characters and their attitudes are quite disturbing, but the reader must keep the time in history and the location of the novel in mind when reading.
    • 4/5
      Wow, to think this really happened to people without their knowledge or consent is just awful! This story is gripping and I flew through it....very good!
    • 5/5
      I couldn't put this book down. It tells the story of Jane Forrester, a woman in 1960 working for the Department of Public Welfare in the deep south of America. She's new to the job and finds it hard to detach herself emotionally from the families she is dealing with. One of her families is the Hart family and in particular 15 year old Ivy and her 17 year old sister, Mary Ella. They work in tobacco fields and live in poverty. The biggest part of the story relates to a moral dilemma facing Jane, and this made the book such an interesting read, especially when you consider it's based on reality.The book alternates between being told from the points of view of Jane and Ivy. I was never confused as to who was 'speaking' as each has a very distinctive voice. I raced through the story - Diane Chamberlain has such a human way of writing, enabling me as a reader to feel empathy with the characters. Add to that her ability to write such interesting and morally complex storylines and this guarantees a fab read.
    • 4/5
      Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in 1960, in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of Jane Forrester and Ivy Hart. Newly married to a successful pediatrician, Jane rejects tradition when she takes a job as a social worker instead of becoming a housewife. Jane is not at all prepared for her new career, but she is enthusiastic and dedicated to her clients. Ivy is mature beyond her years but also quite innocent and naive. She's the one that takes the caretaker role with her diabetic grandmother and two year old nephew. Jane decides to fight to protect Ivy from the system that is supposed to protect her which leads to life changing consequences for everyone involved.

      I never knew a Eugenics Program existed in the United States. The Eugenics Program was a way the states used to sterilize people, may of them without their own consent. In most states, this program was predominantly used for the institutionalized. However, residents of North Carolina were able to be sterilized based on petitions written by their social workers. This system became a way for people living on welfare to be prohibited from having too many children. It was tragic that such a system could be allowed, and equally tragic that social workers felt they were doing the best they could to improve the life of their clients.

      Told in first person from alternating points of view, I thought it was a powerful and thought-provoking novel that paints a vivid portrait of poverty, sexism, racism and social work in rural North Carolina in 1960.
    • 4/5
      Might have given it a 5 but the ending didn't sit well with me. But it was a read that was hard to put down. The audio is well-read also.
    • 5/5
      Author Diane Chamberlain takes us back to a time in history that is dark and disturbing. It is the south in the 1960’s. Jane Forrester is just on the brink of new life. Newly married, she is beginning her career as a social worker. She is well off, married to a pediatrician, and spends her days dealing with the problems of the poverty-stricken, poorly educated people of Grace County. Her husband is against her working and wives of his friends don’t like her. But Jane is driven to help her clients, even to the point of breaking the rules where she works. Getting too involved with her clients, especially with two families who are marginally connected with each other, June finds herself breaking more than just the rules. Just how far she is willing to go to protect a young girl illustrates just how caring she is. This compelling novel, based on historical fact, will have you questioning the rightness of certain laws. The author does an excellent job of speaking through different voice to tell this gripping tale. This is a story you will think about long after you have turned the last page.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this audio book. Story based on truth. Heart breaking truth.
    • 5/5
      Another fascinating book about the eugenics program in North Carolina this time told from the perspective of a new social worker who is appalled at the program. The first book I read on this subject was “Unfit by, Lara Cleveland Torgesen” which I found fascinating and I think both of these books should be read to really get a feel for what these poor women/young ladies/children went through.Jane may be a woman ahead of her time because the only respectable job for a lady was a school teacher or nurse especially when you are married to a pediatrician who really doesn’t want you to work. You surely don’t go to work as a social worker, working with the poor and god forbid the coloreds , it made me sick that her husband was more upset about her having to work with the coloreds and that she wasn’t there to have dinner waiting for him. I for one am so glad at how far we have come as women!We also meet Ivy Hart who is one of Jane’s clients Ivy is trying to keep her little family together even though she is only 15 years old herself. She takes care of her grandmother who has a problem with sugar which we now call diabetes and an older sister who has already had one illegitimate child but little William is the apple of everyone’s eye and they do try their best to take good care of him. But when Jane takes over as case worker everything changes, Jane makes a discovery and tells a secret that changes everything for the Hart family.I really liked this book, this was a new to me author and narrator and I enjoyed them both very much. I liked the authors writing style and I found the subject matter well handled. The characters in this book are nicely fleshed out and it gives us a frightening look into social work in the 1960’s in North Carolina, which was the one state that continued the eugenics program longer than any other state, so many women (and men) were sterilized just for being poor or colored, which I feel is horrifying. Narrator Alison Elliott did a really good job at portraying both of these women and I thought she added to the telling of this story I will definitely listen to her again.I will be looking for other books by this author.4 ½ Stars
    • 5/5
      I discovered Diane Chamberlain recently and its been such a pleasure to read her novels. Necessary Lies follows Chamberlains amazing ability to build characters with complex relationships and life decisions while making the reader question their own social and political views and capacity for compassion and understanding.
    • 5/5
      In the early 1960's, newly wed and newly employed, Jane Forrester has, much to her husbands dismay, taken a job as a social worker. Everyday, she travels from her well to do neighborhood to tobacco fields and the poverty stricken people who work them. As a social worker she is to evaluate them, drop off clothes and address health issues to the agency's nurse. She must also select those who because of mental or physical deficiencies, should not reproduce. Jane gets personnaly involved with one particular family and goes way beyond the jobs requirements.I truly, truly loved this book. Why? Firstly, because it is of a subject I had no knowledge of, secondly, author's fictional characters come alive. So much so in fact I became just as involved with this family as Jane. The conclusion even brought me to tears. To supplement the reading of this book I also listened to the audio version and narrator Alison Elliott is outstanding! Whether print or audio I highly recommend it. It would have been a 5 star read it's just one particular thing troubled me towards the end of the story but it's minor.
    • 5/5
      Sort of miserable topic in beginning of story, but becomes in-put-downable.
    • 5/5
      I liked this book a lot. It would make a good book club read, about the eugenics program in NC: sterilizing men and women on welfare to reduce the welfare rolls.
    • 5/5
      I have not cried because of a book in a long time. I listened to this on books on CD and bawled my eyes out at many sections...In the beginning I thought this was a cookie cutter story. Not. So worth a read...Do yourself a favor...Listen, read, whatever-but have tissue handy.
    • 4/5
      This is a story of the interaction between a young social worker in her first job, full of dedication and concern for her clients but clearly inadequate yet to deal with the complexities of the family that becomes the focus of this novel. The novel deals with the issue of state-ordered sterilization of individuals deemed to be mentally defective, a practice that was carried on until remarkably recently in some states. The characters are well-drawn and the pacing of the story was perfect to keep me interested and engaged.
    • 5/5
      I received an advance reading copy of Necessary Lies and could not wait to dive in! I stayed up all night and finished it this morning! An extraordinary and inspirational novel-cannot stop thinking about it----Diane did an outstanding job with a complex topic and her excellent research skills were definitely reflective throughout the book with careful plot planning and storytelling. Her best work thus far! From the character development (loved Jane/Ivy), the dialect, insight, the setting – she nailed it! A beautiful story of loss, love, struggles, difficult choices, and redemption (loved the ending). I could very much relate being from the rural south (NC) in the sixties.

      Diane offers an insight as to the difficult choices and a close-up of how minors, sometimes with little control over certain circumstances--with the feeling of no way out of their environment in order to change the vicious cycle. Combine this with others having the power to make choices for them without thinking of their future or their best interests. (It was amazing how much control social workers had over situations during this era.)

      Hats off to the tenacious professionals who “cross the lines” and take a chance for the welfare of their clients and their futures. Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. A Must Read! I look forward to the e-book The First Lie as well.
    • 3/5
      This was my first Diane Chamberlain book but was just OK for me. I was drawn to the book because it was set in the 1960s in North Carolina (southern fiction is one of my favorite genres) and involved the controversial Eugenics Board of North Carolina. I agree with others that the book was easy to read and moved along at a good clip, but I struggled to connect with the characters and the plausibility of the story. I know that the Eugenics Board existed - in fact North Carolina is just now in the process of making compensation payments to victims of its forced sterilization program. I also know now (after doing some research post-reading) that North Carolina was the only state that allowed social workers to designate people for sterilization. Hence, I can see why Ms. Chamberlain, as a former social worker, was drawn to writing this untold story. I just felt there was some character development lacking. Instead, I walked away from this book better educated by the crazy world around us (which is a good thing) but not necessarily emotionally touched. I hope to try another Diane Chamberlain novel in the future.