Строптивые девчонки

The masterfully constructed action of this soul-stirring, captivating novel unfolds in two temporal layers: in our days and in the 1960s. Six women, who in their youth underwent a brutal school of survival within the walls of a monastery orphanage, but managed to find freedom and build their lives according to their own templates, despite the horrific shadows of the past and PTSD — here are its exceptionally well-developed and vivid heroines.
Following their fates while unraveling the mystery of the birth and adoption of one of the heroine's daughter is an exciting process that generates a storm of emotions. This is a story of female friendship, love, resistance to evil, and ultimately, redemption — themes that particularly resonate with modern readers.
In the late 1960s, in the heart of America, in the state of New York, teenage girls are sentenced by the court to forced labor in the orphanage “Good Shepherd” — a grim and secret institution run by nuns from the Order of Sisters of Mercy. Why? Simply because they are unmarried, or orphans, or victims of mistreatment, or just rebellious…
There, the girls' lives turn into a real hell: they are subjected to horrific sexual, physical, and emotional violence by those very people who are supposed to care for them. This part of the plot touches upon the unsightly pages of United States history and echoes the themes of Magdalene laundries — a grim practice of isolating “disobedient” women.