Edie Carrigan didn't plan to "get herself" pregnant, much less end up in a Home for Unwed Mothers. In 1950s North Carolina, illegitimate pregnancy is kept secret, wayward women need psychiatric cures, and adoption is always the best solution. Not even Edie’s closest friend, Luce Waddell, understands what Edie truly wants: to keep and raise the baby.
Twenty-five years later, Luce is a successful lawyer, and her daughter Meera now faces the same decision Edie once did. Like Luce, Meera is fiercely independent and plans to handle her unexpected pregnancy herself. Digging into her mother’s past, Meera finds troubling evidence of Edie, and also of her own mother’s secrets. As the three women’s lives intertwine and collide, the story circles age-old questions about female awakening, reproductive choice, motherhood, adoption, sex, and missed connections.
For fans of Brit Bennett's The Mothers and Jennifer Weiner's Mrs. Everything, The Say So is a timely novel that asks: how do we contend with the rippling effects of the choices we've made? With precision and tenderness, Franks has crafted a sweeping epic about the coming of age of the women’s movement that reverberates through the present day.
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Praise for The Say So:
Winner of a Library Journal’s Audiofiles Magazine Earphones Award: “A talented ensemble performs Julia Franks's stunning novel.”
The Say So is one of Boston Globe’s Top Summer Reads: “This absorbing novel about teenage pregnancy in 1950’s North Carolina and its legacy in the subsequent decades may feel eerily uncomfortable in our contemporary moment… This tenderly rendered novel…is a a complex examination of friendship, motherhood, and lost opportunities.”
Washington Independent Review of Books: “The rare novel that details the typically glossed-over confusion, physical and emotional trauma, and contradictions surrounding adoption…She offers two unique perspectives on what ‘the right to choose’ means and contextualizes them within their respective eras. And she’s doing so at a moment in our history when reproductive freedom is again under attack, making this story both urgent and necessary.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Julia Franks is back with another gorgeously crafted tale…A powerful work of historical fiction… Franks’ probing narrative uses tenderness and nuance to ask the complex, provocative and timely question: Who has the “say so” over a baby’s fate? …A gorgeous and tremulous story exploring multiple perils of unwed pregnancy that is wildly applicable today… Her tender narrative has already shouted from the rooftops that all women are “fighting for the same thing, the say-so over their own decisions and bodies.” And her message is delivered with profound delicacy and heart-wrenching grace.” Read the full review.
Kendra Winchester, for Book Riot’s "Read This Book" Newsletter: "Franks’ prose flows across the page, and her storytelling is immersive. She possesses such an intimate understanding of her characters. I started the book and found that I couldn’t stop reading. I needed to know what the future had in store for these characters. They just seemed so alive.”
Publishers Weekly’s gives The Say So a STARRED Review: “Franks follows in her beautiful latest the ripple effects after a teenager is forced to give up her baby… In one devastating plot turn after another, Franks injects bracing honesty into her depictions of the characters, always in gorgeous prose… This will stay with readers.”
Peter Biello on Georgia Public Broadcasting: “Riveting.” Read the full interview here.
The Millions names The Say So one of their “Most Anticipated” Books of June
Charlotte’s SouthPark Magazine names The Say So one of their “Notable New Releases.”
Parnassus Books names The Say So a “Hot Summer Read”
The Say So heads up Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Hot New Southern Books list. “Julia Franks is back with another gorgeously crafted tale.”
The Say So heads up SIBA’s June “Read This Next” list.
Anjali Enjeti, author of The Parted Earth: “In these vivid, haunting passages, Franks luminously captures decades-old conversations and dilemmas about bodily autonomy. Franks’s mesmerizing prose traces the devastation of coerced relinquishment and unpacks the repercussions of living in a society that dictates agency and choice.”
Wiley Cash, author of When Ghosts Come Home: "It's rare that a novel speaks so eloquently to the contemporary moment as The Say So does. The years may pass but our stories stay the same. Julia Franks has written a beautiful story of mothers and daughters, old friendships, broken hearts, and tough choices. This is a powerful novel, and an important one too."
Jessica Handler, author of The Magnetic Girl: "The Say So is unforgettable, heartfelt, and stunningly timely. You’ll fall in love with Luce, Edie, and Meera, their struggles, and ultimately, their bravery."
Terry Roberts, author of The Sky Club: "Every so often, a work of fiction appears that is so timely that its creation seems an act of prescience. Julia Franks’s The Say So speaks powerfully to the current debate about the rights of women to decide their own fates and control their own bodies. It is a finely crafted story about fascinating characters dealing with the most fundamental things: friendship, sexuality, family, and motherhood. Read it now and you will continue to think about it as years pass."
Katharine Weber, author of Jane of Hearts and Other Stories: "What a marvelous novel Julia Franks has written! The Say So is a big and generous story that brings a perennial dilemma into sharp focus from one generation to the next. A perfect and perfectly provocative book club choice!"
Kirkus: “Franks’ vibrant, sensitive characters break the stereotype about birth mothers…With heart and spirit, this novel reminds us that no matter the time period, women are pressured to conform to other people's wishes and beliefs. A timely and relevant story about every woman's control over her body and her life.”
