The Lost Girl of Craven County
This story takes place in New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina, in 1939. The protagonist is Millie, a 25-year-old Jewish “old maid” living in a small, prosperous Jewish section of New Bern, an historic riverfront town near the coast. The first part of the book reflects the close-knit life in Jewish communities of North Carolina. Millie had a nervous breakdown after her younger brother died and is treated differently afterwards. Her mother is spending time and energy on finding a husband for her—the only acceptable path for a woman in her community (even though her mother ran the family business). The descriptions of these efforts are conveyed with dry humor as we learn more about Millie, her family, and the loss she experienced.
On an errand, Millie finds an unconscious woman whom she helps. This woman is mute and has no identification. Millie brings her home, where her mysterious new friend is fed and given care while creating a stir in the community. Who is she? Where did she come from? What happened? The second part of the book unfolds as Millie learns the mysterious woman’s identity and plight. In doing so, she uncovers a shameful part of our history that was practiced in North Carolina (and the US) from the early 1900s into the 1970s. During this sleuthing, we see Millie is not the fragile person everyone has been treating her as since her breakdown.
This is a fast-paced and informative mystery that sheds light on life at a crossroad in our history at the end of the Depression but before we entered World War II, particularly among Jews as they both maintained their identities while assimilating into the South. It shows the different ways that love, friendships, and loss are experienced and expressed.
