Rachel Walker’s family is part of the Quiverfull movement, a growing movement in which couples do not limit how many children they have because they believe it’s not Godly to use birth control. Rachel and her nine siblings are also home-schooled, and the girls are taught that a woman’s sole purpose is to get married (after a chaperoned courtship, of course), and be a good wife who has as many children as God will provide. H
owever, seventeen-year-old Rachel feels conflicted and anxious. She’s both smart and curious, driven to learn about the world around her, and she doesn’t feel ready to get married and start having children as soon as she turns eighteen. She finds a friend in Lauren, a girl from her church who ran away from the same church and her abusive father a couple years earlier. Lauren gives Rachel hope and a place to stay when she gets in serious trouble for being online without permission. It's not long before she finds herself attracted to an acquaintance of Lauren’s who shares her passion for reading. It's clear that the
author has done her homework when it comes to the Quiverfull movement and religious zealotry. Additionally, her sympathetic and authentic portrayal of Rachel’s situation and her inner conflict is realistic fiction at its best.
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