Set in 1960's middle America and around a group of housewives, In the Family Way takes us back to the way life was for women 60 years ago. Very few rights of their own. Passed from the ownership of their father to their husband on marriage. Desiring something more but unsure what. A time of great change in the air. Into this group comes Betsy. An unmarried mother to be. The epitome of shame to her family who has been sent away to a mother and baby home by her family but loaned out as a mothers help for several months during her pregnancy. Poor Betsy has no idea how she got pregnant, how to look after a baby or what will happen at the birth. I was a teenager in the 60s albeit in the UK and remember all this very well. I thoroughly enjoyed In the Family Way and despair that the US is returning to pre Roe and Wade times. A brilliant book that had me close to tears at the innocence and frustrations of the women of those times. Recommended wholeheartedly.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

A gentle introduction onto women’s mentality and place in the 1950s through the eyes of four friends and a sister all struggling in different ways to the norms and mores of a very different era. Shocking by today’s accepted rules and regulations, birth control only given to married women., pregnancy without marriage meant damaged goods and something to be hidden away until no option other than adoption. A man could not be guilty to rape of his wife as she was perceived in law as his property and god forbid giving the correct term for female anatomy but rather disguised by speaking in innuendos. Five women all struggling for various reasons and at the heart of this complex mix, a fifteen year old innocent, and pregnant child ignorant of the facts of life, with little idea of how it happened and the consequences. One of the more harrowing of Betsy’s questions to her older married mentor and friend was the question ‘but how does it get out’ . Abortion illegal and decisions regarding termination so stringent that back street abortions and subsequent morbidity thriving as the norm. The reader experiences each woman's hidden traumas in explicit and often heartbreaking and harrowing detail until an unexpected tying up of numerous ends leaves a heartwarming conclusion of friendship, support and necessary changes in their attitudes and perspectives once reality strikes closer to home. Many thanks to Author Publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This isn't the typical type of novel that I would read but was drawn in by the premise and I am glad I chose to read it.

Beautiful story, beautifully written

Thank you to the publisher for inviting me to a review a preview ARC. As I believe its such a privilege to be invited to review I almost always read and download straight away.
I am so glad that I didn’t delay reviewing In the e Family Way as it blew me away. The theme, the characters and the glimpse gives into the women’s lives for someone born not even 10 years after is eye opening. And I have spent a long time after the final paragraph thinking about these strong, courageous women long who pushed for change.

This is a glimpse into the lives of five woman and their access to their reproductive choices. With different sides of the right to choose told through five different women and the options open to them and I was just sorry that the novel came to a finish and the glimpse into the friend’s lives came to an end.

As a narrative this is an important one and I would recommend any woman to read the choices of a 1960s woman and think about the choices we have because of the battles they fought for us.

This book is outside my usual genre, and it’s not one I would usually pick up based on the blurb, but I have to say that I absolutely loved it. I read it easily in a single day, it’s so well written.

The story is set in the time when women were the property of men, no abortions, being sacked for becoming pregnant, before any woman’s rights, and becoming pregnant outside of marriage was shameful, and girls were sent off to homes until they gave birth and the babies were given away.

The plot is basically around this, and a group of ladies not really minding this, but then a teenager comes amongst them and they start actually thinking - helped along by one of the ladies who attends protests, and minds start to change?

Really enjoyable!


My thanks to Netgalley and Rachel Quinn Marketing for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this slice of 1960s America. Nostalgic, yes, but it also peeled back the veneer of the archetypal American Dream scenario to reveal what life was really like for women and housewives in the days when their options were limited in so many ways.

Absolutely brilliant book! Set in the 60s the book examines the life of a group of friends trying to navigate through times that we've long since consigned to the past .....or have we!

The times they were achangin' - and for the better.
This book is a time capsule showing the situation that existed in the mid-1960s USA and indeed in much of the world. It is even still the same in some parts of the planet.
It centres around the wives in a closed knit group in a middle class community, middle class community, who appear to be living the dream,with their own cars, the latest household appliances, weekly canasta sessions and many other things. However they are very restricted in what they can do, not in the sense of "The Stepford Wives," but they can't vote, can't sit on a jury, and not have a bank account without their husbands' permission, and many other things that are now taken for granted. They were effectively chattles under the rigorous control of their husbands.
Lanzy Katz Becker has crafted a book that takes that situation and has shown how it has changed at a very personal level for the players.
I am old enough to have lived through the times described as a teenager, though in the UK rather than the USA. Here we were a couple of years ahead due to our "invention of The Swinging Sixties" and all that it led to.
This is a thought-provoking book that deserves a very wide audience.

What a timely reminder of what women had to fight against to get the rights that we have now but for some are being retracted. It was an interesting read and I really liked the ending which tied everything together.

I wasn’t sure if this was going to be my type of book, but I was so wrong. I really enjoyed it. It is set in the mid sixties when women didn’t have independence to live their own lives. Sisters Lily and Rose, along with Lily’s friends have to face up to many challenges, which today would not have the same impact. The story tells how each of them dealt with their own problems and how they supported each other. How would we have reacted to these issues? I liked the way Laney tied up the ending. I found it an interesting, informative and enjoyable read. My thanks go to NetGalley, Laney Katz Becker and the publishers Harper Collins for an arc of this super book.

I really liked this story. I got so hooked I finished it at 02:00! Set in 1965 it concerns the lives of some middle America housewives. Brought up to expect nothing more than being a wife and mother at the beck and call of their husbands. But…” the times they are a-changing”. They begin to question the patriarchal society norms especially when it involves pregnancy, domestic violence and aspirations. The main character is a fifteen year old who is pregnant ( and doesn’t know how that happened cos no one told her the ‘facts of life’). She is sent to live with a married couple as a ‘help’ until her baby arrives. She matures under the guidance of Lily, Rose, Becca and Sarah - and so do they! The women chat about all things babies, one wants them but can’t have them, one has them but don’t want more and one becomes pregnant in dire circumstances and faces a huge decision which will affect them all. The book is a reminder of how far women have come. When I was married in 1975, many of the same themes were still prevalent in the UK. Women’s Lib was gaining pace but it started with women like those in the book! Great book for a book club or a modern history syllabus in school.This one will stay with me for a long time.

It's 1965 and to avoid bringing shame on her family Betsy Eubanks is sent to a home for unwed mothers. While at the home Betsy is sent to work in the home of doctor's wife Lily Berg who is also pregnant. Little do the two women realise the profound effect they will have on each other's lives.

When I was first offered a review copy of In The Family Way by Laney Katz Becker neither the title nor the unfinished cover leapt out at me. Rather than dismiss it out of hand completely I read the blurb and noticed the comment "for fans of Lessons In Chemistry or The Help". Lessons In Chemistry was one of my favourite books of 2022 so that sealed the deal for me.

When I started the book I was expecting quite a whimsical and nostalgic read, what transpired was something far more powerful, emotional and relevant. Set in 1965 suburban America, feminism hasn't reared its head yet, although there are indications that it is on the way. Fifteen-year-old Betsy Eubanks finds herself pregnant. Determined not to have her future tainted by an unwanted pregnancy she is sent to another state to "stay with an aunt who is ill". In reality, she's sent to a home for unwed mothers where the baby will be put up for adoption as soon as it is born. From the parent's reactions you know that this move has more to do with respectability rather than Betsy's future.

Lily Berg isn't much older than Betsy but her life is a world away. Lily married as soon as she graduated high school with her husband being a doctor. They already have one young child and a second is on the way. Betsy is placed with the Bergs as a type of au pair. Through the placement Betsy meets Lily's friends and comes out of her shell.

The book is like a time portal, I enjoyed the nostalgia but, more importantly, it shows how far we have progressed as a society in sixty years. The first thing that really struck me was how women didn't have their own identity, they were seen as an extension of their husbands. Lily is always referred to as Mrs David Berg and her sister, Rose, is Mrs Marty Seigel. Rose is a successful teacher, however, she would be expected to give up her career should she become pregnant. Only married women can access birth control, which wouldn't have helped Betsy anyway as she had received no sex education from school or her parents. These are just a few of the instances where women are seen as second-class citizens.

Dealing with unwanted pregnancies plays a big part in the story. From teenagers like Betsy being shipped off to homes for unwed mothers to married women not wanting to carry another child. We learn of the illegal, dangerous, and often unscrupulous, ways in which these unwanted pregnancies are dealt with. I was surprised to learn that some hospitals had specialist wards set up simply to deal with the after-effects of illegal abortions. Absolutely nothing is mentioned about dealing with the psychological implications, women are simply patched up and sent home.

Betsy's time with Lily Berg is limited, shortly before her due date she returns to the home for unwed mothers to have her baby, with the women having no further contact. The author uses a time jump very effectively to update us on each of the character's lives, lives that have been moulded by those few months in 1965.

This was a great story about a life before I existed so was completely new and fresh in it's approach and the story that followed.

Once i was settled into this book i was hooked. Set in the 60’s this provided a sad flashback which i believe women all over the the world need to be fearful of because of world leaders. Women couldn’t vote, divorce or even have a bank account. This was set in that sad times. Set in suburbia Betsey is sent away to an unwed mothers home to live out her pregnancy as a mothers maid for a family. She is 15, she doesn’t know how she got pregnant, had no sex education, knows nothing about autonomy. She ends up living with the Berg family. David is an obgyn, his wife lily was the epitome of a 1950’s housewife as she married at 19. Lily and Betsey grow together and grow up. This book was such a good read. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

What a wonderful book with characters you would love to have in your life

The story of Betsy and Lily brought to life the world that we used to live in with ways that are unheard of and practices that thankfully are no longer common

Every character plays their part and as a whole, this book is wholesome and one I want to read again

I absolutely loved this. The story was engaging, fun, so very true to life and heart pulling. I love reading about the this era and hope the author writes more.

Set in the 1960s which is over 60 years ago but even though things have changed in Ireland the change was slow and even now in some areas I would expect they have changed little. An interesting read.

Set in the 1960`s a group of female friends try to face obstacles moral or ethical while trying to be the perfect housewife as they are supposed to be.
The book covers lots of delicate subjects rape, abortion, miscarriage, toxic marriage and teen pregnancy.
A very powerful story very well told of how women were supposed to act, life has gone a long way except in America which is trying to go back to the 60`s with women's rights.
Definitely recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review

A quite emotional read , it was good to see pregnancy from different viewpoints.
The story line was easy to get stuck into and hard to put down

Both an example of historical fiction, and also a real comment on the cultural changes that have happened in the last 60 years in the West. You could read this as a feminist tome, too, with the sense of a vintage 'Desperate Housewives' vibe happening. The pace and characterisation of the novel is well pitched with multi narrative viewpoints that operate in a filmic and compelling way. There's a poignancy, too, as others have said, especially at the end. Highly recommended. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.