Atlanta History Center Presents Justine Cowan - The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames Virtual Event
The Atlanta History Center welcomes author, attorney and environmentalist Justine Cowan for a virtual discussion of her new memoir, "The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames," a riveting family drama evocative of “Angela’s Ashes” and ”The Glass Castle,” about a woman who discovers the shocking secret at the center of her mother’s life.
Cowan will appear in conversation with GPB’s Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 7 PM (EST).
This event is free and open to the public. Join the event by registering via the link below.
A Cappella Books will have copies of “The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames” available after the event. Pre-order via the link below. At checkout, choose between the local delivery, curbside pick-up, or shipping options. For zip codes not listed in the above banner, select curbside pick-up or USPS shipping.
About the Book
Justine had always been told that her mother came from royal blood. The proof could be found in her mother’s elegance, her uppercrust London accent—and in a cryptic letter hinting at her claim to a country estate. But beneath the polished veneer lay a fearsome, unpredictable temper that drove Justine from home the moment she was old enough to escape. Years later, when her mother sent her an envelope filled with secrets from the past, Justine buried it in the back of an old filing cabinet.
Overcome with grief after her mother’s death, Justine found herself drawn back to that envelope. Its contents revealed a mystery that stretched back to the early years of World War II and beyond, into the dark corridors of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. Established in the eighteenth century to raise “bastard” children to clean chamber pots for England’s ruling class, the institution was tied to some of history’s most influential figures and events. From its role in the development of solitary confinement and human medical experimentation to the creation of the British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts, its impact on Western culture continues to reverberate. It was also the environment that shaped a young girl known as Dorothy Soames, who bravely withstood years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmistress—a resilient child who dreamed of escape as German bombers rained death from the skies.
Heartbreaking, surprising, and unforgettable, "The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames" is the true story of one woman’s quest to understand the secrets that had poisoned her mother’s mind, and her startling discovery that her family’s fate had been sealed centuries before.
About the Author
Justine Cowan is an attorney and environmentalist who spent over two decades exposing corporate corruption and holding polluters accountable. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Duke University School of Law, she lives with her husband in Atlanta, Georgia. "The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames" is her first book.
