Award-winning children’s author, Jacqueline Wilson, has written a brand-new novel for her older readers, introducing young women to the heartbreaking adoption crisis of the 1960s

Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork, Ireland closed in 1998. This home would have been very similar to where Laura stayed during her pregnancy

There was nothing quite like a quiet lunchtime in year 7, sat in the library eagerly scanning the brightly coloured book ends of the Jacqueline Wilson section. I had read the entirety of my primary school’s selection of Wilson books and couldn’t wait to get my hands on more stories of girls with wild imaginations, just like me. Wilson’s books didn’t include fairy tale unicorns, princesses, and knights in shining armour. I was reading tales of divorce, mental illness and death. The author shaped the Gen Z feminist with these novels and continues to write for the next generation of liberal young people. Her latest novel Baby Love, set in 1960s Britain, tells the story of Laura, an intelligent 14-year-old schoolgirl, who finds herself in the most unexpected and painful situation after meeting French exchange student Leon.

As with almost all Wilson’s novels, Baby Love features a young girl in peril. Laura is faced with teen pregnancy, which later results in her being sent away by her family for the shame she has caused them. The reading age for this novel is 12+, slightly higher than the author’s usual suggested reading age of seven or nine. Wilson includes a warning in the beginning of the book that states it contains “sensitive content,” includes “scenes of a sexual nature,” and directs us to the back of the book for further explanations on the meaning of sexual consent.

An extract from Baby Love, introducing the meaning of "consent" to young readers

Wilson was a child of the 1960s and recalls more than just The Beatles and miniskirts. Throughout the decade, more than 16,000 British babies were adopted against the will of their mothers. These women were often unmarried, in their teens and twenties and deemed incapable of looking after themselves, let alone a child. “I was around Laura’s age back in 1959/60 and knew several girls at school who became pregnant, were sent away to Mother and Baby Homes and emotionally blackmailed into giving up their babies for adoption,” Wilson explained when Missile asked about her vision for the novel. “I wanted to show how sad and depressing those times were.” The brilliant storytelling would benefit women of any age, but why specifically did the author choose to depict this historical tragedy to her young readers? “I think we can all learn lessons from the past” says Wilson, “and have compassion for the elderly women still grieving for their lost firstborns”.

In May of last year, these women took to mainstream media to express their anger and demand an apology from the government. In 2013, Australia's prime minster apologised to the victims of forced adoption and committed A$5 million to support services of affected women and aid the reunion of biological families. Women in the UK are yet to receive an apology. In 2017, the government rejected a demand for a public inquiry due to “insufficient justification”. Sue Armstrong Brown, the Chief Executive of Adoption UK, has said: “What happened to these women is heartbreaking and indefensible. Apologising to them is the right thing for the government to do.”

Adele was one of the thousands of women who had their baby taken from them during the 1960s in Northern Ireland

Video: BBC News NI

Although the writer never had the experience of living in a Mother and Baby home herself, Wilson recalls that she once lived in a “Church of Scotland Girls Hostel” at age 17 when she was a junior journalist. “It was pretty similar to the average Mother and Baby home – but without the babies of course,” she says. “It was very strict and we weren’t allowed to go out with boyfriends more than twice a week, we couldn’t even have a bath more than twice a week!”

Baby Love goes into great detail about Laura’s experience at Heathcote House; the friends she makes, the enemies too, the chores and the heartbreak. Almost all the young mothers had intended on keeping their babies, but before they knew it, another childless couple came through the doors to claim the newest baby. As soon as the child had left the building, the mother was expected to do the same, now homeless, penniless, and distraught.

Jacqueline Wilson briefly explaining the premise of Baby Love to her readers in a video for Waterstones

Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPT_BnEoHg4

Wilson has become one of the most well-respected and reputable children’s authors in her 59-year-long career, in contrast to her contemporary J.K. Rowling, whose transphobic remarks have left her no-platformed. Wilson is naturally a feminist and has always had young girls’ best intentions at heart. "Teenage girls today are expected to get 10 out of 10 for everything,” she says, after admitting she feels out of touch with modern teenagers. This seems unfair, as Wilson has forever provided teenage girls with the confidence to read, speak and act freely and Baby Love is yet another instance of this. The author suggests that the novel teaches of “the ability to think for yourself and to say no in an alarming or embarrassing situation” and to “have the courage to be true to yourself and not copy other people”. Perhaps the most “in-touch" advice a young girl could be given.