ON SALE JANUARY 7, 2020
Enter the Gilded Age of New York City in the 1910s, 
when suffragettes marched in the street, 
unions fought for better work conditions—and girls were confined 
to the House of Mercy for daring to break the rules.
 
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SERENA BURDICK

Serena Burdick is the author of the novels GIRL IN THE AFTERNOON (St. Martin’s Press, 2016) and THE GIRLS WITH NO NAMES, forthcoming from Park Row Books in January 2020. She is the 2017 International Book Award Winner for Historical Fiction. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence, holds a Bachelors of Arts from Brooklyn College in English literature and an Associates of Arts from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in theater. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.

Representation: Stephanie Delman, 
Sanford J Greenburger Associates
(contact: sdelman@sjga.com).

Praise
for The Girls with No Names

​“Filled with true historical details about life inside a work house for wayward girls in the 1910s, The Girls with No Names is a beautifully written, haunting novel. Burdick gorgeously portrays womanhood and coming-of-age set against the backdrop of the real House of Mercy, but above all, she weaves a stunning story of sisters, friendship, secrets, and ultimately survival. I fell in love with the courageous Effie and Mabel and will not soon forget their stories.”
– Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time

“I'm shocked I'd never heard of The House of Mercy, the asylum for fallen women at the center of Serena Burdick's beautiful novel. Burdick expertly weaves together the stories of women affected by the asylum, telling a mesmerizing tale of strength, subterfuge, and the unbreakable bond between sisters.”
– Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light
 

Synopsis

Not far from Luella and Effie Tildon's large family mansion in Inwood looms the House of Mercy, a workhouse for wayward girls. The sisters grow up under its shadow with the understanding that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters accidentally discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen older sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases. ​
But her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morning Luella is mysteriously gone. Effie suspects her father has made good on his threat to send Luella to the House of Mercy and hatches a plan to get herself committed to save her sister. But she  made a miscalculation, and with no one to believe her story, Effie's escape from the House of Mercy seems impossible-unless she can trust an enigmatic girl named Mable. As their fates entwine, Mable and Effie must rely on each other and their tenuous friendship to survive. ​
The Home for Unwanted Girls meets The Dollhouse in this atmospheric heartwarming story that explores not only the historical House of Mercy, but the lives-and secrets-of the girls who stayed there. ​​​
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