The Girl I Left Behind - by Judith Nies (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

At the height of the Vietnam War protests, twenty-eight-year-old Judith Nies and her husband lived a seemingly idyllic life. Both were building their respective careers in Washington--Nies as the speechwriter and chief staffer to a core group of antiwar congressmen, her husband as a Treasury department economist. But when her husband brought home a list of questions from an FBI file with Judith's name on the front, Nies soon realized that her life was about to take a radical turn. Shocked to find herself the focus of an FBI investigation into her political activities, Nies began to reevaluate her role as grateful employee and dutiful wife.

A heartfelt memoir and a piercing social commentary, The Girl I Left Behind offers a fresh, candid look at the 1960s. Recounting Nies's courageous journey toward independence and equality, it evaluates the consequences of the feminist movement on the same women who made it happen--and on the daughters born in their wake.

Review Quotes

"An important book. I know of no book like it." -- Jill Ker Conway

"Nies' combination period history and memoir is a highly valuable first-person record of a woman who finds herself, and the movement she grew with." -- Publishers Weekly

"Refreshingly candid. . . . Nies' personal take on the ripple effects of the women's movement--both on those involved directly and those who followed--is honest and engaging." -- Booklist

"Educational and entertaining." -- Kirkus Reviews