The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America

Narrating her own debut memoir, political reporter Potts addresses the problems of growing up without much money in America’s heartland. With a solemn voice, Potts contrasts her life with that of her childhood friend, Darci. Both grew up in Clinton, AR, in the Ozark Mountains, and were gifted students who longed to escape the poverty around them. Potts eventually leaves Clinton to attend college at Bryn Mawr, but Darci stays home. As a reporter, Potts reconnects with Darci and discovers she is a single mother who has experienced addiction, abusive relationships, and homelessness. It seems that her own escape from Clinton was nearly miraculous. Potts compassionately describes some factors that make life difficult in communities such as Clinton. Evangelical religious beliefs in predestination and the role of women as subservient to men are only two of the many problems she identifies. Lack of information, parental supervision, jobs and services, an unwillingness to allow government intervention, and easy access to drugs all play a part in a cycle of poverty, disease, and early death.