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

Talented and ambitious, Monica Potts and her best friend, Darci, were both determined to make something of themselves.

How did their lives turn out so different?“The Forgotten Girls is much more than a memoir; it’sthe unflinching story of rural women trying to live in the most rugged, ultra-religious, and left-behind places in America.”—Beth Macy, author of DopesickGrowing up gifted and working-class poor in the foothills of the Ozarks, Monica and Darci became fast friends.

The girls bonded over a shared love of reading and learning, even as they navigated the challenges of their tumultuous family lives and declining town—broken marriages, alcohol abuse, and shuttered stores and factories.