Counting Backwards Summary: A Dual-Timeline Fight for Justice
TL;DR: The Short Version
What happens when a woman discovers her family legacy is built on a lie? In Jacqueline Friedland’s Counting Backwards, thirty-one-year-old lawyer Jessa Gidney is fighting for partnership, for a baby, and for her marriage.
Then a pro bono case at an ICE detention center reveals a pattern of forced sterilizations among detainees.
As Jessa digs deeper, she uncovers something far more personal: her own great-grandfather’s role in the 1927 Supreme Court case that legalized eugenic sterilization.
The novel moves between 2022 New York and 1920s Virginia, following Jessa and Carrie Buck as their stories converge.
It is a dual-timeline drama about bodily autonomy, institutional power, and the choices that define a legacy.
- Past timeline: Carrie Buck, an eighteen-year-old unwed mother in Virginia, is institutionalized and becomes the test case for the Eugenics Sterilization Act. Her 1927 Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell, legalizes forced sterilization in the United States.
- Present timeline: Jessa Gidney, a New York corporate lawyer struggling with fertility, takes on a pro bono case at an ICE detention facility and discovers unauthorized hysterectomies being performed on immigrant women.
- The link: Jessa’s beloved great-grandfather was the eugenicist whose testimony doomed Carrie Buck. Confronting this truth forces Jessa to choose what her own legacy will be.
- The outcome: A class-action lawsuit, a dismantled detention center, and a congressional hearing. The novel ends with accountability.
Counting Backwards Book Summary
Spoilers below. This section covers the complete plot, including the ending.
Counting Backwards opens in January 2022 with Jessa Gidney in her Upper East Side apartment, taking a pregnancy test in secret.
Jessa is a thirty-one-year-old associate at Dillney, Forsythe & Lowe. She is still grieving a miscarriage from the previous year. Her husband, Vance Singer, is an investment banker who hosts a podcast about recovering Holocaust-era heirlooms.
At work, Jessa learns she has been passed over for partnership. Seeking a new direction, she volunteers for a Legal Aid program at the ICE Detention Center in Hydeford, New Jersey.
There she meets her client, Isobel Pérez, a thirty-year-old undocumented mother detained after a minor marijuana arrest. Isobel mentions that while in custody she received a hysterectomy after doctors treated an ovarian cyst.
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Jessa begins investigating.
A nurse at Hydeford slips her the name of a former detainee, Jacinta Morales. With help from Dustin Ortiz, a fellow associate who speaks Spanish, Jessa visits Jacinta in Bensonhurst. Jacinta reveals that Dr. Choudry at Pinelands Women’s Health Clinic systematically performed unauthorized sterilizations on immigrant women.
Jessa consults her grandmother, Betty “Gram” Gregory, a retired librarian. Gram points her toward a 1920s Supreme Court case. Researching Buck v. Bell, Jessa makes a devastating discovery. Her great-grandfather, Harry Laderdale, was not a civil rights advocate.
He was a leading eugenicist whose testimony helped doom Carrie Buck to forced sterilization. His writings were later cited by the Nazi regime.
Alternating chapters follow Carrie Buck herself. In 1912 Charlottesville, six-year-old Carrie is taken from her mother and placed with John and Alice Dobbs as a foster child. She works as a domestic servant for seven years until the Dobbses pull her from school after sixth grade.
In 1923, while the Dobbses are away, their nephew Clarence Garland rapes seventeen-year-old Carrie. Her childhood friend Billy offers to marry her, but Carrie refuses to burden him. When Mrs. Dobbs discovers the pregnancy, she casts Carrie out.
Carrie gives birth to a daughter, Vivian, and is immediately committed to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded. Dr. Preston selects her as the test case for Virginia’s new sterilization law. At trial in 1924, her court-appointed attorney offers no defense. Harry Laderdale testifies that Carrie, her mother, and her baby represent “three generations of imbeciles.”
The Supreme Court upholds the law in 1927, and Carrie is sterilized without consent. Released afterward, she works as a housemaid for a kind woman named Mrs. Libby.
She learns that three-year-old Vivian has died from an infection. Grief-stricken, Carrie eventually marries Billy and records her life in a handwritten journal.
In 2022, Jessa takes unpaid leave from her firm after senior partners refuse to authorize a lawsuit against Hydeford. Vance opposes her crusade, fearing damage to his banking clients. Their marriage strains. When Jessa reveals she is pregnant and also tells him about her great-grandfather, Vance reacts with outrage and temporarily leaves.
But Vance eventually discovers financial records at his bank showing that Hydeford generates a 40% higher profit margin than other facilities due to fraudulent medical insurance claims.
He returns and apologizes. Jessa builds a legal team with professors Will Carbone and Lydia Brass at the NYU Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of fifty-three immigrant women.
During the litigation, Jessa suffers a medical scare with placenta previa. Gram gives her Carrie Buck’s original handwritten journal, which Carrie had given her during a meeting in the 1980s. Reading Carrie’s words gives Jessa strength to continue. She and Vance divorce, agreeing to co-parent amicably.
Eighteen months later, Jessa is an adjunct professor at NYU Law, raising her one-year-old daughter, Vivian. The Hydeford Detention Center has been shut down.
Jessa travels to Washington, D.C., to testify before a Congressional Subcommittee, which condemns the forced sterilizations. She receives a letter signed by all fifty-three plaintiffs expressing their gratitude.
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Meet the Characters
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Jessa Gidney | Contemporary protagonist; a thirty-one-year-old corporate lawyer who leaves her firm to file a class-action lawsuit against Hydeford Detention Center. |
| Carrie Buck | Historical protagonist; an eighteen-year-old unwed mother institutionalized in Virginia and forced to become the test case for eugenic sterilization. |
| Vance Singer | Jessa’s husband; an investment banker who initially opposes her lawsuit and later discovers financial evidence of fraud at Hydeford. |
| Betty “Gram” Gregory | Jessa’s maternal grandmother; a retired librarian who raised Jessa and preserved Carrie Buck’s handwritten journal. |
| Harry Laderdale | Jessa’s great-grandfather; former superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office whose expert testimony doomed Carrie Buck. |
| Isobel Pérez | Jessa’s first pro bono client; a thirty-year-old undocumented mother detained at Hydeford who underwent an unauthorized hysterectomy. |
| Denise Agbar | A twenty-six-year-old Cameroonian detainee at Hydeford subjected to an unauthorized surgical procedure. |
| Jacinta Morales | A Guatemalan former detainee in Brooklyn whose uterus and ovaries were forcibly removed at Pinelands Clinic. |
| Dr. Choudry | The gynecologist at Pinelands Women’s Health Clinic who performs unauthorized hysterectomies on immigrant detainees. |
| Fern Kraska | A nurse at Hydeford who secretly provides Jessa with contact information for sterilization victims. |
| Dustin Ortiz | A first-year associate at Jessa’s firm who assists as a Spanish interpreter during client interviews. |
| Tabitha “Tate” Clifford | A paralegal at Dillney, Forsythe & Lowe and Jessa’s closest friend at the firm. |
| Emma Buck | Carrie Buck’s mother; institutionalized at the Virginia State Colony for alleged feeblemindedness. |
| Vivian Elaine Buck | Carrie Buck’s daughter, born in 1924, who dies at age three from an infection following measles. |
| Billy | Carrie’s lifelong friend who offers to marry her after her assault and eventually becomes her husband. |
| Alice and John Dobbs | The foster parents who take Carrie in, exploit her for domestic labor, and cast her out when she becomes pregnant. |
| Clarence Garland | John Dobbs’s nephew who sexually assaults Carrie, resulting in her pregnancy. |
| Andrew Hendricks | Chair of the litigation department at Dillney, Forsythe & Lowe who refuses to let the firm represent the class action. |
| Will Carbone & Lydia Brass | NYU Law professors at the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic who collaborate with Jessa to file the federal lawsuit. |
| Vivian “Vivi” Gidney | Jessa and Vance’s daughter, born eighteen months after the lawsuit. |
Summary by Chapter
Spoilers ahead. Counting Backwards contains 24 numbered chapters alternating between Jessa and Carrie, followed by an Epilogue.
Below is a brief summary of each chapter for readers who want to explore what is inside.
Chapter 1: Jessa (January 2022) Jessa takes a negative pregnancy test in secret at her apartment and hides it from Vance. She is awaiting partnership news at her law firm after seven years of work. She previously suffered a miscarriage and feels desperate to conceive.
Chapter 2: Carrie (1912) Six-year-old Carrie lives in Charlottesville, caring for her baby half-siblings while her mother works. A Children’s Home Society director takes Carrie to a facility under the promise of story time and schooling. Carrie stays while her mother takes the other children home.
Chapter 3: Jessa (February 2022) Jessa learns she was passed over for partnership. She volunteers for pro bono work at the Hydeford ICE Detention Center. Her client Isobel reveals she received a hysterectomy while in custody. Jessa gets her period, marking another failed month of trying to conceive.
Chapter 4: Carrie (1920) Fourteen-year-old Carrie has lived with the Dobbses for seven years, doing domestic chores in exchange for school. Billy tells her that her mother was committed to the Virginia State Colony. Mrs. Dobbs pulls Carrie out of school permanently to work full-time.
Chapter 5: Jessa (February 2022) Jessa mentions Isobel’s procedure to Gram at their monthly dinner. Gram urges her to look into it and writes down a 1920s Supreme Court case citation. Tate encourages Jessa to take Vance’s call, and he apologizes and books a fertility specialist appointment.
Chapter 6: Carrie (June 1923) Seventeen-year-old Carrie meets Clarence Garland, the Dobbses’ nephew, who arrives to work as a farmhand. While the Dobbses are away, Clarence pursues Carrie and rapes her by a nearby creek despite her pleas.
Chapter 7: Jessa (February 2022) Gram tells Jessa that her great-grandfather stood up for a young woman in a 1920s case. At Hydeford, Jessa interviews Denise Agbar, who was subjected to unauthorized surgery by Dr. Choudry. A nurse slips Jessa the name Jacinta Morales.
Chapter 8: Carrie (October 1923) Clarence leaves without speaking to Carrie. Carrie realizes she is pregnant and tries strenuous labor to dislodge it. Billy asks her to marry him, but she refuses. The Dobbses discover her condition and cast her out.
Chapter 9: Jessa (March 2022) Jessa and Vance consult a fertility specialist, which upsets Vance. Jessa and Dustin visit Jacinta Morales in Bensonhurst. Jacinta reveals that Dr. Choudry forcibly removed her uterus and ovaries during what was supposed to be a routine checkup.
Chapter 10: Carrie (September 1924) Carrie gives birth to Vivian and is committed to the Virginia State Colony three weeks later. She is institutionalized alongside her mother Emma. Dr. Preston evaluates Carrie with academic questions she cannot answer.
Chapter 11: Jessa (March 2022) Gram encourages Jessa to keep digging. Jessa and Dustin analyze Jacinta’s testimony, confirming multiple unauthorized hysterectomies. Jessa and Vance argue over fertility testing. Andrew Hendricks refuses to let the firm take the class-action case, prompting Jessa to take leave.
Chapter 12: Carrie (October 1924) Dr. Preston informs Carrie that he intends to perform a surgical procedure to prevent future pregnancies. Carrie refuses, but Dr. Preston explains the state plans to use her case to test forced sterilization laws in court.
Chapter 13: Jessa (March 2022) Jessa drives Dustin to Manhattan and explains her need for a biological child. Vance argues with Jessa about her leave of absence. They visit his cousin Dalia on Long Island, where Dalia’s husband supports her choices, highlighting Vance’s lack of support.
Chapter 14: Carrie (November 1924) Carrie’s trial takes place at the Amherst County Courthouse. Witnesses describe her as dull and morally suspect. Her court-appointed attorney offers almost no defense. Harry Laderdale testifies that “three generations of imbeciles is enough.”
Chapter 15: Jessa (March 2022) Jessa reads the trial transcript and discovers her great-grandfather was the eugenicist who doomed Carrie Buck. Gram confesses she hid the truth and the family changed its surname. Vance demands Jessa drop the lawsuit to protect his banking client.
Chapter 16: Carrie (October 1927) Carrie has spent three years at the Colony. Billy sends a clipping reporting that the Supreme Court upheld Virginia’s sterilization law. Days later, orderlies arrive and Carrie is forcibly sterilized via salpingectomy.
Chapter 17: Jessa (April 2022) Dr. LaRusso confirms early signs of pregnancy. Jessa delays telling Vance because of marital tension. She continues building the class-action complaint. When she reveals the medical abuse at Hydeford, Vance accuses her of destroying her career and leaves.
Chapter 18: Carrie (December 1927) Carrie is released from the Colony and placed as a housemaid with Mrs. Libby. She reunites with Billy, who tells her that Vivian died six months earlier from an infection. Carrie grieves deeply. Weeks later, Billy visits with daisies, and Carrie accepts his love.
Chapter 19: Jessa (April 2022) Jessa tells Gram she is pregnant. Gram admits she was wrong to advise secrecy and urges Jessa to tell Vance. Jessa shares the pregnancy with Vance, but when she reveals her great-grandfather’s history, he reacts with horror and storms out.
Chapter 20: Jessa (April 2022) Jessa interviews two more victims who describe unauthorized procedures. Dustin confesses his attraction to Jessa but insists on professionalism. Isobel officially joins the lawsuit. Vance returns with financial records proving a monetary motive for the surgeries and apologizes.
Chapter 21: Jessa (May 2022) Jessa establishes a base at the Manhattan Immigrant Defense Center with NYU professors Will Carbone and Lydia Brass. Vance reveals that Gram disclosed Jessa’s mother had also suffered miscarriages and met Carrie Buck in the 1980s. The couple agrees to announce the pregnancy after filing the complaint.
Chapter 22: Jessa (May 2022) Jessa’s team files the class-action complaint in federal court. Jessa experiences sudden bleeding and is diagnosed with placenta previa. Gram brings her Carrie Buck’s handwritten journal from the 1980s. Reading Carrie’s life story gives Jessa strength.
Chapter 23: Carrie (April 1970) In her final journal entry, an elderly Carrie reflects on her marriage to Billy and the enduring grief of losing Vivian. She expresses conviction that God will not forgive those who stole her reproductive rights. She hopes future generations will never endure the same cruelty.
Chapter 24: Jessa (May 2022) Jessa’s bed rest is reduced to a twenty-four-hour precaution. ICE stipulates to a temporary restraining order protecting the plaintiffs. Jessa turns down an offer to return to her firm. She ends her marriage to Vance. Eighteen months later, she teaches at NYU Law and travels to Washington for congressional hearings.
Epilogue (18 Months Later) Jessa co-parents her daughter Vivian and teaches administrative law at NYU. The Hydeford Detention Center has been shut down, and Dr. Choudry is removed from practice. Jessa receives a letter signed by all fifty-three plaintiffs.
The congressional subcommittee condemns the forced sterilizations as a failure of human rights.
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What Drives the Story: Key Themes
| Theme | How the Book Presents It |
|---|---|
| Reproductive Justice and Bodily Autonomy | Carrie Buck is sterilized without consent under Virginia law in 1927. In 2022, undocumented women at Hydeford are subjected to unauthorized hysterectomies. |
| Family Legacy and Ancestral Guilt | Jessa discovers her great-grandfather was a leading eugenicist. She must decide whether to hide the truth or let it reshape her identity and choices. |
| Systemic Exploitation of Marginalized Women | Poor, institutionalized, and undocumented women are targeted because they lack political power, money, or legal representation. Both timelines show institutions profiting from their vulnerability. |
| Motherhood, Fertility, and Grief | Jessa struggles with miscarriage and infertility. Carrie loses her daughter Vivian and is permanently denied future children. The novel links personal grief to systemic violence. |
| Female Solidarity and Accountability | Gram guides Jessa. Nurse Fern helps her. Jacinta and Isobel recruit other plaintiffs. Carrie finds resilience through Mrs. Libby and her journal. Women support each other across generations. |
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Quotes from This Book
“Dedicated to all the women who are fighters”
“Count backwards from ten, and then it’s showtime.”
“Perhaps it’s time we all agree that three generations of imbeciles is enough.”
“No matter what or how much has been taken from you, you are still here. Now what are you going to do with that?”
“I wish I’d come to understand sooner that I should be grateful for my own two feet, the very same footing that held me up all along.”
“You took one look at us and you saw us. So many of us in there were feeling helpless, lonely, hopeless, destroyed. But you marched yourself into our lives and didn’t let us give up.”
Books Like Counting Backwards
If you are looking for books that share themes of reproductive justice, dual timelines, or institutional corruption, these titles may interest you:
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez: A historical novel inspired by true events in 1970s Alabama, following a nurse who discovers that two young sisters were sterilized without consent. It shares the fight for bodily autonomy and the legacy of eugenics.
Imbeciles by Adam Cohen: A non-fiction account of the 1927 Buck v. Bell Supreme Court case. It provides historical context for Carrie Buck’s story and the American eugenics movement.
The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer: A dual-timeline novel about moral responsibility and how historical atrocities echo across generations. It shares the theme of confronting a family’s dark past.
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis: A dual-timeline novel featuring resilient women fighting institutional norms in New York City. It shares the setting and the theme of female self-determination.
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore: A non-fiction narrative about women who fought corporate abuse and bodily harm in the workplace. It shares the David-versus-Goliath legal struggle.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate: A dual-timeline novel about institutional exploitation of children and one woman’s search for her family history. It shares the structure of uncovering buried truths.
Book Details
- Genre & Subgenre: Historical Fiction / Contemporary Women’s Fiction / Legal Thriller / Dual-Timeline Drama
- Core Narrative Tropes: Dual timeline, uncovering family secrets, crusading lawyer, whistleblower, institutional corruption
- Tone & Atmosphere: Empathetic, tense, introspective, indignant, resolute
- Primary Conflict: Jessa Gidney fights to expose forced sterilizations at Hydeford Detention Center while navigating fertility struggles and ancestral guilt; Carrie Buck fights state-sanctioned sterilization in 1920s Virginia
- Pacing Style: Alternating dual-timeline structure switching between Jessa’s 2022 legal investigation and Carrie’s 1912–1927 historical struggle
- ISBN: 978-1400347308
- Pages: 336
- Book Structure: 24 numbered chapters alternating between Jessa and Carrie, followed by an Epilogue, Author’s Note, Discussion Questions, Acknowledgments, and Additional Reading
- Author Background: Jacqueline Friedland is the author of several novels, including Trouble the Water and That’s Not a Thing. She is an attorney and lives in New York.
