For readers of Orange Is the New Black and The Glass Castle, a
riveting memoir about a lifelong secret and a girl finding
strength in the most unlikely place
In 1979, Liz Pryor is a seventeen-year-old girl from a good
family in the wealthy Chicago suburbs. Halfway through her senior
year of high school, she discovers that she is pregnant—a fact
her parents are determined to keep a secret from her friends,
siblings, and community forever. One snowy January day, after
driving across three states, her mother drops her off at what Liz
thinks is a Catholic home for unwed mothers—but which is, in
truth, a locked government-run facility for delinquent and
impoverished pregnant teenage girls.
In the cement-block residence, Liz is alone and terrified, a fish
out of water—a girl from a privileged, sheltered background
living amid tough, street-savvy girls who come from the foster
care system or juvenile detention. But over the next six months,
isolated and in involuntary hiding from everyone she knows, Liz
develops a surprising bond with the other girls and begins to
question everything she once held true. Told with tenderness,
humor, and an open heart, Look at You Now is a deeply moving
story about the most vulnerable moments in our lives—and how a
willingness to trust ourselves can permanently change who we are
and how we see the world.
Praise for Look at You Now
“A funny, tender and brave coming-of-age tale.”—People
“A poignant, often funny reminder that we learn who we are when
we’re at our most challenged.”—Good Housekeeping
“Engrossing . . . Readers will swiftly be drawn into the author’s
compassionate retelling of her teen pregnancy—her fear, shame,
regret, joy, and even her forgiveness of her parents for sending
her away. This coming-of-age memoir is authentic and
unforgettable.”—Publishers Weekly
“[Liz] Pryor’s refusal to bury the truth of her experiences is
the greatest strength of her book. Her honesty about a youthful
error and desire to let that honesty define the rest of her life
are both uplifting and inspiring. An unsentimental yet moving
coming-of-age memoir.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Pryor has vivid memories of her time in the facility, and her
straightforward, unvarnished narrative, written as if by her
seventeen-year-old self, rings true. Her story is well worth
sharing.”—Booklist
“I started reading this book thinking it was a compelling,
honest, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant look at the world of
teenage pregnancy, and knowing it would offer an inside look at
the places where girls used to be hidden away until their babies
came. I finished it damp-eyed and understanding that Look at You
Now is much more than that. It is a story about how family
dynamics work. It is about how wrenching it is to give away
something born of your , even if you know it’s the right
decision. It’s about how much we can learn from people very much
different from us. Most of all, it is a subtle, graceful story
about how sometimes the worst things in our lives work best to
shape our characters into something shining and true, something
that will serve us for the rest of our lives.”—Elizabeth Berg,
author of The Dream Lover
“Liz Pryor’s story is shocking, moving, riveting, and,
ultimately, inspiring. She writes like a natural, can balance
humor and sorrow perfectly, and in Look at You Now, has written a
pitch-perfect memoir.”—Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life