The Forgotten Girls

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An acclaimed journalist reflects on her escape from a small Arkansas town while her brilliant friend could not, shedding light on the issues plaguing poor, rural white women across America, including unemployment, drug abuse, sexism, and evangelicalism. Growing up gifted and working-class in the Ozarks, Monica and Darci formed a close friendship, united by their love for reading and learning amid the struggles of their declining town and tumultuous family lives marked by broken marriages and alcohol abuse. They often studied a map in their middle school, dreaming of a future beyond their circumstances. Ultimately, Monica left Clinton for college and achieved her dreams, while Darci and many others did not. Years later, as a journalist covering poverty, Monica learned that life expectancy for women in Arkansas had sharply declined—the steepest drop in a century. Returning to Clinton to investigate, she reconnects with Darci, who has become a statistic: a single mother of two, addicted to meth and prescription drugs, jobless and nearly homeless. Recognizing that Darci's fate could have easily been her own, Monica retraces the pivotal moments that led to their diverging paths, exploring the societal factors that shaped their lives and the lives of many like them.