Girlfriend We Need to Talk invited the author Maxene Raices for a Podcast interview that went live on June 10th, where she discussed the taboo around teenage pregnancy and the process of giving up the child for adoption. The author also shared the problems that she had to face due to lack of sex education as it was considered a matter of secrecy and shame. The interviewer highly encouraged the listeners to read the book, The Land of Sunshine and Hell: A Memoir of a 60’s Unwed Mother. The Land of Sunshine and Hell: A Memoir of a 60’s Unwed Mother is a memoir that takes you back to the time of 1964 when the Vietnam war was heating up. It presents a tale of the time when sex was an interdiction and not to be discussed. Maxene was a high school student who just discovers that she is pregnant. Living in the age where there is no such thing as legal abortion, she finds it difficult to hide the truth and was sent away to give the child up for adoption. Till date, she tries to move forward, never acknowledging the pain of giving up the child. Maxene Raices currently lives in Alpharetta, GA with her husband and four children along with seven grandchildren. She has done her Masters in Adult Communication from the University of Toronto. Apart from her writing, she has also provided her services in a high school as an English Teacher. She has been a Manager of Human Resources and Senior Account Executive for several human resource consulting firms in both the United States and Canada. To check out the complete Podcast interview, click here.