Mary’s Hall was a unique and important place. Started by a Brooklyn priest in the mid-1940s, the residence became a refuge for young women without a safe place to live. The girls and women who were given love and shelter there became one big family, supporting one another, and enjoying each other’s company. But one fateful night in February 1956, that safety was destroyed. Mary’s Hall burned to the ground because of faulty wiring. Miraculously, all the residents escaped with their lives, but all of their personal belongings were lost. They were given a temporary place to live at The House of The Good Shepherd, but the tragedy was still vivid and shocking: the girls of Mary’s Hall had lost their home and the group they had come to know as family. Many years later, one of the survivors decided to write a book about Mary’s Hall. Over ten years of research, a disturbing picture emerged as author Sally Rodgers scoured sources for bits of information to piece together. Gripping and unsettling, The Girls of Mary’s Hall demonstrates how truth can be hidden…but never lost.