We Won’t Go Back, the second book of Charlene Wexler’s Farewell to South Shore series, is the story of Babs, who lived a pleasant life in a northern suburb of Chicago, devoting her time to her husband and two teen daughters. When the Supreme Court signals that it is going to overturn Roe v. Wade, Babs’ life changes as she reunites with her late mother’s fellow activists from the 1970s to take up the fight for women’s rights once again.
But family matters continue to intervene—a close relative’s death, meeting a previously unknown half-brother, an unplanned pregnancy, and a nostalgic great aunt who wants her 100th birthday party to be a pilgrimage to the now-downtrodden South Shore community of Chicago.
Through it all comes a determination that We Won’t Go Back to a time when women lacked basic rights.
The frightening Highland Park, IL, Fourth of July parade shooting of 2022 plays a prominent role in We Won’t Go Back.
“I’m thrilled that Speaking Volumes has decided to publish We Won’t Go Back,” Wexler said. “Speaking Volumes is a great publisher and I know readers will enjoy the book. We Won’t Go Back’s themes of women’s rights, women’s place in American society, and the horrors of gun violence are as fresh and pertinent as today’s headlines.”
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Awards
- Bronze Award winner in the Global Book Awards competition, Contemporary Fiction category, September 2025.
- Named #3 in Suburban Fiction, Amazon.com, June 18, 2024
- Named #17 in Suburban Fiction, Amazon.com, July 19, 2024
Charlene Wexler 