Bug re-produce

Mysticism about multiples and America’s affair with eugenics are just some of the intriguing background Farley presents for context. From the Dionne quintuplets — born in Canada shortly after the Morloks and who were used like a baby zoo to attract tourists — to a surprising link between the Morloks and Malcolm X, “Girls and Their Monsters” includes a fascinating swath of information.

The first half of “Girls and Their Monsters” reads like a documentary, lingering on the most interesting details and matter-of-factly hyping up the drama. Pulling on diaries, letters and interviews, Farley starts back at Sadie’s and Carl Morlok’s childhoods, going through their tumultuous marriage even before the added stress of the sudden addition of four mouths to feed.

It only gets more dicey from there. Farley takes readers through the beatings, genital mutilation, social isolation and molestation the quadruplets suffered, their struggles with mental health as well as their personal wins and rebellions, all the way until the present day.

This wide view, covering decades and generations, shows the cyclical nature of abuse and examines the quadruplets in relation to each prevailing medical theory along the way.

The second half is more clinical, focusing on the research that came from NIMH and the way politics, society and science amalgamate. Farley shines a 1,000-watt beam of hindsight on this history, illuminating shortcomings, double standards and tragically self-deceptive beliefs that directly impacted an untold number of people.

Farley’s book is truly a case of reality being stranger than fiction, a highly researched yet readable account of a shocking piece of U.S. history that doesn’t show up in