Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood
☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 304 pages
Expected publication: August 6th 2019 by St. Martin's Press
About the Book:
Dover, Massachusetts, 1969. Ginny Richardson's heart was torn open when her baby girl, Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, was taken from her. Under pressure from his powerful family, her husband, Ab, sent Lucy away to Willowridge, a special school for the “feeble-minded." Ab tried to convince Ginny it was for the best. That they should grieve for their daughter as though she were dead. That they should try to move on. But two years later, when Ginny's best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth--its squalid hallways filled with neglected children--she knows she can't leave her daughter there. With Ginny's six-year-old son in tow, Ginny and Marsha drive to the school to see Lucy for themselves. What they find sets their course on a heart-racing journey across state lines—turning Ginny into a fugitive. For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength and face the world head-on as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy. Racing from Massachusetts to the beaches of Atlantic City, through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to a roadside mermaid show in Florida, Keeping Lucy is a searing portrait of just how far a mother’s love can take her.
Such a dramatic move in the first part of the story, one that haunted me. Not sure how many people could have made this decision and lived with it. It touched a very real and sensitive issue and gave you a sense of hope for anyone facing a hardship.
It did not take me long to appreciate this story. It seemed like a litany of the flawed decisions of flawed characters. It is about actions taken. These actions have great effect upon their perpetrators and those who love them. My persistence was rewarded. Pain, loss, secrets, wanting to rescue loved ones from the secret that they do not know. These and many more themes persist, weaving a deep story throughout this lifelike narrative. It is not formulaic, but it is real—of the substance of living and loving.
This is a riveting story, told in prose that is almost lyrical in its beauty. The suspense is thrilling...as a reader I was sucked in by the compelling writing. It reads very fast, with the reader eagerly turning each page to learn more. In short a story with a heart.
The novel shows how one decision, seemingly for the good, carries with it many ramifications. After finishing the book, I thought to myself...it would be interesting to know how everyone's lives would have been different had Lucy stayed with her family at home, right from the beginning. Another story perhaps? Very touching, poignant.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Tammy Greenwood for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.
#NetGalley
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