Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood #bookreview #historical #fiction #family #literaryfiction
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Title: Keeping Lucy
Author: T. Greenwood
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Page Count: 298
My rating: 5 stars
About the book:
The heartbreaking and uplifting story, inspired by incredible true events, of how far one mother must go to protect her daughter.
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.
Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood is a historical fiction novel that is based on real life events. The story in Keeping Lucy is and emotional one told from a mother’s perspective as she fights for her child.
It’s 1969 in Dover, Massachusetts when. Ginny Richardson goes into labor with her second child. Already the mother of a six year old boy Ginny gives birth to her daughter excited to be her mother. Things take a horrible turn though when the doctor proclaims little Lucy has Down Syndrome.
Ginny’s husband, Ab (Abbot), tells her they must forget the little girl for the sake of their other child. Ab signs Lucy over to the state and turns her over to Willowridge, a specialized institution for the “feeble-minded”. Two years go by and Ginny doesn’t forget her daughter though and when she hears of the horrible state of Willowridge she plans her escape.
Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood is another emotional roller coaster of a read where many a reader may need a tissue or two along the way with this one. In today’s society one doesn’t think of throwing away family when they aren’t “perfect” but historically women and children were often put away and the author did a good job bringing this story to life giving readers a look into what could have happened in the past.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
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About the author:
T. Greenwood is the author of sixteen novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council. She has won four San Diego Book Awards. Five of her novels have been IndieNext picks. BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award and KEEPING LUCY was a Target Book Club selection.
She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer’s Ink and The Writer’s Center. She and her family split their time between San Diego and Vermont. She is also a photographer.
More information on T. Greenwood can be found at her websites: http://www.tgreenwood.com
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