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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Devastatingly beautiful story that will break your heart over and over. I found myself angry, sickened and sad several times while reading. But I was so captured with the story and couldn’t put it down. Definitely recommend adding this to your “to read” list!
A beautiful and important novel. Written from the perspective of mother Ginny, the first chapter introduces us the heartbreak she had to endure when she gave birth to her daughter Lucy and is then forced to give her up because she was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The novel is set in the 60s-70s so the medical fields dealt with Down Syndrome in a horrible way. Give up the baby because the prognosis isn’t good and why put yourself through the heartbreak of having to deal with it. Then an expose is written about the school that Lucy was sent to two years later. When Ginny learns that Lucy has been living in awful conditions she does what any mother does. She goes and gets her daughter and then has to live her life on the run. On the run from her husband, her father in law and the school itself, Ginny must find a way to keep her daughter. I felt so immersed in this book and finished it so quickly. It was a very quick read, however this was because once you start you can’t stop. It was written so that you I felt as if you were Ginny. I so enjoyed this book! A heartwarming sometimes heart wrenching story that will have you reading for hours on end!
Oh my gosh! This book is so much. When Ginny Richardson’s daughter is whisked away immediately after being born because she has Down’s Syndrome, Ginny mourns the loss. Two years later she learns that her husband signed their parental rights over to the state and that the home her child was sent to has been abusing and neglecting those in its care.
When Ginny goes to visit her daughter and then “checks her out” of the home for the weekend, she also learns a lot about herself and starts to find her own voice.
Fans of “Nickel Boys” and “Before We Were Yours” will find a similar story in “Keeping Lucy” as this book is also based on a true story.
Books like “Keeping Lucy” serve an important role in reminding us that we can never assume a child’s best interest are being considered.
Read this!
When Ginny goes to visit her daughter and then “checks her out” of the home for the weekend, she also learns a lot about herself and starts to find her own voice.
Fans of “Nickel Boys” and “Before We Were Yours” will find a similar story in “Keeping Lucy” as this book is also based on a true story.
Books like “Keeping Lucy” serve an important role in reminding us that we can never assume a child’s best interest are being considered.
Read this!
I can’t remember how this book was recommended to me but I couldn’t put it down! Such a heart tugging story about a mom who has a child with a disability and the child is taken away from her and put in a home. She always thinks about her child but she lives in an era where children “like that” aren’t accepted in society and should be locked up. I enjoyed the story of how she fights for her child and the strength she gains through it all.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Summary
Ginny and her husband, Abb, come from wildly different backgrounds. They were drawn together by a similar love for life and longing for something simple and genuine. Years later, their love for each other remains, but their excitement for life and similar perspectives have faded, dulled by the routines of life and Abb's persistent inability to stand up to his father. When Ginny gives birth to a little girl, Lucy, the doctor's quickly issues a diagnosis of Down Syndrome and lists the many possible complications. Before Ginny is aware enough to protest, Abbott Senior convinces his son to commit his newborn daughter to an institution. Ginny grieves, but feels powerless to change the decision made for her. Her passive sorrow begins to change when her best friend, Marsha, tells her about a series of newspaper articles revealing groteque neglect at the "school" Lucy has spent her first two years of life at. Tentatively at first, but with ever increasing momentum and determination, Ginny steps forward and takes a stand. She will NOT allow her daughter to suffer because she is too timid.
My Thoughts
This book has sat on my shelf for almost a year. I was afraid it was going to pack an intensity similar to Before We Were Yours. There is a hint of that in these pages. I would certainly say they are comparable books. But where Before We Were Yours focuses on the story of the children and the horrors they endured, Keeping Lucy is a story about a mother struggling to reclaim her voice, reestablish what really matters, and forge a path of safety and hope for her children and her family. Lucy is a beloved catalyst more than a fully developed character (which I was a little disappointed by, but definitely helped make the story less horrifying than it could have been).
This is a story that reveals the dark history of institutionalization, stimatization, and neglect of people with disabilities without plunging the reader too deeply into the sordid details of history.
Content
Sexual: The fact that a newly engaged Ginny and Abb indulged in sex is made clear in non-explicit terms. Continued encounters, leading to an eventual pre-marital pregnancy, are summarized in a brief, extremely non-explicit terms. Ginny is aware that her best friend, Marsha, has had multiple sexual partners, beginning when they were in high school. Abortion, not widely legal, is mentioned in "hushed tones."
Language: Infrequent but strong language is used, mostly around the middle of the book.
Violence: Ginny witnesses evidence of neglect when she goes to pick Lucy up for Willow Ridge. Later, throughout the story, she discovers evidence of both neglect and physical abuse.
Religion: Ginny is Catholic and devout. This is mentioned in passing and does not factor strongly into the narrative.
Ginny and her husband, Abb, come from wildly different backgrounds. They were drawn together by a similar love for life and longing for something simple and genuine. Years later, their love for each other remains, but their excitement for life and similar perspectives have faded, dulled by the routines of life and Abb's persistent inability to stand up to his father. When Ginny gives birth to a little girl, Lucy, the doctor's quickly issues a diagnosis of Down Syndrome and lists the many possible complications. Before Ginny is aware enough to protest, Abbott Senior convinces his son to commit his newborn daughter to an institution. Ginny grieves, but feels powerless to change the decision made for her. Her passive sorrow begins to change when her best friend, Marsha, tells her about a series of newspaper articles revealing groteque neglect at the "school" Lucy has spent her first two years of life at. Tentatively at first, but with ever increasing momentum and determination, Ginny steps forward and takes a stand. She will NOT allow her daughter to suffer because she is too timid.
My Thoughts
This book has sat on my shelf for almost a year. I was afraid it was going to pack an intensity similar to Before We Were Yours. There is a hint of that in these pages. I would certainly say they are comparable books. But where Before We Were Yours focuses on the story of the children and the horrors they endured, Keeping Lucy is a story about a mother struggling to reclaim her voice, reestablish what really matters, and forge a path of safety and hope for her children and her family. Lucy is a beloved catalyst more than a fully developed character (which I was a little disappointed by, but definitely helped make the story less horrifying than it could have been).
This is a story that reveals the dark history of institutionalization, stimatization, and neglect of people with disabilities without plunging the reader too deeply into the sordid details of history.
Content
Sexual: The fact that a newly engaged Ginny and Abb indulged in sex is made clear in non-explicit terms. Continued encounters, leading to an eventual pre-marital pregnancy, are summarized in a brief, extremely non-explicit terms. Ginny is aware that her best friend, Marsha, has had multiple sexual partners, beginning when they were in high school. Abortion, not widely legal, is mentioned in "hushed tones."
Language: Infrequent but strong language is used, mostly around the middle of the book.
Violence: Ginny witnesses evidence of neglect when she goes to pick Lucy up for Willow Ridge. Later, throughout the story, she discovers evidence of both neglect and physical abuse.
Religion: Ginny is Catholic and devout. This is mentioned in passing and does not factor strongly into the narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Abortion, Death of parent
This is a sad story about a traumatic birth of a little girl with down syndrome. She is immediately taken from her mother and sent to a "home". This was common practice by then because there was so little understanding of certain conditions.
The mother constantly worries about her child and when allegations of abuse and mistreatment come up, she goes to the institution where her daughter was essentially imprisoned.
While the story itself was interesting, I just couldn't really get into this book. I'm not sure if it's because it was in the past & some of the choices then are so cringe-worthy or what the problem was, but it just wasn't for me. The highlight of the book was the constant references to Weeki Wachee - and a reference to GAINESVILLE, FL - my hometown.
The very ending of the book felt a bit rushed.
I received an early release of this book from NetGalley.
The mother constantly worries about her child and when allegations of abuse and mistreatment come up, she goes to the institution where her daughter was essentially imprisoned.
While the story itself was interesting, I just couldn't really get into this book. I'm not sure if it's because it was in the past & some of the choices then are so cringe-worthy or what the problem was, but it just wasn't for me. The highlight of the book was the constant references to Weeki Wachee - and a reference to GAINESVILLE, FL - my hometown.
The very ending of the book felt a bit rushed.
I received an early release of this book from NetGalley.
Oh my heart! This was an emotional, heartbreaking but also heart warming story about a mother's love and the lengths you go through for your children. A story based on true events about a mother,Ginny, in the 1970's who gives birth to Lucy, a sweet baby born with Down Syndrome. Back then it wasn't uncommon for children who were born with such disabilities to be sent away "for the sake of the family." This is what happened to Lucy, while her mother was recovering from giving birth and left sedated, her husband, at the guilt driven advice by his powerful father, gave up parental rights to Lucy and she was "committed" instead of "admitted" to Willowridge. After two years, Ginny's best friend shows her an expose that was written about Lucy's "school" where the residents were treated less than human and more like animals. Ginny went to the school to see for herself, was allowed to take Lucy for a weekend visit and after seeing the harsh conditions decided Lucy would never go back. On the run from her family back home she makes a decision for her child that would alter everyone's future. I couldn't put this book down and the author is amazing at how she can make her readers FEEL this book! It is sad to know this was based on true events and the struggles families had to go through because they were tricked into thinking that committing their children was what's best. This book reminded me of The Memory Keeper's Daughter with a bit of Thelma and Louise. I highly recommend this book!