Book Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood. A wonderful story.

From the book's blurb: 
Inspired by 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, was whisked away from her under false pretenses. In truth Lucy was born with Down Syndrome. 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.

My Thoughts:

After Lucy is born with Down Syndrome, decisions are made and lies are told concerning her care.

The subject of this book is an emotional one and the author could have been heavy handed with her principle message that all children are worthy of love and dignity. Lucy is, in today's terms, a special needs child, but she is so much more.

After two years of believing her daughter is getting the best care possible, Lucy's mother, lied to by her husband and in-laws who have placed Lucy in an asylum, learns of Lucy's circumstances. Lucy is not well cared for and is in fact, neglected. Her mother has to kidnap her to help her. During their time on the run, we see love blossom and a wonderful Lucy bloom and grow. 

I don't know whether to encourage families with a Down Syndrome child to read the book or not. I think they will question the mother's acceptance of the decisions made by others for two years. But I encourage all others to read it and get to know Lucy.

I have a cousin and a dear friend both with Down Syndrome grandchildren. Those youngsters are delightful, full of life and love, and loved so completely in return. Cultural acceptance of these and other Special children is changing, but we still have more we can do for them.

This is an important book, but it is a novel, it does not push attitudes or positions on the reader. It simply introduces the reader to a sweet two year old named Lucy and a mother who will, finally, do anything to help her baby girl.

This book is scheduled for release in August, but is available for pre-order. I suggest that you do so. I was sent a copy if the book by the publisher in exchange for a truthful review.

Truthfully, I love this book.