Keeping Lucy

Author: T. Greenwood
Genre: Historical Fiction
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: St Martin's Press
First Published: August 6, 2019
Opening Lines: "Later, she would blame the moon."

Book Description from GoodReads: From the author of Rust & Stardust comes this heartbreaking story, 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, 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.

My Rating: 2 stars

My Review: Based on this book's blurb, I went into this book a little hesitant because of the subject matter. I was expecting an emotional, eye-opening story surrounding a toddler with Down Syndrome and the atrocious treatment she endured at a 'school' for Special Needs kids. A plot that isn't for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, I got a very different read.

While readers get a glimpse into the horrific state institutions where some special needs children were sent, the story is surprisingly less emotional that expected with most of the focus on a melodramatic (and milder) Thelma and Louise-type story. Unfortunately, I found the adult main characters lackluster, the plot scattered and an ending that wrapped up too perfectly to be believable. In short, I wasn't a fan.

The premise was strong, but the execution lacked substance and emotion with a plot that focuses on Ginny and her best friend's road trip instead of little Lucy. This may have been okay if Ginny was a stronger main character but she's extremely passive and naïve (to the point of being juvenile). I also found the writing to be simplistic and included frustratingly silly plot points, many of which felt completely contrived and some left me wondering why they were included at all.

I am in the minority with this review. Many people enjoyed this read but I expected a lot more. Hopefully this story will propel readers to look more into the appalling conditions that special needs people were subjected to in the past but if they're looking for a deep, emotional read, I'd give this one a pass.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.