Keeping Lucy: A Novel

Pros-Keeping Lucy does a great job of creating memorable characters. Loved Marsha, Officer Marley, and Lorenzo. Ginny's evolution was wonderful. Also, kudos to the author for integrating so many injustices in one book. The description of Willowbrook was so vivid- the atrocities , well let me say that they will stick with me for a very long time.Cons: I couldn't help but wince at some of the grammatical errors.(Where were the proofreaders?) So predictable that I knew the ending 20 pages in.( I won't spoil it for others.) The section of Lucy's illness made no sense to me. Why didn't Marsha the ER nurse recognize her symptoms earlier? Considering the fact that they had spent hours and hours together confined in a small car I couldn't help but feel this part was totally inaccurate. Highly unlikely that Marsha wouldn't have heard the Lucy's cough, or recognized that she was burning with fever. Overall, Keeping Lucy was just so-so for me.

Ginny Richardson and her husband Ab, a lawyer, live in suburban comfort and prosperity with their young son, Peyton, in Massachusetts. In 1969, she gives birth to a daughter, whom she names Lucy, who is born with Down Syndrome. While still in the hospital, her husband advises Ginny that he and his father sent Lucy to a special school for children like her, as his father said it was in the child’s best interest.Two years pass with no contact with Lucy. It is as if Lucy never existed. Then Ginny’s best friend reads a newspaper expose about the horrific conditions at the school in which Lucy had been placed. Ginny’s world comes crashing down. What she does next changes all their lives, and Ginny embarks on a journey that proves that a mother’s love cannot be denied.This fictional story was inspired by the notorious Belchertown State School for the Feeble-Minded, which was a state run institution located in Belchertown, Massachusetts. In the early 1970s a newspaper expose revealed just how horrendous the conditions were for those who had the misfortune to have been consigned there. These true events were the genesis for this story.Overall, I enjoyed the book. It reflects the social mores of another era. While the majority of events take place in the late 1960s and early 1970s, just as the women’s rights movement was beginning, not all woman were yet in the groove. Many were still like Ginny, uncertain and unsure, subordinate to their husbands, only coming into their own when they could be denied no longer. Still, I found Ginny’s initial passivity about Lucy’s removal from their lives difficult to comprehend.

I loved this book for many reasons. First, the writing is so good and you will not want to put It down. Second, the topic is something that interests me because I teach Of Mice and Men, and we discuss the treatment of those born with intellectual disabilities and the way society treats them. Third, It is based on a real "school for the feeble minded" and those individuals are not much older than I am.It is sad and at times hard to read about the horrible treatment the babies and toddlers received at these institutions, but this story will keep you reading because you will be invested in these characters.T Greenwood does an amazing job with the scenery and setting of the time period.

I absolutely loved this book. it brings forward a subject that was hidden or brushed under the rug and not talked about during the era it is set. I thought it was well written and very descriptive.Are some parts not as believable as others? Of course but we should remember this is a work of fiction. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This story hit me with all the feels! I feel weird saying I loved this book despite its heartbreaking subject matter, but I did really enjoy it.I think it particularly hit me hard because I work with adults with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, some of whom previously lived in institutions themselves (not to this horrid extreme to my knowledge thank goodness!). But I know people who have little to no contact with their families even now, likely due to their disability, and it breaks my heart, yet I do my best to give them everything to make them feel loved and appreciated.I enjoyed the writing style and pacing of the book, although a few times I did seem to drag a bit. This is the first book I've read by Greenwood and am interested to see if her other books keep me as engaged as this one.Speaking of engaging, this book had me hooked. I found myself not wanting to put in down but needing to in order to process what I'd just read. I needed to take some small breaks before continuing because the subject matter was just getting to me. But in taking these breaks I found myself becoming more invested in the story and wanting to know how things turned out. I began to feel the desperation Ginny felt in wanting to keep Lucy safe at all costs and when I really begin to connect to a character, I know it's a good book.For being my first read of 2022, I'd say I'm starting off strong. This is also the January book for my book club and I'm eager to hear what others thought of it!

How true this health issue is with families. How do you go through this snd not fall apart. Very strong emotional plot One as a mother would make you weak but strong in helping the child

I have all of T. Greenwood's books and none of them disappoint. I couldn't put this one down!

I loved this book so much and really and truly couldn’t put it down. When I did put it down it was because I just had to have a break from the tension. The precious baby, Lucy institutionalized at birth, will tear your heart out.

This book is horribly insulting to people with Down Syndrome. She refers to Lucy as making 'animal like sounds', etc. Horrible. Insulting. Awful. Less then one star!