loosely based on the Willowbrook State School, this book recounts the narrow lens that society viewed children with mental disabilities and their care. The story is told through the lens of a couple, who, after their child, Lucy is born, cannot expect to have a rich full life, and while the mother is still groggy from childbirth she relinquishes her rights to parenthood, all with the encouragement of her attorney husband and inlaws. As the story unfolds, the mother learns through the newspapers of the horrors that are visited on the children where her daughter Lucy is housed. She aches for her daughter and decides to keep her instead of bringing her back after a weekend visit, and is doing so, she violates her rights as a guardian. The narrative builds as she continues to try and figure out what to do, if she can continue to live and love her husband and what to do with her daughter who she is totally in love with. It is a simple story with a complex message.

Oh, Lucy... what a story your short life has been. The strong maternal drive to protect her child at any cost was beautiful. The more quiet, yet not insignificant story line is one of a long friendship and what we will do for one another when needed. I had trouble putting this one down and loved the ending. It was a surprise, not a jaw dropping one, but a sweet and happy one.

Keeping Lucy is not non-stop action and excitement What it is, is gripping.

Ginny Richardson's 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." But two years later, when Ginny's best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth she knows she can't leave her daughter there. For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy.

Greenwood has written a compelling story of one mother’s love. Leaving this reader asking herself “What would you do for your child?” Would you do anything for your child? For Ginny, that answer is a resounding yes! I’d like to think that myself and all mothers out there would respond similarly.

While the story slowed in the middle and the ending was abrupt, I still found this story satisfying. The characters have depth and believability and I spent a good deal of time cringing and sick to my stomach over the circumstances. Greenwood made me feel as if I were right there, that Lucy was my child. I wanted to be Ginny, I wanted to make it right.

Keeping Lucy doesn’t release until August. Can you wait that long to read it? I think the wait will be worth it.

I really enjoyed Rust and Stardust, so I jumped at the chance to read another Greenwood novel based on real events.
When Ginny and Ab Richardson's daughter is born with down syndrome in 1969, the infant is taken to an institution a the recommendation of Ab's father. When Ginny learns about neglect at Willowridge, she immediately takes action and retrieves her two-year-old daughter from the school and witnesses the neglect first hand.
The novel alternates between different points in Ginny's life and keeps readers engaged in the quest that becomes Ginny's life.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

While I was reading this I couldn't see how it was going to end well...I felt like I was taking an emotional journey with Lucy's mom on her desperate road trip. I'm glad I went along.

*Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

An sensational, Heartrending Page-Turner!

I did not prepare myself for this book and I felt my heart squeezed at times while reading it. I did not realize that I was reading too quickly to be able to see how it ends and I finished it the day I started, which is quite unusual for me.

Keeping Lucy is an emotional story about Virginia, a mother with a broken heart, who sets off on a road-trip to find the missing piece of her life: her daughter Lucy. This painful and, at the same time, heartwarming journey full of bittersweet parental adventure and discovery is aided and abetted by her best friend Marsha, who is the embodiment of what a real friend should be. I absolutely loved the turns and twists embedded in the story without much complication and how it flows so naturally.
Overall, a great read for a day at home.

It is 1969 and in Dover, Ginny has just given birth to a daughter, Lucy. But Lucy doesn't get to hold her baby and take her home. Lucy has Down's Syndrome and her father and grandfather just can't have that. 

They proceed to stick Lucy in Willowridge and assure Ginny it is for the best. It is not. It is a hell hole for unwanted children. When Ginny finally finds her backbone and rescues Lucy things got tense.

I had to keep reminding myself this was 1969. Times were different. But it was still the same poor woman can't manage herself and can't see that her husband is the bad guy.

I understood this was based on true events. If so I am happy things turned out well, but the story was lacking.



NetGalley and St. Martin's Press  August 6th 2019

This book is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when there was still so much confusion about and hostilities toward people with Down's syndrome. Our characters have to make their choices in that environment and with controlling families and societal expectations. The characters are real, flawed, and struggling. Lucy is a breath of fresh air for them all of they can just accept her. Wonderfully written. Details that place you in the moment. I usually think "what would I do if she were my child?" But not this time. I just fell in love with Lucy. I will remember this story for a long time.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/2767102577

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy of this title in exchange for my honest review/opinion. Keeping Lucy is a beautiful book! Being a Mom, the time setting, and social class was a difficult time for families of with children born with downs. I'm so happy that times are different. This was a fast read, exciting, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and well written.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
The birth of her 2nd child is devasting for Ginny. Not only does she find out that her daughter Lucy is "special," but also her father in law took Lucy to a home for the "feeble minded."
The year of Lucy's birth is 1969 when "special needs" children were either locked away at home or sent to an institution. Thankfully, the laws and ideas about these precious children have drastically changed.
What would a mother do to save her child? Ginny risks loosing everything but her son Peyton and daughter Lucy. Although this is not an easy book to read, it's a story that needs to be told and is a good one!

Captivating story from a wonderful author. Not my usual type of read but I thoroughly enjoyed this.

The year is 1969 and Ginny has just given birth to her second child. Since she was under anesthesia during the birth she awakens to find that her baby girl has been diagnosed with Downs Syndrome, or in those days a child was called Mongoloid. Her husband and father in law insist that the child must be placed in a special “school” and is not to be taken home. Ginny is devastated and depressed and she feels she must go along with this recommendation. She is meek and has always followed her husbands wishes.
Ginny lives her life taking care of her six year old son and is being a good housewife to her lawyer husband but she thinks of her baby girl all the time. There is never a discussion about her sorrow.
When a story breaks out in the news about the “school” her daughter Lucy was placed in Ginny is shocked to learn that it is a horrible and abusive institution and is not the nurturing school she was told about.
This is Lucy’s story as she decides to take her child and run away to protect her. Her husband and father-in -law are on the hunt to bring her back home and to send Lucy back. It is a scary and eventful journey and I was happy to see that Ginny’s maternal instinct and love for her child came through. I enjoyed this story and found it quite believable. Having been married myself in the early 70’s I recall that many young women were just like Ginny. They obeyed their husbands totally and they did not feel empowered to be independent. Their financial situation depended on their husbands jobs. I loved how Ginny blossomed into a strong and decisive woman in the face of opposition and threats.
I read this author’s prior book, Rust and Stardust and I enjoy her style of writing.
I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. My opinion is unbiased and my own.

What a beautiful and heartbreaking book! T. Greenwood captivated me with “Rust & Stardust” so I was excited to read and review her new novel, “Keeping Lucy”. She did it again. With the stroke of her pen, she breaks my heart then mends it.
This book hit close to home for me. My aunt had Down Syndrome and both my children work with mentally challenged adults.
I was heartbroken and shocked when, without her consent, Ginny’s husband takes her newborn daughter Lucy immediately after her birth, strips away Ginny’s parental rights and places Lucy in an institution. Even more heartbreaking is Ginny’s meek and mild acceptance of her husband Ab’s actions. For two long years, Ginny keeps waiting for the day they can visit her daughter.
The wait abruptly ends when Ginny learns that the institution Lucy is in is under investigation for the appalling, inhumane and illegal treatment of its patients. This is when Ginny’s “Mama Bear” instincts kick in high gear. With the help of her friend Marsha (who you’re just going to LOVE), they take matters into their own hands.
What follows is a test of wills that will run you through the emotions of anger, sympathy, and revulsion and of course, the undying and unbreakable love of a mother and her child.
This is a must-read for anyone with any compassion. I’m hooked now; I must go back and read all of T. Greenwood’s earlier books.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to Jordan at St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

I've always loved books that are based off of true events and "Keeping Lucy" did not dissapoint. Ginny's daughter Lucy is ripped from her arms and taken to an institution just after being born because she has Down Syndrome. Two years later she discovers the institution is neglectful and sets out on a mission to save her daughter. This is sad and disturbing, but I'm glad this story was written. If you are a fan of historical fiction you will probably enjoy this.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I loved KEEPING LUCY!

Many of you have read (2018) T. Greenwood's award-winning, Rust & Stardust, a fictional retelling of the kidnapping said to have inspired Nabokov's classic Lolita. My Top Books of 2018.

T. Greenwood returns with KEEPING LUCY, a story once again inspired by true devastating events.

"The Moon for all her light and grace
Has never learned to know her place."
—Robert Frost

In 1969, A mother heartbroken when Lucy, born with Down Syndrome is snatched from her and institutionalized. Two years later, she discovers the school, Willowridge has neglected the children and her worst nightmares become a reality.

With her six-year-old son Peyton in tow, Ginny and her best friend, Marsha takes Lucy. Racing from their home in Massachusetts, they travel through the beaches of Atlantic City, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, to a roadside mermaid show in Florida.

From social injustice to overcoming insurmountable obstacles, including her husband, legalities, authorities, and her high powered father-in-law attorney representing the school. In KEEPING LUCY, Greenwood presents a searing portrait of how far a mother's love can take her.

You are going to fall in love with little Lucy and admire the courage of Ginny and Marsha while following this entertaining and suspenseful road trip.

Based on actual events from a tragic time in history, a remarkable reimagining, and blending of fact and fiction. Told with compassion, lyrical prose, pitch-perfect pace, and memorable characters —only T. Greenwood can master.

These characters linger long after the book ends. I particularly loved Ginny's friend, Marsha. She and Ginny are opposites; however, they balanced one another. What a great friend to have especially when Ginny did not drive. They risked it all. And the memorable road trip and all the people (strong women) they met along the way. Reminds me of Catherine Ryan Hyde's Take Me with You and Sonja Yoerg's True Places.

KEEPING LUCY brilliantly showcases a woman who courageously stood up to fight for her rights and her daughter against all odds, in a time when their voices were seldom heard. T. Greenwood once again is at the top of her game! Highly Recommend! Top Books of 2019

An avid fan, having the pleasure of reading all her books—each year she continues to be on my Top Authors and Books of the Year. I hope you enjoy KEEPING LUCY as much as I did.

**Please join me August 6 for a special interview with T. Greenwood to learn more about the inspiration behind the book—sparked by the horrific conditions at Belchertown State School for the Feebleminded, a state-run institution in Belchertown, Massachusetts.

JDCMustReadBooks

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early reading copy.

Down Syndrome:
In the US, until the 1980s and in some cases as late as the 1990s, the way in which people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities were treated represents a shameful chapter of inhumanity and discrimination in our country. They were kept in inhumane institutions often as infants or young children where they were deprived of education, healthcare, and even plumbing. They suffered cruel and unusual punishment for innocents whose only crime is to have been born differently.

But society began to shift during the 1970s and 1980s – people with Down syndrome and other differently-abled populations were deemed “human” and institutions inhumane. The institutions were closed down, and it was now expected that people with Down syndrome would live at home, go to school and have fundamental human and civil rights. Today, the average lifespan of someone with Down syndrome is 60 years old.

These gains have been made because of the human and civil rights movement for the differently-abled that various individuals and organizations fearlessly led in the 1970s and the 1980s.

I was married and had my children during the 1970s and recall these events. During this time period when we built our first house, banks and mortgage companies did not accept a woman's salary during childbearing years. I cannot even imagine having your child ripped from you at birth.

For further reading: Down Syndrome Human and Civil Rights Timeline (blog)

This is the first book book i have read by this author and will not be the last. This book was wonderfully written. You see someone become a strong woman on her own and learn to fight back. you get this sort of Thelma and Louise style friendship. Anger, tears and laughter in all the right parts. This book is filled with fear, persistence, friendship, and shows what it means to rise above for the ones you truly love!

Ginny Richardson was devastated when her baby daughter, Lucy, was born with Down syndrome, and in 1969, many families sent their children to a care home or treatment facility, believing that was best for the child. Her father-in-law, the socially prominent Abbott Richardson, Senior, had a good friend on the board at Willowridge, and finally Ab signed the papers without consulting Ginny. An expose in the newspaper, detailing the abuse and neglect at Willowridge, galvanized Ginny into action, and without telling Ab, she and her best friend Marsha sign Lucy out of the facility and along with Ginny’s six-year-old son Peyton, the women take a road trip where Ginny discovers first-hand the extent of the damage done to Lucy.

I really appreciated the portrayal of women’s rights in 1971, or the lack of them. Ginny had no identification, she didn’t drive, her husband had given her a credit card that she had never used, and she had no legal right to either of the children she had given birth to. The story felt realistic, and I loved Ginny’s inner strength and her determination to protect both Lucy and Peyton. Marsha was a great sidekick, another strong woman who was also independent and smart. I wasn’t sure about Ab, being under his father’s thumb the way he was, but I was pleased at the finale.

I was asked to read and review this book and hesitated taking it, because I’m more of a thriller or more suspense type genre reader and I wish I had done what my gut told me. While, I do think this book is beautifully written, from the bit I read, it’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t feel right criticizing a book that’s not written poorly or not grabbing, when it’s more of my mood or particular reading loves. I would give it a try if you enjoy the more historical with much grief type of books!
I will be telling Chapter Chatter Pub members about its upcoming release and use in a challenge. I will also update it I am able to get into it and read it at a later date.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I admire T. Greenwood and her ability to tackle difficult subjects with honesty and care. I have loved every one of her previous novels, and while I enjoyed Keeping Lucy, this novel did not feel as well planned or executed as Greenwood’s other novels. I won’t restate the synopsis, but with this novel, everything was just a bit too neat. So many crimes were committed throughout the course of this book, yet one kind police officer who happened to have a child with a disability as well was able to eliminate all of them. There was money, places to stay, kind people, and help every step of the journey, which just would not have been the case, no matter how fortunate you are. The writing was beautiful, as always, but I could not find this story believable at all.

Very well written and suspenseful story. What lengths does a mother go to to save her child? This book puts that question at it's center.