Member Reviews
Overall I enjoyed this book. The heartbreak of the MC and the tragic way her daughter was treated. But it was such a crazy road trip I really question how realistic it was. It felt as if SO MUCH happened and really, would all of that happened in a real road trip?
I was also disappointed that there wasn't move about the school itself and how the entire situation played out. There was little to no mention of the group suing the school, the legal issues, the way the media portrayed it. I think this story could have been so much more.
A beautiful and heartwarming story about the bonds between a mother and child. T. Greenwood has written a story that illustrates what lengths a mother will go to protect her child. A child whom she has had no relationship with other than carrying her for nine months.
Ginny gives birth to her second child, Lucy. Lucy is born with Down Syndrome and doctors insist that she will not live long. Ginny’s husband and father-in-law sign away parental rights and institutionalize Lucy without Ginny having any knowledge. Despite having no connection with a daughter who was taken from her two years prior; Ginny learns of the appalling and disturbing ways in which children, including her own daughter, Lucy, are being treated at the Willowridge School. Immediately, Ginny seeks to find out for herself and to her disbelief, finds that the allegations against the school are credible. She removes her daughter from the school and ventures on a journey with her son and her friend to try and work out a plan to keep Lucy and regain full parental custody.
Greenwood illustrates the bonds that form so naturally between mother and child despite being apart for so long. She also sheds light on the gruesome horrors of institutions many years ago. The neglect and abuse that many children endured in these institutions are unfathomable but a part of our history. Greenwood did a great job in depicting these circumstances while minimizing any sensationalism.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The first 40 pages of this book absolutely wrecked me! The image of Lucy being taken away from her mother, Ginny, and then going inside Willowridge will stay with me for a long time. To think that a place (or places) like this ever existed chills me to the bone. From there we follow Ginny and Marsha's road trip to protecting Lucy at all costs. While I enjoyed the road trip, I wanted more of a fight against the school. I understood why she left. It was a different day and age than we are in today, but I wanted to see her stand up against them more than I wanted to read about her running away. However, it was very endearing to experience the relationship develop between Ginny and Lucy. The author writes in such a relatable way that it really stood out. The ending felt rushed and tied up a little too nicely in my opinion. Overall a very solid novel and I look forward to picking up more books by T. Greenwood in the future.
* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *
I absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. It made me happy yet sad at the same time. I recommend this book to everyone.
Keeping Lucy
by T. Greenwood
due 8-6-2019
St. Martins Press
5 / 5
In 1969, Ginny Richardson has just given birth to her second child, Lucy. Lucy was born with Downs Syndrome, taken from Ginny and placed in a special school for ¨mongoloids¨ and ¨feeble-minded¨, and was told it was the best thing for everyone. She should get over it and move on. Her in-laws, powerful in the community, assure her it is a reputable school. Ginny is a passive, complacent librarian, who has no real voice, much like most housewives at that time. She has no reason to question them.
When Ginnyś best friend, Marsha, shares with Ginny a newspaper article about the neglect and abuse happening at Willowridge, where Lucy was placed, Ginny can´t let it go, and decides to visit Willowridge to see if the stories are true.
When Ginny arrives, she is outraged and humbled by the living conditions and attitude of the staff. Her guilt for allowing Lucy, now 2 years old, to live there without knowing the truth consumes Ginny with guilt. She signs Ginny out for a weekend visit, and decides she will never allow Lucy to return to any home again. When Lucy does not return Lucy at the scheduled date and time, Ginny´s mother tells her that when she was in the hospital after giving birth, and was under sedation, and had signed a form that gave up all her legal rights to Lucy. She could be arrested for kidnapping and child endangerment(since she also had her young son, Peyton, with her.) if Lucy is not returned.
She also learns that her father-in-law, a powerful attorney who her husband works with, are the defense lawyers in pending cases against Willowridge for abuse and neglect, so Ginny knows she can not return home.
With Marsha, Peyton and Lucy, Ginny is on the run, trying to remain anonymous, and underground.
Such a beautiful and heart-warming, but difficult to read at times. This is a story of motherhood, love, hope and self-awareness. A very passive and complacent Ginny is a typical housewife in 1969. She does not drive, is given an allowance and never questions, willing to toe the line. Part of the beauty of this novel is watching Ginny grow into herself, become more aware and able to be her own person.
It was also nice to see how, in comparison to the past, much more health conscious we have become. Ginny drank, smoked and kept an active lifestyle throughout her pregnancies. However in the 60ś and 70ś these behaviors were not considered to as unhealthy/irresponsible as they are today.
It was most beautiful to see the change in attitude and acceptance of the disabled, and those born with birth defects or other health challenges. We no longer refer to them in derogatory terms like feeble-minded or mongoloid.
The difficult parts was how the newborns, infants, and children were treated at this facility. The dirty little secrets are now being talked about and confronted, in hopes the neglect and abuses that have been ignored in the past, never will be again. I hope more schools and facilities are diligently monitored, as well as the employees, by people not afraid to care and we one day have a government that is not afraid to feel.
I found myself immersed in the life of these characters, they felt very accessible and real. It made the story compelling and addicting and I wonder what Lucy, Ginny and Peyton are doing today. The way she brought them to live was amazing, esp. Lucy.
Thanks to St. Martins Press and T. Greenwood for sending this e-book ARC for a fair and honest review.
#netgalley #KeepingLucy
Last year I read my first book, Rust & Stardust, by this author and it was phenomenal. So, I was very happy to receive this new publication from Netgalley to read and review.
Inspired by real events, Keeping Lucy is the story of one mother’s near impossible choice between her institutionalized child and the family who put her daughter there.
Although not in the same caliber as R & S, I still enjoyed it. It was well-written, and I though the connection between the then and now stories where especially well done. I felt for Ginny (the mother), but have to admit that I was also very frustrated with her passiveness. I realize this story is set in the 1970's but as Marsha (her best friend) shows us there are always other choices you can make.
This was a quick, engaging read and I think if you like Kristina McMorris you should give this a try. I will be looking out for her next book.
This wonderful story, Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood, tells of a mother who will go any length to protect her child. She has dealt with the sheer agony of loss and is determined to take control of herself to and her children and to break boundaries and if needed, the law. It’s a story of absolute desperation and the unbreakable bond of a mother and child. Read in one because I could not put it down. Lots of tugging at your heartstrings while it also shares the blessing of a best friend who will do anything for you. Thank you! #NetGalley #StMartinPress #KeepingLucy
Keeping Lucy, started with an intense and horrifying story of Lucy, just hours after being born with down syndrome was ripped from her mother’s arms and taken to an institution. As this novel unravels you will find yourself gasping for breath, on the verge of being sick, but ultimately leaving your heart full with love for these characters. Thank you, T. Greenwood for another heartwarming and very well written novel.
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand the story was great and the emotion it wrung from you was well done. The writing style and the characters were excellent, although some of the writing a bit unpolished. But some aspects of this book were just extremely unrealistic and that always makes me enjoy a book less. If it couldn’t really happen that way in “real life”, then really, just don’t write it happening like that in a book. I don’t want to give examples as it would cause spoilers, but all in all this was a good book and worth the read.
I couldn’t put this down! A fantastic book. Sad and happy at the same time and easy to follow. It made me want to know more about what happened to Lucy as well as the other children in the institution! A definite recommend.
This book was emotional roller coaster of a read. The condition of Lucy's school made me angry, Ginny's fight for her daughter was both heartbreaking and uplifting and Lucy's father Ab's demeanor was disgusting.. At the core,
Keeping Lucy is about coping with child's diagnosis, making difficult decisions and overall a mother's unwavering love for her daughter.
Thank you to T. Greenwood, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this great book.
Loved this story about a topic that I haven’t seen covered in books. Ginny is a housewife with two children. When her second child is born with Down Syndrome she is quickly taken away and put in an institution. Two years later, Ginny sees articles on the deplorable conditions of the institution and decides to meet her daughter.
This book was hard to put down and the story went fast. It illuminates a problem that I had never thought too much about even with my prior employment with adults with developmental disabilities. Great read!
Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins press for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Keeping Lucy was an easy, enjoyable read. The subject matter was tough in parts but the author kept me interested throughout and I was always eager to continue reading and learn what the next chapter would contain. I would recommend this book as a poolside read. It was not difficult to follow and the characters were highly credible and it was easy to pick up and continue where I left off. I enjoyed Greenwood’s writing and would be interested in reading more from this author.
Keeping Lucy is the first T Greenwood novel that I have read and it is one that grabbed me, pulled me in and still will not let me go. It is heart breaking and heartwarming, historical and timely all at once. It's a book that I highly recommend.
Keeping Lucy begins with Ginny Richardson giving birth to her daughter, Lucy, who is born with Down Syndrome, known as " a mongoloid" at that time. Ginny's husband and father in law make the decision to put Lucy in a state-run facility called Willowridge where she will be cared for until she dies. Those are their words. For several days, Ginny is given "twilight," the drug most women were given during that time to forget the pains of childbirth and her loss. Remember, natural childbirth was not in vogue at this time. When my own daughter died in-vitro, I was given "twilight" so that I would "forget" everything. Trust me, you don't forget. Your body remembers everything and your mind desperately tries to fill in the pieces that it was forced to black out. This drug is horrific. I cannot believe and entire generation of women were routinely given this drug. For two years Ginny is forced by her husband and her father in law to pretend her daughter did not exist until her best friend brings her news articles about the horrors that have been uncovered at Willowridge: children lying in their own feces, roaches in the food, children malnourished and far worse. Ginny and her friend, Marsha, decide - finally - to go to Willowridge only to discover that, while she can visit Lucy, her parental rights have been terminated by her husband. Ginny takes matters into her own hands at this point and a battle for Lucy's survival ensues.
I actually loved Keeping Lucy for multiple reasons and many of those reasons are the very ones for which other readers are disparaging the book. First, Keeping Lucy is based on an actual place called Willowbrook. You can read more about it HERE. It was so horrific that legislation was passed in the late 70s that allegedly altered the way that we in the US care for the "disabled." I use the word allegedly because I grew up in the south near a facility aptly called the Conway Human Development Center. It was a place of filth and horror where people with mental and physical disabilities were sent just like Lucy was sent in this story. It still exists in one of the poorest states in the US and the residents are not developing anything other than bedsores and diseases. It's a disgrace. If you doubt that, then you can read this article from today's news. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Books like Keeping Lucy are necessary to educate readers about these horrors then as well as now.
Furthermore, every time I read a book set in the late 60s and early 70s and that book is historically accurate regarding the plight of women, I am utterly amazed at the number of female reviewers who write scathing reviews about the passivity of the female protagonist. Here's a reminder for you strong women of today. My daughter and I purchased a home two years ago, We literally had to jump through hoops in the state of Indiana to get a bank to approve a home loan to two women without a male co-signer! This is the 21st century. Until 1978, it was legal to fire a woman from her job if she got pregnant. An abortion was not legal until 1973 - and in some states in the southern US it still is not regardless of what you might think otherwise. Until 1977, you could be fired for reporting sexual harassment in the work place, a woman could not apply for a credit card on her own without a male co-signer until 1974, and could not refuse to have sex with her husband under any circumstances until the mid 1970s. Are you beginning to get a picture here ladies!? Ginny was not passive. She was living her life according the law of the land. While most others were guaranteed rights in 1965 and 1966, women were not granted any rights, other than the right to vote, until the mid to late 70s and we still obviously are fighting for the right to decide what is best for our own bodies! In Keeping Lucy, Ginny literally had no rights. Furthermore, everyone smoked!! They smoked in restaurants, they smoked in their cars, they smoked in stores, they smoked when pregnant and they smoked around kids! My doctor, whom I adored, smoked every time I visited - in his doctor's office! I don't know where you were in the 50s, 60s and 70s but there were advertisements for cigarettes extolling the benefits of nicotine! You are looking at the behavior of these women through your 21st century glasses and missing some very valuable lessons that we all need see and learn. Primarily this - nothing has changed!! We have politicians and religious leaders who want babies born at all cost. These children are then put in institutions like the Human Development Center and no one ever considers the toll that it places on the women who have given birth. No one EVER thinks about the women - period - much less these poor children!
So, with all of that said, please read Keeping Lucy without blinders, with an open mind and with the idea that there is more here than two women on a joy ride across the south. This book is available for pre-order now.
Thank you very much #Netgalley, @tgwood505 and #StMartinsPress for my advanced copy of #KeepingLucy.
Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood is an engaging plot that may cause you to loose sleep, delay housework or simply skip other normal life activities. And while this intro is tongue-and-cheek, the core of Greenwood’s subject is anything but – the very real history that many of the institutions that were home to special-needs citizens were human warehouses with wretched conditions, treating horribly the wards they were meant to care for.
Inspired by real events, Keeping Lucy is the story of one mother’s near impossible choice between her institutionalized child and the family who put her daughter there.
Having just given birth, Ginny wakes to find that her special-needs daughter has already been swept away to be cared for in a more suitable environment – a “school” better equipped to handle children with Lucy’s type of health conditions. Never having the chance to say good-bye, Ginny is counseled by her husband (and her in-laws) that it will be better for everyone if they treat Lucy as if she never existed.
But Ginny can’t forget, especially when, two years later, a newspaper’s exposé of the facility reveals that the children are living in deplorable conditions. The circumstances have caused a legal battle between parents and the institution – a legal battle that, for Ginny, places her squarely on the side of the parents until she learns her husband’s law firm – owned by her father-in-law – is representing the facility.
Knowing she must see what’s happening for herself, Ginny plans a weekend visit to see Lucy and finds herself with an unimaginable decision – leave her daughter in horrifying conditions or go on the run with a minor for whom she doesn’t even have custody.
Keeping Lucy is a quick read, made all the more so by its enthralling plot. Told in alternating time periods eight years apart, the story moves between 1963 when Ginny and her husband meet in college and 1971 when Lucy is two years old. I recommend this to anyone who likes an easy to read, good plot driven narrative.
Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood is such a bittersweet story. The book is set in the late 1960's and is a retelling a true events. Lucy is born with down syndrome and her mother Ginny has been pressured into giving Lucy away to a school that can take better care of her. Ginny struggles with this decision for two years and finally decides after hearing about unsafe living conditions to go visit her daughter, against her husband's wishes. What she finds there is heartbreaking. So off sets Ginny on a journey to save Lucy and finally keep her as her own.
This is the second book I have read by T. Greenwood, and she has an art for telling a heartbreaking story in a powerful way. I love the way she was able to bring closure to the end of the book is such a beautiful way. Make sure to pick this one up in August 2019!
2 stars.
In 1969, Ginny and Ab Richardson’s second child, a daughter named Lucy, is born with Down Syndrome. Explaining that she will have major health issues and need specialized care, Abs’ wealthy and powerful parents convince Ginny to send her daughter to live at Willowridge, a school for the “feeble-minded”. Ginny is tormented by this heart-wrenching decision, aching for her daughter every single day. Two years after giving Lucy up, Ginny’s best friend, Marsha, stumbles across an article exposing Willowridge for neglect and hazardous living conditions. After being kept apart from Lucy for two years, Ginny springs into action to rescue her young daughter.
This story sounded fascinating. I loved the author’s previous novel, Rust & Stardust, so I was sure this would be an enjoyable reading experience. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me, on any level. Based on the title and the blurb, I was expecting to hear Lucy’s story. I wanted to understand the history of Willowridge and how it affected Lucy. While we do get to understand some of the school’s situation, it wasn’t a large part of the story. The novel focused more so on a wild road trip that Ginny and Marsha take with Ginny’s two young children. I couldn’t connect with Ginny and/or Marsha and felt that their decisions didn’t feel genuine or suitable for the situation. As sad as Lucy’s situation was, I didn’t feel for Ginny. In the end, this seemed like more of a wild adventure, rather than a mother’s determination to do what was right for her daughter. For me, the journey didn’t align with the seriousness of the topic and I felt cheated out of what the story could have been. I wanted to know and feel far more than this book delivered.
This was a Traveling Sister read. I am the outlier with my feelings as everyone else enjoyed this story much more than I did. I suggest checking out the many raving reviews of this novel, as I was simply not the proper audience.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Expected date of publication: August 6, 2019
Keeping Lucy is a must read! This story was amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time. I couldn’t put this book down once I began reading it. I was completely captivated by Ginny and her longing to be reconnected with her daughter Lucy. Her feelings during the book for the decisions she had made were so real and you could feel her pain. I kept holding on to her connection with her daughter. This book is powerful and captivating. I can’t wait to read more by T. Greenwood!
Enjoyed this book.. Not sure if I can encourage other people to read it as the subject matter is disturbing.. I have always enjoyed the books of this author and will continue to read.
I received Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood as an ARC from NetGalley. This is an interesting historical novel about what happened in the 60's with special needs children. Ginny's daughter, Lucy, is born with Down's Syndrome and her husband and his powerful family convince her to put the baby in a home, Two years later, Ginny's friend Marsha shows her a newspaper article about the horrible conditions at the home. This story follows Ginny as she tries to bring her daughter home, The story was well written and I enjoyed the characters.