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Release date: August 6, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s

Genre: Fiction

Blurb:

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. 

Review:

Doesn’t the description of this sound so amazing? When I picked this one up I was expecting a super emotional and heartfelt story of a mother fighting for her child. I definitely expected to experience a wide variety of emotions, I mean the thought of a special needs little girl being institutionalized makes me a little weepy. I’m so disappointed to say that this totally missed the mark for me and I didn’t really like it at all.

Let me be clear, the writing was fine, the story itself was even fine but I wanted more than just fine. Did I connect to Ginny as a mother as I expected myself to? Nope, which was a real shame because this one had so much potential but I was looking for so much more than what I got. This sounds pretty weird, but I really wanted it to be sadder in a way. I wanted to feel Ginny’s pain and I wanted more information about the institution itself. I guess I just found this book lacking on all levels, I don’t really have much more to say except if I had to pinpoint exactly what I wanted the most was more depth in all areas.

Overall rating: 2/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.