Keeping Lucy by T.Greenwood

Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rating: 3/5
Pub date: August 2019
Publisher: St Martin Press
Genre: fiction, historical fiction

I received a digital copy of this ARC from NetGalley and St Martin Press in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a very heart wrenching and disturbing story which appears to based on a true event.

https://timeline.com/willowbrook-the-...

Virginia “Ginny” and Abbott “Ab” Richardson live a comfortable life in a toney neighborhood of Dover, Massachusetts when Lucy is born in October 1969. The couple met in 1963 while she worked in the library of Amherst College where Ab was an undergraduate. They bonded quickly after attending the JFK Convocation at the Frost Library when their lives were uncomplicated by his influential family.

Ginny and Ab were married soon after discovering she was pregnant with their son Peyton. This accelerated their original future plans. Consequently, Ab follows in his father’s footsteps by graduating Harvard Law School and eventually working for his father’s demanding firm. As the years passed there always seemed to be another reason to postpone their desire to live a “simple” life.

I am quickly transported back to an era of ignorance and prejudice. I was annoyed with the doctor’s description of Lucy as a “mongoloid” with severe mental retardation after she was born. Ginny barely held her baby before a decision was made to send her to the Willowridge School in western Massachusetts. She had to resolve her discomfort and guilt by trusting that her husband and father-in-law did what was best for their daughter.

Two years later Marsha, Ginny’s best friend, calls to inquire about an undercover expose in the newspaper about the Willowridge School. Ginny visits her mother and sister who still live in Amherst where Marsha works as an ER nurse. The newspaper articles discuss the deplorable living conditions at the school prompting a class action law suit against the school.

Once she learns about the squalor and mistreatment of the residents at Willowridge she pleads with Ab to investigate. Guilt and remorse overwhelms Ginny who is shocked by the reality of the neglected children. Soon she is faced with some ethical and legal decisions regarding her desire to keep Lucy from returning to that school. The situation becomes more complex when Abbott’s firm defends the school in the class action law suit.

The impulsive “road trip” that follows seems ridiculous and unbelievable. I did not like Ginny or Marsha. Although, Ginny’s character did evolve from being passive to finally confronting her husband’s decisions. I didn’t find Marsha to be the best example of a professional nurse qualified to work in an ER. Her character is polar opposite to that of her friend, Ginny. Her carefree lifestyle of drinking and smoking made me cringe.

Overall, the story explores the mistreatment and misunderstanding of children with special needs. Although this story is fictitious the events and attitudes existed which eventually led to the child protection laws we have today.



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