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Summary
Summary
It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution. They have been left to languish, forgotten at the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. Deeply in love, they escape and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: Hide her.
And so begins the forty-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
On a dark night in the late 1960s, Homan, a deaf African-American man, and Lynnie, a young white woman with very little vocal ability, arrive on Martha Zimmer's doorstep during a severe storm. While giving the drenched and mysterious couple food and a change of clothes, Martha learns they also have a newborn baby girl. Moments later, employees from the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded arrive to recapture the runaways. Homan is able to escape out the back door, while Lynnie manages just two words to Martha: "Hide her." The next morning, with Homan appearing to have drowned in a flooded river and Lynnie back in the institution, Martha-a childless widow and retired schoolteacher-leaves her home with the infant in tow, determined to keep her promise. Kate Reading's narration is engaging and appropriate. She creates and alternates between different voices for the book's characters in a way that is subtle, effective, and never distracting, which only adds to a masterful book that covers subject matter both appalling and enthralling. A Grand Central hardcover. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
It's a rainy night in 1968, and Lynnie Goldberg and Homan Wilson, escapees from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, are on the run. They have found refuge at the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. When the authorities find them, Homan escapes into the woods, and Lynnie is recaptured. Although she has not spoken in years, Lynnie manages to whisper into Martha's ear, just before she is led away in a straitjacket, Hide her. Her is the child Lynnie has just given birth to and left in a basket in Martha's attic. What follows is the story of Lynnie and Homan, who, despite great obstacles, spend the next 40 years looking for one another. It is also the story of Martha, who cares for Lynnie's child, and of Kate, a sympathetic social worker who helps Lynnie survive life at the school. This is an eye-opening look at the treatment of disabled individuals in the mid-twentieth century. Institutionalized, mistreated, and forgotten, Lynnie and Homan are two people who manage not only to survive but to set themselves free.--Gladstein, Carol Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Simon, author of the best-selling memoir Riding the Bus with My Sister, returns with a touching novel about three lives forever intertwined as the result of a quick meeting. Homan, black and deaf, and Lynnie, white and developmentally delayed, have fallen in love and escape together from the miserable confines of a 1960s Pennsylvania institution for the "feeble-minded," The School. They seek refuge at the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. Employees of The School track down Lynnie and Homan, but before Lynnie is forced to return, she reveals to Martha a precious secret: she has given birth. The novel covers the decades following Lynnie's return to The School, Homan's escape, and Martha's life after she decides what to do with the child. VERDICT At times tender, at times heartbreaking, this novel will appeal to fans of Simon's previous work and anyone interested in the deplorable treatment in the not-so-distant past of those with disabilities. [See Prepub Alert, 11/9/10.]-Shaunna Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
