On a dark and stormy night in 1968, two young people knock on the door of a remote farmhouse. The young woman is beautiful but does not speak. The slightly older man is large, black and cannot hear. In their arms is a new born baby. The older woman who answers the door lives alone. Her husband has died and she has long retired after years of teaching in the area. She should be afraid but it is clear that the the couple is mostly concerned with the safety of the child and that they are running from something bigger than her own fear. With the child safely asleep in the attic, cars approach the farmhouse. The man escapes out the back and the young woman is dragged back to the State School for Exceptional Children. As she is forced out the door, she whispers just one word to the old woman - hide.
Martha and baby Julia begin a journey together finding safe harbor often in the homes of former students who have kept in touch with the teacher they so admired. Lynnie is forced back into the horrors of being locked away again until a caring individual and the winds of change open up a new world to her. Homan begins his own amazing journey across the entire country discovering that his ears may not work but his mind and hands are powerfully strong.
They each take turns telling their stories, each sharing their belief that somehow they will find their way back to each other.
This is a very moving story made more so by the fact that the author has drawn from her own personal experiences with a developmentally disabled sister. There were times when I was afraid Simons was going to fall into sermonizing but she seemed to pull back just in time to keep the characters experiences honest. The story ends in 2011 in a most unbelievable way but you really do want this to have a happy ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment