The Story of Beautiful Girl

Starred review from July 25, 2011
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, Marthaâa childless widow and retired schoolteacherâleaves 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.

February 21, 2011
In this enthralling love story, Lynnie, a young white developmentally disabled woman with limited speech, and Homan, a deaf African-American man, meet at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded in the late 1960s. Despite strict rules, poor conditions, an abusive staff, and the couple's lack of language, Lynnie and Homan share tender moments. After their escape, a few days of freedom not only enables the secretly pregnant Lynnie to give birth outside the walls of the corrupt institution, it also secures the couple's admiration for one another. Fears of discovery force them to leave the baby in the hands of a nurturing widow, Martha Zimmer. Soon after, the school's staff apprehend Lynnie, while Homan flees. Although their stories diverge and unfold independently of one another, memories of their short time together sustain them for more than 40 years as they develop the confidence to eventually parent, learn to sign and speak, and finally, reunite. Simon (Riding the Bus with My Sister) who grew up with a developmentally disabled sister, has written an enormously affecting read, and provided sensitive insight into a complex world often dismissed by the "abled."