The Story of a Beautiful Girl

Article first published on blogcritics.org.The Story of Beautiful Girl was released in May 2011 by Grand Central Publishing, a division of the Hatchett Group. Within two weeks, the book hit the New York Times best seller list.How does society deal with those of us who cope with disabilities? How would you want to be treated if you had a disability? The Story of Beautiful Girl forces us to address these questions. More importantly, it gives us a glimpse into the innermost thoughts of those treated as "feeble-minded" in what was at the time an uncaring, ignorant society. Both captivating and heartbreaking, the book is meant to be savored, not merely read. Adeptly nuanced and originally wrought, the book explores our compassion and intolerance toward people different than ourselves.In 1968, Martha, an elderly widow, answers a knock on her farmhouse door. On her doorstep are two escapees from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. Lynnie, a white woman with a developmental disability has just given birth to a baby girl. Protecting them is Homan, a deaf African American man. Lynnie is recaptured by the authorities, and Homan escapes. Lynnie whispers to Martha, "Hide her." Those two words launch us into the forty-year story of characters whose love surpasses the insurmountable obstacles they face. Although Beautiful Girl and Homan live apart for decades, the author masterfully intertwines their life stories, inner thoughts and the hope that sustains them.Life returns to normal for no one in this thought-provoking book. Martha, whose telephone rings only on December 24, when her former students call to arrange a visit on Christmas day, finds her life changed as she cares for baby Julia. The child draws people into Martha's life and gives her newfound purpose.Rachel Simon, a nationally known public speaker, is the author of the critically acclaimed bestseller, Riding the Bus with My Sister. The memoir chronicles the year Ms. Simon spent accompanying her sister Beth, who is afflicted with an intellectual disability, on joyful bus rides through a city in Pennsylvania. Though this experience, the author gleaned an understanding of the inner life of the developmentally disabled. Haunted for years by the story of an unidentified, deaf African American man found wandering the streets in Chicago, Ms. Simons captures the essence of both in the novel she says, "Burst out of me like nothing before."This reader (who has a physical disability) believes the feelings of those with disabilities remain a mystery to those outside of our sphere. Ms. Rosen convinces otherwise. The author's sensitivity to the world of the disabled comes from the personal experience of her sibling as well as interviews with people who had been wrongfully institutionalized and professionals who staff group homes. The book's dedication reads, "For those who were put away." Although Ms. Simon's awareness of the institutional life forms a backbone for the book, it is her insight into the indomitable spirit of the human soul that infuses The Story of Beautiful Girl with brilliance and honesty.The book jacket brilliantly captures the bond between the characters. We see a silhouette of "Beautiful Girl, Lynnie" on the book cover. Feathers are imprinted on the inside cover. When Lynnie and Homan were together, she drew the night skies and "feather" was the name of a constellation he taught her. At their coming together in the cornfield a flying bird dropped a red feather, which they pressed together between their chests. "Red feathers are rare," says Lynnie's sister with whom she is ultimately reunited. "If you find one, you should keep it forever." On the back cover, a child's hand reaches for a feather, perhaps symbolic of a long-awaited reunion.Reading The Story of Beautiful Girl will change your perception of those whose challenges differ from your own. This book will move you to a better place. Highly recommended.Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont

Faced with impossible choices, how do you choose? How dreadful when your choices are limited by the fact of your abilities and circumstance, and you know your reason to fear the worst is real?In "The Story of Beautiful Girl," Rachel Simon opens the door of our world to the minds of individuals who are not all that different from us but who struggle every day to be understood. Sometimes, they struggle in vain but it is their struggle that gives them hope. It is their struggle that gives hope to us all.At the dawn of the disabilities rights movement in the 1960s, Jacobus tenBroek wrote, "The most fundamental right for people with disabilities is `the right to live in the world,' to live and be a part of a community, to not be ignored or confined." What makes the developmentally disabled a vulnerable population is that these fundamental rights are by the grace of policymakers whose sympathies can be muted by tax-paying constituencies as volatile as the DJIA."The Story of Beautiful Girl" is important, not because of its forensic critique of the 20th century medical model of treatment for the developmentally disabled or for the institutionalization and unjust warehousing of some high functioning human beings, but because it reminds us of the vulnerability of every human soul.When no one understands, how can you speak? This is a crisis confronted, endured, and only sometimes overcome, not just by Simon's central characters, Lynnie and Homan, but by everyone their lives touch. "The Story of Beautiful Girl" weaves a wonderfully complex tapestry of lives in a lifetime, intersecting, darkness and bright, gloom and radiance, informed with just enough frill; a mural that conveys, in a word: hope.When I was a child I did not know anyone with an intellectual or developmental disability personally. In my elementary school, "they" were delivered each day on separate busses and kept on the 4th (and topmost) floor. No one ever ventured there because you would hear inexplicable wails and smell a foul stench from the stairwells. My family would drive by institutions and I would see the bars covering the windows, like jails. Sometimes I would see people wandering about the grounds in their robes and slippers. I read heartbreaking stories about Willowbrook and knew of other institutions nearby that housed up to 14,000 people. 14,000.... I could vividly imagine what it must be like to one day think you are visiting a new school or hospital and hear the "click" of the door behind you locking, changing your world in an instant and forever, and it scared me to death.I should have stated at the outset that I am not generally a fan of novels but sometimes fiction captures the essence of truth best. (This one happens to have been inspired by actual tragedy.) I have walked the grounds of former institutions for the developmentally disabled and have seen small cemeteries with graves marked only by numbers. "Maybe no one wants to deal with ghosts," says Homan. If we are to honor the legacy of those human souls society has betrayed --and still could-- we must. "The Story of Beautiful Girl" opens the door.

The condition was excellent and fast delivery. Retired I love reading and even though I haven't read this book yet the story line is catching my interest. I would definitely buy again from this seller. The fast delivery is the number one plus. Other vendors it takes a lot longer to receive.

I came across this book on a friend's bookcase - and was intrigued by the title and story summary - what I found though was an insight into how disability in its many forms was treated, the struggle to change matters was led by exposure rather than doing the right thing and that this happened in my life time - and although the story is based in the USA, it could be anywhere in the world - and in some less enlightened countries is still happening today. The story is thoughtfully written and I have enjoyed the journey of each of the characters Rachel Simon has introduced - but the message within has been disturbing and enlightening. And hopeful. Thank you.

The book from the first chapter grabs you and they way it goes from character to character keeps the story flowing I found 42 quite frustrating at times but mirrored with the love and loyalty the the old lady had protecting the child and how it also give her chance to start a new life. It is also quite shocking that in the 1960 this was actually going on in institutions in the USA as well as in the UK. I loved the ending and found it tied up the story nicely. It was the perfect read and yes I can see the similarity with the memory keeper in as much as a moments decision changes so many people's lives and like a stone falling into a lake the ripples are felt far wider. Well worth the read.

I've just finished the book and the ending brought tears to my eyes. In these cynical times it felt good to have characters who were so inherently good. After a stunning opening, however, the story meandered and flagged and then came back to life at the end. It did feel a little incredible how the fortunes of some of the main characters were turned round so positively in what seemed like a short space of time. I was disappointed that Martha, the old lady who adopted Julia, disappeared so abruptly. But on balance, I enjoyed the book, it is beautifully written, and it is horrfying to learn about the injustices that were suffered by residents of "schools" like this.

Understandable why the author would want to write about this subject but this novel, although very readable is not realistic in the sense that things come to a happy conclusion. There are some unpalatable truths in the novel and of course to produce a marketable product this does need to be balanced out and the author does this with romance and a happy ending. Reasonable read but not great literature.

This book tells the story of a young 'simple-minded' girl and a deaf, illiterate man she fell in love with, who escape an institution to hide her new-born baby with an elderly lady. The story follows the girl, Lynnie, the man, Homan, the elderly lady, Martha, the baby Julia, and an institution staff member, Kate who forms a close bond with Lynnie. It is such a good read that I don't want to give away much more. A mixture of sadness, happiness, determination and love - you'll struggle to put it down.