Synopsis:
A Spellbinding Murder Mystery That Offers a Sympathetic Look
At the Struggles Faced By Individuals with Disabilities Baby is every adoptive
parent's nightmare-blind, paralyzed from the waist down, unable to speak, and
diagnosed with developmental and intellectual disabilities. For the first 10
years of her life she is raised outside in a dog pen by a cruel adoptive
father, a Mississippi deputy sheriff who values his bird dogs more than his
daughter.
Retarded Girl Raised in Dog Pen is the story of Baby's
placement in a Mississippi mental institution for individuals with profound
retardation after the brutal murder of her father and the arrest of her mother,
and her desperate attempt to escape the institution.
Once the mother is convicted of murder and sentenced to
death, the story takes a bizarre twist as mental health professions discover
that Baby is capable of communication, despite being trapped inside a grotesque
body that holds her prisoner.
How much does Baby know? Can she prove her mother's
innocence?
As the mother sits on death row, the clock
ticking, a brilliant psychologist has the shock of her life when she discovers
that Baby is not who she seems. The question is will the psychologist be able
to solve the mystery in time to save the mother's life?
The title of this novel is a bit off-putting and really
didn’t make me interested in reading it. I had to rely on the synopsis for
that, and it did pique my interest.
This book was pretty easy to get through. There was a lot
going on, so I never really wanted to stop reading.
It was heart breaking and uplifting all at the same time. It
really shows how strong a bond can be between a mother and her child, no matter
the cost.
Even though there are heart-warming moments, there were also
cringe-worthy story lines involving spousal abuse, sexual abuse, and the
complete mistreatment of a child. It was hard to read at times because of how
disturbing it could be.
That said, it was well written, and the characters were
developed well. Baby was a really interesting character, and I wish more of the
book had been told from her perspective.
This book is labeled as a murder mystery, and technically it
is. But, it didn’t really seem like a suspense novel to me because it was more
about exploring Baby’s character than the murder.
Overall, it was an interesting read with strong characters.
4/5 Stars
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