Lucy Peale - Hardcover

Rodowsky, Colby F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374363811 ISBN 13: 9780374363819

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1992

Synopsis

When her father, a strict fundamentalist preacher, refuses to believe that Lucy is pregnant because she had been raped, Lucy runs away to a nearby resort town, where she encounters Jake, who teaches her to trust and be self-reliant.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

A well-regarded author (Sydney, Herself, 1989) tells a heartwarming love story about a pregnant 17-year-old who, cruelly rejected by her preacher father, is taken in by thoroughly wholesome Jake, who has dropped out of college in order to write. Without pausing to discover that Lucy was raped by a boy who first saw her handing out his religious pamphlets in Ocean City, Maryland, Pa commands her to confess her ``sin'' at his revival meeting or leave home. Lucy leaves, sleeps under the boardwalk, then encounters Jake, who offers sanctuary and is sensitive enough to wait until she's ready to confide her troubles. Meanwhile, Lucy gets a job and shares the rent; the two become close friends who talk, help each other, and--gradually, sweetly- -fall in love (agreeing to postpone sex), planning to marry and raise the baby together. Lucy dreads meeting Jake's family at Thanksgiving, but they are as accepting as Jake, especially after Lucy bravely explains their circumstances. The visit is another turning point: reminded of Jake's cherished opportunity to act as ``dogsbody'' for a famous visiting novelist in the spring, Lucy insists he follow through: her sister will help with the baby; if their love is real, it'll endure the separation. Almost--but not quite--too good to be true, these likable young people grow and change as their relationship blossoms; Lucy, especially, is touchingly believable as she begins to reach toward possibilities unimagined in her father's home--including more education and a kind and loving God. Gentle and appealing, written with insight and skill. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Pregnant as the result of a secret rape, Lucy, 17, is faced with a choice: either publicly confess her "sin" at her fundamentalist father's tent meeting or be outcast from the family. Knowing that her baby is "no bad thing," Lucy flees to nearby Ocean City, Md., where she meets Jake, a would-be writer, who lets her stay at his apartment. As Jake feeds her mind with books, movies and music and her spirit is nourished with the concept of a forgiving God, Lucy learns that "Sin City" and the rest of the world that her father condemned isn't such a wicked place after all. With Jake's encouragement, Lucy grows more self-reliant--her plans for the future include Jake, since the couple realize they love each other. In a deft plot twist that keeps the book focused on emotional rather than sexual issues, they agree not to consummate their love until after the baby is born--and after the gratified reader knows that Lucy is mature enough to handle whatever comes along. The only jarring note in Rodowsky's ( Dog Days ; Sydney, Herself ) sweetly moving and otherwise skillful novel is the narrative's occasional inexplicable shift to the first person, a disruption with no appreciable merit. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0374363811
• ISBN 13: 9780374363819
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 167