Story Description:
Hamish Hamilton
Canada|August 28, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-670-06637-7
Y.
That perfect letter. The
wishbone, fork in the road, empty wine grass.
The question we ask over and over.
Why? My life begins at the
Y. So begins the story of Shannon, a
newborn baby dumped at the doors of the YMCA, swaddled in a dirty grey
sweatshirt with nothing but a Swiss Army knife.
She is found moments later by a man who catches a mere glimpse of her
troubled mother as she disappears from view.
All three lives are forever changed by the single decision. Bounced between foster homes, Shannon endures
neglect and abuse but then finds stability and love in the home of Miranda, a
kind single mother who refuses to let anything ever go to waste. But as Shannon grows, so do the questions
inside her. Where is she from? Who is her true family? Why would they abandon her on the day she was
born. The answers lie in the
heartbreaking tale of Yula, Shannon’s mother, a girl herself and one with a
desperate fate. Yula spends her days
caring for her bitter widowed father and her spirited toddler Eugene until the
day she meets Harrison, a man who will protect her but also a man with a dark
past and stories yet to be revealed.
Soon they are expecting a daughter but as Yula goes into labour, she and
Harrison are caught in a tragic series of events that will destroy their family
and test their limits of compassion and sacrifice. Eventually the two stories converge to shape
an unforgettable story of family, identity and inheritance. Written with rare beauty, wisdom, and
intimacy, Y is a novel that asks “why?”
even as it reveals that the answer isn’t always clear and that it may not
always matter.
My Review:
Y is a compelling
look at one young girl’s fight to find the birthmother who abandoned her on the
front step of the YMCA on the day she was born.
Wrapped in a dirty grey sweatshirt with a Swiss Army knife tucked in as
something to remember her by.
The story of Shannon is somewhat sad as she is, like a lot of adopted
children, shunted from foster home to foster home and suffers abuse at the
hands of some of her caregivers until she finds a real family in Miranda, a
single Mom and her own daughter Lydia-Rose.
Although Lydia-Rose has a difficult time adjusting to having Shannon in
their home and is sometimes means to her and treats her with disdain, as they
grow they eventually find their place beside each other as sisters should.
As Shannon gets older her need to know who her family really is becomes
more and more important to her. Who is
her mother? Does she look like her. What
about her father? What about the man who
found her on the steps that day? She
eventually tracks down, Vaughn, the man who saw her birthmother, Yula, place
her on the steps all those years ago.
She befriends Vaughn and they spend quite a bit of time together doing
various things and discussing the day she was left and Shannon’s desire to find
her family. Vaughn tells her that she
must be honest with Miranda, the woman has raised her. Together, Vaughn, Shannon, and Lydia-Rose set
out on a journey that will change all their lives.
Meanwhile, Yula has been dedicating her life to her bitter widowed
father and caring for her young toddler son, Eugene. Then she meets Harrison, a man who will love
her but also a man with a very checkered past and he is responsible for a
devastating tragedy in Yula’s life that can never be undone.
Although we discover some of the answers we wanted to know by the end
of the book, I would have liked a couple more chapters to explain a few others
things, but I suppose those are left up to our imaginations. I read this book in two afternoons as I just
couldn’t put it down. Well done!
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