luckyme's thoughts on "The Unfinished Child"
updated on:8/3/2013
Gripping. Heart-wrenching. Thought-provoking. Riveting. Haunting. Unputdownable.
Those are just a few words that come to mind to describe this just-released novel by Canadian writer, Theresa Shea.
At the heart of the story are three women: Marie, Elizabeth, and Margaret.
In 1947, Margaret gives birth to her first baby, a girl, whom she
names Carolyn. She is allowed to hold her baby once, and even that is
against her doctor’s advice. Born with Down syndrome at a time when
institutionalization of “mongoloids” and “mental defectives” was the
norm, something within Margaret dies, nonetheless, at handing her baby
over. As was also the norm then, the whole incident is brushed under
the rug, and Margaret is expected to forget her first child ever
existed, and move on. Move on, she does, having two “healthy” children
in quick succession, but Margaret never fully recovers in her heart from
Carolyn’s birth and absence. When Carolyn is four years old, Margaret
summons up the courage to visit her in the “training centre” in which
she is housed, and there begins twelve years of monthly visits from
mother to daughter, all undertaken in secret.
Marie and Elizabeth are best friends in modern-day Canada. They’ve
been best friends since they were girls, and their friendship has
withstood not only the test of time, but of boyfriend stealing, and
barely, the fact that Marie has two beautiful daughters and Elizabeth
has never been able to have children despite a decade of grueling
fertility treatments. Now, on the brink of turning 40, Marie finds
herself unexpectedly pregnant again, and the news not only throws her
for a loop, but opens up old wounds between her and Elizabeth. One
night, Marie wakes from a dream, convinced that something is wrong with
the baby she carries – the baby she never planned. Both her premonition
and the fact of her “advanced maternal age” lead her down the path of
prenatal testing, and suddenly it seems as though it’s not only her and
her baby’s fate that lie in the crosshairs, but her husband’s, her
existing children’s, and even her best friend’s fates as well.
How the stories of these three women from different eras intertwines
will surprise you. Shea takes an unflinching look at the grim horrors
of institutionalization, the nuanced dances that take place between
spouses and friends, and the price we pay for having choices.
I broke down in tears many times throughout this deftly imagined
story, and although I wanted to be able to summon up some righteous
outrage at times, what I mostly felt was enlightened and a deep
compassion. It drives home the fact that despite the debates raging
about prenatal testing, abortion, and inclusion, nothing is black and
white, and there are no easy answers.
This is a must read for not only parents in the Down syndrome
community, but for all parents, and for anyone who appreciates masterful
story-telling. I will not soon forget this book.