Free As a Bird

Free as a Bird  by Gina McMurchy-Barber is a book I impulse bought while in a cute rustic book cafe up in the small town of Rossland, B.C. after a two-hour hike up the side of a mountain.  I had already placed myself on a book-buying ban from buying 27 new books at a used book sale one week earlier, and 4 other new books at a college in Vancouver, which I had just visited a couple of days ago.  Nonetheless, this book caught my attention as I was browsing through the idyllic bookstore: first because this book was a finalist for the Govorner General's literary awards, second because that meant the book was written by a Canadian author, third because the book was small, and fourth because of the premise of the book as it was written on the back cover seemed really interesting.

 

 

This book tells the story of a life of a young girl with Down Syndrome in British Columbia at the time in history when people with such disabilities were sent to insane asylums where they were treated little better (and maybe even worse) than prisoners.  This story is told in the first person as Ruby-Jean Sharp recounts her life in Woodlands School - a once real-life institution that had been originally called the Provincial Asylum for the Insane.  With the voice of a young girl who can't quite understand everything going on around her, Ruby-Jean describes her surroundings and emotional reactions to those surroundings in ways that cannot help but provoke emotions in the reader. 

 

 

It is noteworthy to mention that although the characters in the novel are fictionous, the author did spend 6 months herself at Woodlands School as a caregiver and witnessed firsthand many of the abuses that could be given to the children there. Her own sister had been born with a disability but her parents decided to raise Jane instead of sending her to an institution like the doctor recommended.  The author, Gina, later left her job at the institution to work for the Community Living Society, an organization started by parents and caring staff to get residents out of Woodlands School and into group homes in the community. 

 

 

I have never cried so much while reading a book.  Out of the story's 160 pages, I probably only spent about 30 of them dry-eyed, if that.  It was an awkward encounter while camping when my friend stepped out of his cabin in the morning only to find me on the deck with tears streaming down my face and a pile of kleenex beside me.  The story is heart-rending - all the more so because it is based on true circumstances.  This sort of thing actually happened to people, and it broke my heart reading about it.  The story itself was told brilliantly, the emotions and descriptions are so vivid that they leave a very clear picture in the mind of the reader.  I would recommend this book, but only if you feel like you need something to cry about.