Holly

Holly is the story of a girl with locked-in syndrome denying her speech, she is also spastic and has limited control of her body. She is sent to various homes and institutions. Holly is abused, and the really frightening fact was that there could never be restitution. But she is in there, inside her lolling head and silent mouth, and her bright mind struggles to make sense of her life. She retreats into an imaginary world until a catastrophic event changes her world forever. Holly is written in a stream-of-consciousness mode. I have tried to get into Holly's innermost thoughts and emotions, but it is all conjecture as nobody is privy to another's mind. The book is based on the life of my only sibling, Vonda. Due to an accident of birth, Vonda was hopelessly physically and mentally challenged. It is a heartrending choice of parents who have these children whether the child should go into an institution or to keep them at home. Vonda was kept at home and became my mother's magnificent obsession. But the burden and worry for the future of the child grew daily, and eventually, my mother died, worn out with the care of Vonda. Someone once said you can judge a country by the way it cares for its animalsand you could addand its unwanted and stigmatized children.