Our club was enjoying this book until the last segment, one part of which was supremely depressing and the other was extraordinarily convenient. We don't need a happy ending but at least something redeeming?

Very eye opening story of that time era

After I read the first few pages of THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN, I recognized a young adult story, which is no longer to my taste. I would have liked this book when I was 13 or 14, but now it bored me. I continued to read it only because it was my book group's choice for this month. Now I am glad I did because THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN turns out to have a lot more to it than a story of a little girl who was sold to the circus by her evil mother.

Two stories are going on here. One is Lilly’s and takes place in the 1930s. She's the one who was sold to the circus after being kept prisoner in an attic all her life. The other is Julia's story in the 1950s. She is solving the mystery of who Lilly was and what happened to her. Julia's story does have a twist near the end, which I probably should have seen coming.

So I did like THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN, after all, but it left me with too many questions, which I probably would have just accepted if I read it when I was 13. It was saved by breaking up Lilly's story with Julia's. This kept THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN interesting enough to keep me up at night. I call that a success.

(And, yes, elephants really do cry tears.)

The Life She was Given: A Moving and Emotional Saga of Family and Resilient Women, Ellen Marie Wiseman, author; Lori Gardner Narrator
The heart of this novel reveals itself in alternating stories. One is about Lilly Blackwood, and the other is about Julia Blackwood. One begins in 1931, shortly after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the other in the mid 1950’s. When Lilly’s story begins, the country is struggling to recover from the financial disaster of the Stock Market Crash that ushered in the Great Depression.
Lilly lived in Blackwood Manor. It was her family’s horse farm. However, because she was born with a condition called albinism, no one knew of her existence. She had been kept locked away in an attic since her birth. Although innocent, her birth had horrified her mother who believed that she was an abomination and a monster that everyone would fear. Coraline believed that G-d had punished her because she had wanted a child so badly that she had recklessly said she would make a pact with the devil to have one. When she gave birth to the albino, Lilly, Coraline became a religious fanatic. She did not want this child.
Lilly had never been allowed to set a foot outside the attic room, never had attended school, never had played with any other living thing besides her cat. When she was 9 years old, the world suddenly opened up to her, but it was not how she thought it would be. While her dad was away on a business trip, her mother secretly sold her to the Barlow Brothers’ Circus. There, Lilly learned that life on the outside was not as enviable for her, or the others in the circus, but even with the horrors of the brutality she faced and the decadence she witnessed, she managed to forge a life and to find some happiness in this place that accepted and eventually welcomed her, even with her affliction. She discovered that since she had been locked away, she understood how the animals felt when they were caged. In turn, the animals seemed to take to her. She loved the elephants and wanted to protect them from abuse.
Julia’s story takes place in the mid 1950’s. As a teenager, she had left school and run away from home. Her father had died. She and her excessively strict mother did not get along. Then, while living a hardscrabble life, she learned that her mother had died. She, as the only living relative, had inherited the Blackwood Manor and fortune. Her life had suddenly changed. She was still so very young, and she did not know if she was up to managing the horse farm. Soon, she was learning how to care for the horses and began to love them. She wanted to protect them. Her mother had totally isolated and sheltered her, and she had not been allowed access to the entire mansion. Now, armed with the many keys for every door she encountered, she realized she could explore it. She set out to discover the secrets the house was keeping from her. To whom could she turn for help?
Who could fill her in on the details of the lives of her parents and answer her questions? As she read through the records she discovered, she learned the name of someone called Lilly. Who was Lilly? She decided to ask Claude, the man who had helped her father run the horse farm. He was still employed and was the only person who knew their history. He denied knowing anything, or else he simply refused to tell her anything. He was distant and cold toward her. She did not know why.
Julia wondered if Lilly was her father’s mistress. Had her father been unfaithful? Was that why he drank too much? Was that why she heard him crying softly in his office so often? Was that why he played the song, “Little White Lies”? Was that why her mother seemed to resent her so much. Were they both just very unhappy? The more she learned the more confused she became and the more her imagination ran wild.
Julia wanted to access the attic, but she could not find a door. She wondered who had ever slept in the many guest rooms? She did not remember any visitors. She had so many questions, but not many answers.
What were the connections between the characters? Did Coraline have a maternal instinct? How far would a mother go to protect a child? In this book, so many boundaries were crossed, ignored and abused. Were the choices made and the consequences that resulted what you had expected? Were the efforts of Lilly futile or successful? Was life fair to her? Has society changed? If so, is it better or worse? As the novel unfolds, facts will show that many in the past were ostracized by society because they were different. Many of the “different” people found refuge in the circus. It was a place where the unusual and sometimes unacceptable were all given refuge, but that refuge came at a heavy price. Still, while under the Big Top, as the amazing acts went on and the “freaks” were ogled, everyone, the performers and the guests, all briefly thought about their lives, and most realized that they had a lot to appreciate and felt less sad about what they had lost.
The circus people made their own family because their own families had discarded and disowned them. This novel relates what happened behind the scenes of the circus, especially when the big top was not open for business. The characters themselves are tested regarding maternal love, loyalty, religious fervor, morality and compassion. They faced bullies who fed upon the weakness of others. The society was flawed. It turned a blind eye to its own shortcomings. It lacked humanitarian values. It seemed more akin to the world that enjoyed watching the Christians being fed to the lions or the gladiators fighting to the death.
Regarding the circus, as a child, I remember looking forward to the circus with trepidation. I loved the cotton candy and the acrobats, the animal performances and the man who made it all happen in his top hat and red coat, but I would not go to the freak show. My nature then, as now, was not to make fun of others. The gawking horrified me. How did you, the reader feel? Did you like the circus? Did you ever attend a circus?
Sometimes, in this novel, the characters behavior and comments were repetitious and the dialogue was overly long with explanation. It veered often into the melodramatic. Perhaps the YA audience would be more appropriate for this novel. The ending, however, which I thought I had anticipated, actually surprised me. I suspect it will also surprise other readers.