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Published Jul 2010
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Laurence Gonzales’s electrifying adventure opens in the jungles of the Congo. Jenny Lowe, a primatologist studying chimpanzees—the bonobos—is running for her life.
A civil war has exploded and Jenny is trapped in its crosshairs ... She runs to the camp of a fellow primatologist.
The rebels have already been there.
Everyone is dead except a young girl, the daughter of Jenny’s brutally murdered fellow scientist—and competitor.
Jenny and the child flee, Jenny grabbing the notebooks of the primatologist who’s been killed. She brings the girl to Chicago to await the discovery of her relatives. The girl is fifteen and lovely—her name is Lucy.
Realizing that the child has no living relatives, Jenny begins to care for her as her own. When she reads the notebooks written by Lucy’s father, she discovers that the adorable, lovely, magical Lucy is the result of an experiment.
She is part human, part ape—a hybrid human being...
Laurence Gonzales’s novel grabs you from its opening pages and you stay with it, mesmerized by the shy but fierce, wonderfully winning Lucy.
"Those intrigued by what-if scenarios will find Lucy's search for a quality life—is she human or ape?—compelling. It is totally appropriate for the YA audience and will appeal to those who like to debate bioethical issues." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. Thoroughly well-written, grounded in science and a sorrowful sense of human nature, this book is utterly memorable." - Kirkus Reviews
"A tidy, anticlimactic ending fails to do justice to the many controversial points the novel raises." - Publishers Weekly
"...Gonzales’ imaginative, sweet-natured, hard-charging, and deeply inquisitive thriller will be a catalyst for serious thought and debate." - Booklist
This information about Lucy was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Laurence Gonzales is the author of three novels and five books of nonfiction. His best-selling book Deep Survival has been published in six languages.
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