GILBERT, AZ, March 22, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - When author Sherry Boas adopted little Teresa, a girl with Down syndrome, she could hardly have imagined how her little girl was about to wiggle into her heart and ultimately inspiring a series of novels that have broken hearts open to the beauty of persons with an extra 21st chromosome.
As strange as it may sound, Sherry has added a fourth book to her trilogy which was released yesterday, on World Down Syndrome Day, at Catholic Word.
The Lily trilogy showcases the history of a somewhat dysfunctional family who are all transformed in one way or another by the sweet and gentle innocence of Lily, the Down syndrome child. Throughout the novels, Lily’s presence transforms broken and hurt people in unsuspecting ways, adding credibility to Mother Teresa naming such people “professors of love.”
This writer just finished Sherry’s book last night and was gripped by the intrigue of the plot, the joys and sorrows of the characters, and the way they found themselves through difficult dilemmas.
Sherry told LifeSiteNews.com why a fourth book was needed in the series. “I got a lot of feedback from readers that they wanted to know more about Lily (character with Down syndrome who inspires everyone around her), specifically as it related to her marriage, which I only sort of allude to in the trilogy,” she said.
“I personally have completely missed Lily," she confessed. "I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed Lily and all the characters. So, I wanted to get back into that world.”
With The Things Lily Knew, Sherry said that she wanted to show how Lily still had a ripple effect on the world and on all those who knew her, even years and generations later.
The story unfolds with brilliant Rhodes Scholar Annabel Greeley, an accomplished geneticist, being offered the job of a lifetime. A scientist and former lover has offered to make Annabel his partner in developing a lucrative pill to destroy women’s genetically deficient eggs. Annabel knows that this will not only change her, but the future of humanity.
Annabel is almost swept away by the idealist’s dream of a brave new world lacking children with extra chromosomes, but she is haunted by the knowledge that she herself would have been a victim of eugenics had it not been for a special role played in her life by her Aunt Lily, who has Down syndrome.
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Added to this is Annabel’s experience of Lily as someone who seemed to know what life was all about and lived it to the fullest, something that has always escaped Annabel’s grasp.
Sherry’s novels have been hailed by critics as “masterful,” “riveting,” “heart-wrenching,” “brilliantly written,” “truly beautiful,” “fully imagined,” and “made for our times.”
She said that people who have aborted their Down syndrome children have read her series and found healing.
To a world that aborts 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome, Sherry says, “Look at what a great blessing you could be in for here.”
Sherry’s book “The Things Lily Knew” is available in paper back or on Kindle in bookstores nationwide through Catholic Word. It is also available from Amazon.
Sherry’s Website: lilytrilogy.com