title: Dear Lucy: A Novel
author:  Julie Sarkissian 
description: Sarkissians bold debut novel features a unique protagonist, the affectionate and eccentric Lucy, a mentally challenged young girl sent to live on a farm after her mother is no longer able to care for her. Also living there is Samantha, a pregnant teenager who takes Lucy under her wing while Lucy waits to be reunited with her mother. Lucy is eager to please those around her and is fascinated with the idea of family, particularly with her hope of seeing Samantha together with the father of her baby. But Samantha has promised the baby to the farms owners, known as Mister and Missus. Interjections of Missus first-person narration slowly reveal a tormented past involving the loss of her adopted daughter years earlier. When the baby is born and Samantha has a change of heart, Lucy takes off on an unexpected journey to fulfill a promise to Samantha. Lucys dazzling stream of consciousness is heightened with elements of fantasyshe is accompanied and guided by a talking pet chickenwhile Sarkissian tenderly depicts her characters frailties, fears, and desires. --Leah Strauss
zlib_text: Also by Julie Houston
  The One Saving Grace
  Goodness Grace and Me
  Looking for Lucy
  A Village Affair
  Coming Home to Holly Close Farm
  
  AN OFF-PISTE CHRISTMAS
   
  Julie Houston
   
   
   
  AN IMPRINT OF HEAD OF ZEUS
  www.ariafiction.com
  
  First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
  Copyright © Julie Houston, 2019
  The moral right of Julie Houston to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in
  accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
  transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
  otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this
  book.
  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either
  products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
  A CIP catalogue record for 