Review: Heartfelt and Heartbreaking
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 28, 2013
In Silo Secrets: Daniel, Patrice Fitzgerald manages to tell a story that is heartfelt, heartbreaking, caring, disturbing, exciting and sad all at once. The fact that she expertly crams all of those feelings and emotions in so few words is a testament to her writing ability.In the story, Daniel is the son of Dr. Randall. We don't ever find out exactly what disability he was born with, but it is made clear that at the end of his adolescence,  Daniel was as far along mentally as he ever would be. A patient comes in to deliver a baby and we first know that Daniel can't handle the tasks required to be a "normal" resident of the silo.At times while reading, I was reminded of "Flowers for Algernon" in a literary sense for the perspective of Daniel and while the ending is definitely different, there are some parallels between the two. I was also reminded of contemporary situations where we place mentally disabled adults and the Constitutional rights that are sometimes afforded them (and sometimes not).SS: Daniel is a compelling read and I am excited to see what Ms. Fitzgerald has up her sleeve for future Secret tales.