Lost in the Forest

Regarding Mark's discovery of his 15 yr. old daughter's relationship with a 53 year old man: Yes, the relationship is repulsive and hard to read about. We are forced to open our eyes to something that we know as a society does happen: many atrractive young girls do become the objects of older mens' fantasies and sexual attentions. We know wihtout even thiking about it that the typical response would be that most fathers blow up and reject their daughters in response to having knowledge of such acts. Although Miller makes Mark's response different, it is not unrealistic in the context of the rest of the storyline. Mark's response is inextricably linked to his ongoing relationship with Eva. As both Emily and Daisy state toward the end of the book, the children's lives were shaped/marred by their "exclusion" from the intimacy that their parents shared. Because Mark still loved her, his first instincts would have been to protect EVA from the knowledge of what happened to their daughter. He knew fully that with all Eva had lost and suffered that this would crush her. Fortunately for Daisy, over the years, Mark had come to realize his culpability in being an absent father while married, his replacement by John in both Eva's and Daisy's hearts, and even after the loss of his "replacement" through the death of Daisy's step-father. Daisy would not continue to be lost to him, however; she called out to him by crying in the night -- a few days later, he heard her cry in a different way and came to her aid becoming the father she desperately wanted and needed. Young girls like Daisy do reach out to older/other men when their fathers are absent or have died. The men they find available to them may have other objectives, yet seem to fill a void and shape too many young girls lives. I think Sue Miller successfully addressed a very thorny subject on so many levels that a second reading would intensify an understanding of the strength of her words and message to us as a society.

This is the first of Miller's books I've read, but it won't be the last. It's a "family" novel but the characterization is complex and the motivations entirely believable. Mark is a vineyard manager in the Napa Valley of northern California who screwed up and lost his wife in a divorce -- a loss he's never reconciled himself to. Especially difficult is the day-to-day separation from his two daughters, whom he adored when they were little but whom he doesn't really understand now that they've entered adolescence. Eva, his ex-wife, remarried to a "nice man" she loved devotedly, but who, as the book opens, has just been killed by a reckless driver in front of his wife and their young son. Meanwhile, Emily, the eldest daughter ("the pretty one"), is about to graduate from high school, looking toward a separate life out in the world, while Daisy, tall and gawky and nerdish, and in love with her stepfather, is now somehow estranged from her perfect sister and is feeling more and more alone -- lost in the forest of growing up. Daisy has her own ways of trying to resolve her loneliness and neediness without admitting to either of them, while Eva tries to come to terms with her husband's death, and Mark begins to wonder if he can gradually regain his lost marriage. But there's far more depth than that, with fully realized supporting players, a not-quite-linear narrative line, and a non-preachy examination of moral issues. A beautiful piece of work.

This is not a pretty story. These are not happy characters. The tale is neither extraordinary nor suspenseful, and this book will not change your life. "Lost in the Forest," the newest book by Sue Miller is, however, well worth reading. The characters consist of a small, modern family living in the Napa Valley. Each is so well drawn, at first it's difficult to tell whom will be the central figure. Is it Mark--the divorced father of two? Eva, the mother of his daughters who has just lost her second husband in a tragic accident? Or is it their second-born daughter, Daisy, a tall and troubled young lady trying to find her way? Even the secondary characters, Emily, the eldest daughter; Theo, the seemingly oblivious little boy, scion of John, Eva's dead husband; Gracie and Duncan, family friends, are prominent and important. There is nothing excessive in this quick and compelling read. Miller is a master not only at character development, but also at dialog. She is brave in her use of language--knowing how people actually talk and conveying how they truly FEEL. I have to say I was disturbed during a Lolita-like sex scene but mostly because it was so very real; however, it helped make a correspondence from Daisy in her later years extremely poignant and meaningful: "Well, there are some people who when they draw the line are left standing there with only the line to keep them company." The story moves artfully through time, back and forth, and allows the reader to know this family and what holds them together and pushes them apart. I highly recommend reading this book. Michele Cozzens, Author of A Line Between Friends and The Things I Wish I'd Said.

IMHO, this is one of Miller's better books. The characters are all ring true, and the tale is told in an interesting way. Summary, no spoilers: Eva and Mark had two children, named Emily and Daisy. When the girls were small, Mark has an affair, and the marriage ends. Eva remarries John ("a nice guy"), and has a son, Theo, with him. When the book opens, we discover that John has been killed in a car accident (he was a pedestrian), and everyone is feeling enormous grief. The book tells the story of that grief, and how each character deals with life without John. Mark now becomes a more vital part of the family's life, Eva deals with loneliness, and Daisy, 14 years old and the most troubled, deals with her grief, her alienation from other kids, and her burgeoning sexuality. This is a quick read. As usual, Miller is entertaining, and in particular, in this novel she has created a realistic group of characters. The only reservation I have is with the ending of this book. Miller's last chapter takes place well after the events of the book, and it does resolve a lot of questions as to what happens to the various characters. It is just my opinion, but I would have preferred a different ending. It was a bit of a letdown for me, and I felt like I was meeting different characters than the ones I had come to know intimately throughout the novel. Despite this, Lost in the Forest is a very good book, and I highly recommended it.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Sue Miller digs to the very soul of human feelings and emotion and puts those feelings to paper in a way that is more true than I have ever read before. There were countless times in this novel when she wrote of something I had felt but never expressed and had no idea anyone else felt too. She touches on love, death, sibling conflict, grief, joy and tragedy in this brief but compelling novel. The one shortcoming, in my opinion, is the final chapter which takes place many years later and wraps up the characters' lives too abruptly. There was no smoothness to the transition from the ongoing stories to the "looking back" of the last chapter. I would highly recommend this novel.