The Lost Mother: A Novel

The Lost Mother is a beautifully written story of Thomas and Margaret, a brother and sister who have been abandoned by the mother they love. I found this book almost lyrical in it's prose. The author has written this book in such a way that I could feel the pain and desperation of Thomas and his sister as they try to remain as some sort of semblance as a family. Thomas never looses his hope that his family will be reunited even when circumstances are conspiring against it. Your heart will break at times, yet you will find this to be an extremely satisfying book to read.

Mary McGarry Morris is the master of the emotional and poignant. Her sense of character, her aptitude for dramatics, and her ability to evoke a time and place is unsurpassed; these skills have easily elevated her to the rank of one of America's greatest novelists. In The Lost Mother, her latest literary masterpiece, she transports the reader to depression-era rural Vermont, where the grim realities of life for the Talcott family have hit home hard - food has become a luxury, work is in short supply, and their home has recently been taken from them. For eleven-year-old Thomas Talcott and his eight-year-old sister Margaret, the world is looking pretty bleak, and it looks as though things are going to get much worse. Told from the perspective of Thomas, the story begins just after their mother Irene, has abandoned them. Their father, Henry Talcott, who works a roving cattle-butcher, is struggling to keep the family together. Times are tough: Henry has recently has lost his farm and most of his source of revenue; he tries to wrestle a living from odd construction jobs, but it's not enough to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. The three of them are homeless, hungry, and living in a ratty, decrepit old tent on the edges of a dairy farm recently sold to local businessman Fred Farley. With a harsh Vermont winter on the way, one would think things couldn't get any worse, but as events keep piling up, Thomas and Margaret, basically left to their own devices, are forced to embark on a bitter struggle for survival. The children are unrelentingly tossed from one calamitous situation to another, frantically holding onto the hope that soon their mother will return and that "in a loved one's beauty, they'll find solace, and comfort in her presence." Thomas soon gets into trouble with the local sheriff after being cheated by an avaricious storeowner; he's accused of stealing a pocketknife when he actually paid for it. Then Henry's search for gainful employment is thwarted when he is maliciously framed and imprisoned. Thomas views his father's despair with a kind if terrifying helplessness. "If he can't cope with the forces against them, then who could? What would become of them?" All he sees is only a life of bleakness ahead: "a life of tents and bucking, smoking trucks." When the land on which the family's tent is pitched is finally sold out from under them, the two children are shunted between a number of friends and relatives. They briefly stay with Aunt Lena, a drunken, fading ex-beauty shop owner "made dumb by her desperation," but she's a failure, and her gigolo husband Max, has no time for them. Soon they're hauled off to stay with the Farley's, where Phyllis Farley yearns for the attractive and sweet Margaret; she deviously schemes for the girl's attentions, while barely enduring Thomas, merely seeking companionship for Jesse-boy, her crippled, sickly, and thoroughly spoilt teenage son. The only person that gives them the time of d

This was my first time reading one of Morris's novels, it was quite excellent.

I literally could not put this book down and have continued to think of the characters after finishing the book. If you like Elizabeth Berg or Kaye Gibbons, you will love this book. Excellent read!

Amazing. I got this book from a friend of mine who owns a bookstore and who knows I am a fan of Mary McGarry Morris. I just finished it and felt compelled to post this review, because the book was so powerful. A real tug at - and from - the heart. I couldn't put it down. Like all Mary McGarry Morris' characters, these characters got so stuck in my head that I'm still hearing their voices. The pacing is breathtaking, often suspenseful. The story is haunting. The writing is beautiful. The character of Henry Talcott is an American classic, as I think this book is destined to be. The Talcott children, Thomas and Margaret, seemed so real that I ached for them in their search. Gladys, old Bibeau, Jesse-boy, the Farleys, Aunt Lena, Sister Mary Christopher, are all fabulous characters and very believable because of the depth and precision of their portrayals. I think "THE LOST MOTHER" is most like "VANISHED", Mary McGarry Morris' first novel which was nominated for major literary prizes (and which before this was my favorite novel by the author). "THE LOST MOTHER" and "VANISHED" share a simple tone and lyrical voice that make both books flow. In the end, it is a haunting melody, a joy to read, and tremendous on all fronts.