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Cuckoo's Child
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From: Judy O'Malley /General Pub. 4th Floor <jomalley>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 09:59:16 EST
I'd like to add my thanks to Suzanne Freeman for so graciously and openly sharing with those of us who so much enjoyed Cuckoo's Child, some of the background on her process in writing and the evolution of the story.
Since I often find that endings are the trickiest point in novels for me, too often devolving from rich, complex plots and character portrayals into too?cile wham?m tie-ups, I was truly gratified by both the open-endedness of Cuckoo's Child, and by learning of the craft and effort that accomplished it. For me, the strength of this book was in Mia's growth from an uprooted child who had all of the strength and rebelliousness of her mother, but expressed it by choosing conformity (a real act of rebellion in Mia's nuclear family) and dangerous anger. Like Ruth Gordon, I didn't find myself distracted by figuring out Mia's parents' actual fate, as the ambiguity underlined that either possibility--sea tragedy or defection--was perfectly compatible with their characters as seen through Mia's eyes. More fascinating for me was the struggle Mia has throughout the book with her love for her parent's and stepsisters' freedom and intelligence and her yearning for security and to fit into a larger community. The ending of the book, with Mia finally accepting her new patchwork family's eccentricities and taking the risk to forge a friendship with Sinclair, who blends external normalcy in her family situation with inner verve and spirit, was for me a note of hope that Mia would be able to integrate the strengths of her experiences in Beirut and in Ionia, TN; the influences of her mother's wildness and willingness to espouse new concepts and Kit's dependability and love of poetry; and her own yearnings to love and trust and her fears of losing those she cares for.
Did anyone else feel that Mia's love of reading and her discovery of poetry seemed to function in a positive way as a parallel to her reliance on rituals to feel safe? Retreating to her room to read, going inside to distance herself from the frightening reality of her growing knowledge that her parents wouldn't return, also seem a counterpoint to her desire to climb--trees, watertowers--to escape what she can't change.
Judy O'Malley Assoc. Editor H.W. Wilson
Received on Tue 10 Sep 1996 09:59:16 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 09:59:16 EST
I'd like to add my thanks to Suzanne Freeman for so graciously and openly sharing with those of us who so much enjoyed Cuckoo's Child, some of the background on her process in writing and the evolution of the story.
Since I often find that endings are the trickiest point in novels for me, too often devolving from rich, complex plots and character portrayals into too?cile wham?m tie-ups, I was truly gratified by both the open-endedness of Cuckoo's Child, and by learning of the craft and effort that accomplished it. For me, the strength of this book was in Mia's growth from an uprooted child who had all of the strength and rebelliousness of her mother, but expressed it by choosing conformity (a real act of rebellion in Mia's nuclear family) and dangerous anger. Like Ruth Gordon, I didn't find myself distracted by figuring out Mia's parents' actual fate, as the ambiguity underlined that either possibility--sea tragedy or defection--was perfectly compatible with their characters as seen through Mia's eyes. More fascinating for me was the struggle Mia has throughout the book with her love for her parent's and stepsisters' freedom and intelligence and her yearning for security and to fit into a larger community. The ending of the book, with Mia finally accepting her new patchwork family's eccentricities and taking the risk to forge a friendship with Sinclair, who blends external normalcy in her family situation with inner verve and spirit, was for me a note of hope that Mia would be able to integrate the strengths of her experiences in Beirut and in Ionia, TN; the influences of her mother's wildness and willingness to espouse new concepts and Kit's dependability and love of poetry; and her own yearnings to love and trust and her fears of losing those she cares for.
Did anyone else feel that Mia's love of reading and her discovery of poetry seemed to function in a positive way as a parallel to her reliance on rituals to feel safe? Retreating to her room to read, going inside to distance herself from the frightening reality of her growing knowledge that her parents wouldn't return, also seem a counterpoint to her desire to climb--trees, watertowers--to escape what she can't change.
Judy O'Malley Assoc. Editor H.W. Wilson
Received on Tue 10 Sep 1996 09:59:16 AM CDT
