Book #4 The Lost Mother

This novel by Mary McGarry Morris is set in Vermont during the Great Depression. It’s the story of the Talcotts, a poor family struggling to survive. Life is hard and work is scarce for father Henry, yet he is determined to make a life for his family. His beautiful and fashionable wife Irene decides life is too hard and abandons the family to move to Massachusetts to find work and be free of the worries that entangle her (i.e. her children). Having a depressed father and an absent mother leads twelve year old Thomas to grow up before his time so that he can care for little sister Margaret. As was often the case during those times, the family’s bleak financial situation drives them to desperate measures. After Henry goes to jail for a crime for which he was framed, the children set off to find their mother, who has made a new life for herself, a life that has no room for children. In the end, a beautiful story unfolds, one in which good triumphs over evil. This book is a must-read.