For nearly two decades, since the publication of her iconic first novel, The Good Mother, Sue Miller has distinguished herself as one of our most elegant and widely celebrated chroniclers of family life, with a singular gift for laying bare the interior lives of her characters. In each of her novels, Miller has written with exquisite precision about the experience of grace in daily life–the sudden, epiphanic recognition of the extraordinary amid the ordinary–as well as the sharp and unexpected motions of the human heart away from it, toward an unruly netherworld of upheaval and desire. But never before have Miller’s powers been keener or more transfixing than they are in Lost in the Forest, a novel set in the vineyards of Northern California that tells the story of a young girl who, in the wake of a tragic accident, seeks solace in a damaging love affair with a much older man. Eva, a divorced and happily remarried mother of three, runs a small bookstore in a town north of San Francisco. When her second husband, John, is killed in a car accident, her family’s fragile peace is once again overtaken by loss. Emily, the eldest, must grapple with newfound independence and responsibility. Theo, the youngest, can only begin to fathom his father’s death. But for Daisy, the middle child, John’s absence opens up a world of bewilderment, exposing her at the onset of adolescence to the chaos and instability that hover just beyond the safety of parental love. In her sorrow, Daisy embarks on a harrowing sexual odyssey, a journey that will cast her even farther out onto the harsh promontory of adulthood and lost hope. With astonishing sensuality and immediacy, Lost in the Forest moves through the most intimate realms of domestic life, from grief and sex to adolescence and marriage. It is a stunning, kaleidoscopic evocation of a family in crisis, written with delicacy and masterful care. For her lifelong fans and those just discovering Sue Miller for the first time, here is a rich and gorgeously layered tale of a family breaking apart and coming back together again: Sue Miller at her inimitable best.
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"After finishing this book, I thought: "Why have I never read Sue Miller before?" As someone who is inherently interested in families, I found this book a fascinating window inside a reconstituted family. It is the story of Eva, a divorced woman who is happily remarried with two teenage daughters and a young son from her second marriage. Her new husband dies in a tragic accident and this dramatically alters the family. In many ways the book is focused most on the story of Daisy, the second daughter, and middle child, who was especially close to John and has trouble showcasing her grief. She enters adolescence abruptly, operating in a changed family structure, and longing to find a place to be accepted. She looks to her happy, cheerleading older sister and thinks herself ugly in comparison. She doesn't understand why she has grown apart from her sister who she previously felt close to. She begins an affair with an older family friend that will forever alter her life and lead her to seek support from an unlikely source: her father. Thus the book is also the story of Mark, a man who messed up his first marriage for reasons beyond his understanding, a man who finds a way to truly be a father by providing guidance to his middle daughter, who is so very in need of love, support and a positive male role model.
Miller is a superb story-teller. But she is also concise. Every word works it into her story. And each chapter seems to begin with a concise straight-forward sentence. Her dialogue is incredibly realistic and she so easily displays the inner thoughts of her characters. She portrays grief and the confusing process of adolescence and parenting after divorce in such a realistic and poignant way. I look forward to reading more of Miller's work."
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Marnie (4 out of 5 stars)