The Lost Father (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Mona Simpson
- First Published: 1992
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1986, with flashbacks and an epilogue
- Setting: New York, Wisconsin, Montana, Egypt, and California
- Principal Characters: Mayan Stevenson (Ann Stevenson, Adele August Atassi, Mohammed Abdul Atassi, Mai Linn, Emily Briggs
- Genres: Long fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Parents and children, Gender roles, Abandoned children, 1980’s, Obsession, Fathers, Single parents or single-parent families, Truth, Abandonment
- Locales: California, New York, Egypt, Wisconsin, Montana
In her second novel, The Lost Father, Mona Simpson returns to the family that previously appeared in her highly praised first work, Anywhere but Here (1987). In that novel, Adele August Stevenson dragged her twelve-year-old daughter Ann to California, certain that she could make her a film star. Always hopeful, never practical, Adele kept her child on an emotional teeter-totter, sometimes berating her or even abandoning her, sometimes, just as unpredictably, celebrating with Ann victories that had occurred only in Adele’s overworked imagination.
The Lost...
[The entire page is 2079 words long]
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