Terrific Mother (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Marie Lorena Moore
- First Published: 1998
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1990's
- Setting: American Midwest and northern Italy
- Principal Characters: Adrienne, Martin Porter, Ilke
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Child rearing or parenting, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Mothers, Twentieth century, Art or artists, Guilt, Midwest, Obsession, Pain, Accidents, Death or dying, Painting or painters, 1990’s, Italy or Italians, Western Europe or western Europeans
- Locales: Midwest (U.S.), Italy
The Story
Although “Terrific Mother” follows Adrienne's life for almost a year, the dominant event in the story takes place at a Labor Day barbecue, at which she is involved in an accident that results in a baby's death. When the picnic table on which Adrienne is sitting collapses, she lets go of the child she is holding, inadvertently causing its death. Adrienne becomes devastated by guilt. This guilt is exacerbated by the fact that, shortly before this event, friends advised Adrienne that she should have her own baby because she would make a fine mother. Suffering a...
[The entire page is 1443 words long]
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