Given how she's portrayed in the rest of the book, it's somewhat disarming to find Dave Pelzer's mother described in such positive terms in chapter 2 of A Child Called "It," “Good Times.”

Near the beginning of the chapter, Pelzer unhesitatingly describes this woman, who in due course will turn out to be a thoroughly evil child abuser, as “a woman who glowed with love for her children.” One can only look askance at such a description, given what we know about Catherine's subsequent ill-treatment of Dave.

As well as being a loving mother, Catherine is further described as always having ideas and as always taking command of family matters. This makes her seem like a take-charge kind of a person, someone to look up to.

For good measure, Dave's mom was always something of a clean fiend. She always made sure that the house was immaculate and that the family's small flower garden was well kept, making it the envy of their neighbors.

To top off her status as the quintessential suburban mom, Catherine was, Dave assures us, a gifted cook. She was always coming up with great ideas for meals; the more exotic they were, the more she liked them. Among other things, this made special occasions like Halloween and Christmas a real joy for the whole family.

Overall, Pelzer presents a very positive image of his mother in chapter 2 of A Child Called "It." However, once we reach the next chapter, that will all change dramatically.