Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller

This book is a gem. Dont be fooled by its plain (and dirty - my copy that is) cover. Indeed the phrase dont judge a book by its cover, come to mind. I bought the book at a steal - RM10 at a book sale and am very pleased with myself. Modern family drama where the author (Sue Miller) creatively map the emotional complexities of almost all family members.

I especially like the part where the mother Eva thought that her rebellious daughter Daisy must had hated the chores entrusted to her while Eva was away from the house by the way the water hose was placed (after she watered the plants) and mails scattered on the table. Daisy on the other hand was glad to be able to visit her old house - mom's place (she lives with her father) and was glad to water the plants and collecting the mails for her mom while she was away. There were many similar 'incidents' written in the book where family members tend to assume and judge each other by their words and actions. We thought we knew our family members that well hence the assumption.

At first I thought the book was about Eva (mother) and Mark (father) but as the story goes it was skewed more towards their second teenage daughter Daisy whereby her characters, words and actions made me think and later worry about my own son (when he reach the same age).

On page 80, 'Does a person drawn to books was seeking a kind of experience or an escape from ordinary life? ... something we don't find, here?'

Ahah! Does that makes you think too? For me, it's more like to forget my normal life (for a while) and with that I usually mean my hectic office work *sigh* which left me exhausted every night. So a good book (hit and miss here) really helps me to wind down.

O good book, good book, where are thee?