A Lost Lady contains two prominent parallel narratives. The first is that of Niel Herbert, a young boy from Sweet Water, Nebraska whose vision of the world changes as he reaches his twenties. He initially has a romanticized view of Mrs. Forrester, a pretty young aristocrat in town, but eventually, his feelings toward her shift and become much more complex once he discovers her flaws.Niel's narrative of disillusionment corresponds to the narrative of America. The country was still young throughout the nineteenth century, and as it changed into something different while entering the twentieth, many Americans saw a previous nobility giving way to greed.Of course, in both cases, the ideal that was believed in was a false one. Mrs. Forrester was never quite the charming, elegant, and good-natured housewife she was thought to be. She had always clung to wealth and hidden her vulnerability and pettiness behind it. As soon as her husband loses most of his wealth, her real self becomes more visible. She, then, seems more pathetic than graceful.Likewise, America was never a completely noble country devoid of greed or cruelty. Even Captain Forrester, the symbol for an old world nobility and a seemingly beneficent citizen, provides glimpses into his own thinking that shatter this myth. He complains that the new generation of business men are all greedy and unscrupulous, ready to destroy the land to make a profit. However, during the story he tells of establishing his own home in Sweet Water, he admits—however discreetly—to taking over the land of the Native Americans. Also, his philosophy of making dreams come true quite overtly points out how some people will never achieve their dreams. He quickly skips over this depressing aspect of the lower classes and moves back to the prosperous citizens who will be able to revel in their accomplishments.My description here may give an oversimplified account of things. This is not a simple tale of people growing up and slowly realizing that life is not fair. It digs much deeper into the myths people create around themselves and asks where our place inside or outside those myths might be. The book is rich enough in symbolism to cover individual, communal, and national discord. Essentially, it is a complex tale wrapped in an austere, realistic one.
I must admit that I picked up this particular book because it was short and I had just completed two trilogies and wanted something light. I found that I was drawn in rather easily to this simple narrative, with its complex story. I can't say I was keen on Mrs Forrester and yet she is one of the most truthfully written characters I have yet had the pleasure of reading about. Perhaps this is the case because we do not see her as she sees herself or in some abstract way of the author, but through the eyes of a young boy, and later a young man. The period of transition that Neil is going through when he observes her is one of the most dramatic of life, and so is perfectly placed to convey such complexity of emotion. Niel's character is very simple and straightforward, and nothing more is made of him in order to romanticise him or make him seem somehow more interesting than he actually is, and that was a rare and beautiful thing to read. He became more real through his simplicity. Mrs Forrester's association with Ivy Peters, and her story about how she met her husband, Mr Forrester, solidified my distaste for her, and yet I sympathised with her predicament. She was a young girl, impressionable and proud, and needed to somehow assert her own sense of vigour.The whole, charming story is told with such simplicity that its ability to grip is all the more profound. For me, the star of the show was the Captain. His character had so many beautiful levels to it, and his presence was missed when it was lacking, which is alluded to by Niel towards the end of the book. His fate was always set from the beginning and yet the care that was taken by all those around him to honour him was endearing. Although all moved on, all had been changed by him, not as you first believe, by Mrs Forrester. A beautiful tale, simply and plainly told, with a lasting impact.
What do You think about A Lost Lady (2006)?
Hortense wrote: "Well, at least a specimen."...plus leaving out the adjective before "specimen" really helps balance the rhythmic mirror & rhyme of that sentence's halves.
—Hortense
Based on the reviews that other people have written of this book, there seem to be a lot of different interpretations of what the story is fundamentally about. Here's mine: A Lost Lady is the story of a woman needing to be saved. At first she seems to be a romantic figure, but as time passes her pathetic situation becomes more apparent. She lacks something basic in her personality that would allow her to anchor herself, so instead she uses men as anchors. She has a deep passion for life, but no capability to maintain a life of her own.She's a woman without a solid identity, even without her own name most of the time -- she's almost always referred to as Mrs. Forrester. The central character, Niel, suspects that her husband might know who she really is, but nobody else comes close. Because Niel is an adolescent boy, he judges her harshly, becoming increasingly disgusted as he realizes that the projected force of her personality is an act. He desperately wants her to be more than she is, to embody all of the pleasant things about life. But he never comes close to understanding her.
—Shannon
Wow, I hate to give this two stars due to the fact that I absolutely loved My Ántonia. My life was a little hectic when I read this and I didn't read more than 10 pages at a time so maybe that contributed to my apathy about this book. I didn't like the characters, I didn't really "get" it. I almost felt like I was reading the middle section of a longer book because it felt like it was missing something essential, but ironically I didn't want more because it wasn't a captivating story in my opinion and I was very happy to be done with it.
—Kelly
